Adding a Stream

Streams can be an attractive addition to any landscape
design. A stream is an adjustable path of water in Realtime Landscaping
Architect, which can be modified in many of the same ways as a pond.
To add a stream:
1.
Click the Add Stream button that is found near the top of the
screen under the Water Features tab.
2.
Estimate how wide the stream should be, and modify the Width property as needed.
3.
Draw the centerline of the stream by clicking the left mouse button to add
points. Press the Backspace key to remove the last point added, and press
the Esc key to cancel. If you would like to input the distance and angle
manually, place at least one point and then press the Enter key.
Note:
It doesn’t matter which direction you draw the stream. You can change
the water flow direction later.
4.
To finish drawing the stream, right-click to place the last point.

Changing the Shape
After a stream is added to your landscape design, it can be
easily changed by modifying the points that control the stream’s shape. For
details, see Editing Points.
Water Flow Direction
You can easily control the water flow direction by defining
its path.
To set the water flow direction:
1.
Click the Edit Flow Path button found in the properties to enable flow path editing
mode.
2.
To reverse the flow direction, click Reverse flow direction.
3.
Edit points as needed to define the desired flow point. You can add and remove
points as needed.
4.
When finished, click the Edit Flow Path button to disable flow path
editing mode.

Rock Border
Just like ponds, streams also
support rock borders. The rock border can be toggled on and off per stream or
per edge.
To turn the rock border on or off per-edge:
1.
Click the Edit border button found in the properties to enable rock border editing
mode.
2.
Click the edges of your stream where you would like to toggle the rock border on
or off.
3.
When finished, click the Edit border button to disable rock border
editing mode.
Controlling the Render Order
When overlapping objects, such as streams, regions, and
ponds, are added to your landscape design, you can control which ones appear on
top. For example, if a stream is added to the back yard of your design, then a
large grass region is added to the entire back yard, you could determine that
the steam should appear on top of the grass region so that it does not appear as
if the stream has a grass floor. See the Working with
Overlapping Regions portion of the Adding a Region topic for a more detailed
explanation with images.
Customizing the Plan View
Streams can be given separate materials in the Plan and
Perspective views. This is useful if you wish your Plan view to look stylized,
but want the Perspective view to look realistic. To allow a separate material to
be shown in each view, click the Custom appearance in each view option,
found in the properties. Two tabs will appear: Plan and Perspective. These tabs
allow you to customize how the steam appears in the corresponding view.
Tips:
•
Important: Depending on your local building codes, streams
deeper than a certain depth may require a fence or have other restrictions for
safety purposes. Please check your local building codes before building a real
stream.
•
Streams and Ponds are very similar. For information on ponds, see Adding a Pond.
•
Streams can be added in either the Plan or Perspective views, but are
easiest to add in the Plan view.
•
Fountains and waterfalls can be integrated into your water garden design;
see Adding a Fountain and Adding a Waterfall for more information.
•
Streams can be difficult to design if grid snap is enabled because the
points of the stream will snap to the grid intersections as you move them. You
can toggle the grid snapping off by pressing Ctrl + G on your keyboard. For more
information, see Snap Settings.
•
Landscaping rocks can be added in and around your streams; see Adding a Rock for details.
• Fish
are not added to streams; the koi fish are only placed in ponds.
• To
change the length of your stream, add, delete, or move the points that define
the stream’s shape. For information on adding and removing points, see Inserting and Deleting Points.
•
Plants can be added in and around your streams; see Adding a Plant for details.
See also:
Stream Properties Setting Object Properties Selecting Objects Selecting Points Editing Objects Adding a Pond Adding a Waterfall Adding a Fountain Adding a Rock Adding a Rock Border Realtime Walkthrough Saving and Loading Shapes
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