Ecotect Modeling Basics

New York City
College of Technology
The City University of New York
Ecotect Modeling Basics
Architectural technology department
written by Nicole Seekely
revised April 21, 2010 8:27 PM

Notes:
page 2 of 17
Why Model in Ecotect?
While you can import models
for lighting analysis and get
fairly accurate results, you can-
not import for thermal analysis.
Ecotect needs to understand
which zones are where, and
this is more easily done within
Ecotect.
Knowing how to model in Eco-
tect also makes it better to
make on-the-fly revisions to
your model without becoming
frustrated.
Open Ecotect, and make sure
you are in the 3D Editor tab.

Notes:
page 3 of 17
Rotate Pan Select
+ Shift
Zoom
Shortcuts
Right Mouse Rotate
Ctrl + Right Mouse Pan
Shift + Right Mouse Zoom
F2 Repeat Last
F3 or Double Click Nodes On/Off
F4 Isolate Selected Zone
F5 Plan
F6 Side
F7 Front
F8 Axonometric
X,Y,or Z Nudge Object in Direction
Shift + X,Y, or Z Nudge Object in
Negative Direction
Insert Insert Child Object (Door,
Window, Void)
Ctrl Hold to Move Cursor in Z
direction instead of X,Y
N Snaps On/Off
A,C,G,I,L,M,O,P Snap Option
(Align, Centre, Grid, Intersections,
Lines, Midpoints,
Orthogonal, Points)
Ctrl + F Fit Grid to Model
Spacebar Toggle among selected
objects

Notes:
page 4 of 17
Preferences
The default units for Ecotect
are metric. If you’re work-
ing in US units, you’ll need to
change this.
Go to File - User Preferences
Localisation tab - Change
General from SI Decimal to US
Standard. Change your model
Dimensions to Feet & Inches.
Cursor Snap tab - Change
you snap distance to an even,
easy number such as 3”

Notes:
page 5 of 17
Select
Transform (Move, Rotate, Scale, Mirror, Extrude, Set Origin)
Measure
Point
Line
Plane
Partition
Zone
Pitched Roof
Light
Speaker
Camera
Appliance
Child Object (Void, Window, Panel, Door)
Add Node
Subtract Node
Pan
Rotate
Zoom
Perspective

of 17
Move Scale Extrude Transform Trim Offset Join Fix Links Unlink Ungroup Void Door
Rotate Mirror Origin Cut Plane Extend Intersect Break Link Group Window Panel

of 17
Setting up the Model
You can set your grid size by
clicking on the Model Settings
menu button. In this menu
you can select the size of each
square and the extents.
Set your snaps to what is rec-
ommended here. To the right
of the snap option is where
you can set the snap distance
and angle.

of 17
Editing a Zone
All zones are initially modeled
at the same height. You can
adjust this by going to File -
User Preferences - Modeling
tab. Change the Default Zone
Height to your desired height.
You can also interactively
change the height of a zone
within the model space. Click
on the floor of the zone. (If
a wall is selected instead of
a floor when you click on an
edge, hit the Spacebar to get
Ecotect to scroll through the
selections).
In the Selection Information
tab to the right, you can adjust
the height in the Z-axis of the
Extrusion Vector submenu.

of 17
Adding a Child Object
Draw another zone that is ad-
jacent to the first one by using
the snaps. Here the height
was adjusted for the second
zone to make it higher.
Select the adjacent face of the
second zone. Hit the Insert
key.
Add a window. It automati-
cally positions it in the center
of the face. You can adjust the
placement here or afterwards.
With the window still selected,

of 17
Adding a Child Object
With the window still selected,
click the Move tool to move the
window upwards into the ap-
propriate spot. By hitting F3,
you can move the Nodes to
adjust the size of the window.
Do the same to insert a door.

of 17
Moving an Object
A useful shortcut is using the
X,Y, and Z keys to move ob-
jects. By hitting one of those
letters, you can move the ob-
ject in the corresponding di-
rection by how much you have
set in the Snap options.
To move in the opposite direc-
tion, hold down the Shift key +
the X,Y, or Z key.

of 17
Moving in the Z Direction
If you want to model some-
thing that’s not planar in the
XY plane, you can adjust the
height interactively. Once
you’ve found where you want
the point to be in the XY plane,
hold the CTRL key down while
moving the mouse up or
down. This will then keep that
point at the same XY coordi-
nate while moving it in the Z
direction. You’ll see the verti-
cal, red, dashed line lengthen
or shorten.

of 17
Copying/Morphing
To create a series of corner
window slits, draw a line at the
corner. Then copy it by select-
ing the Move tool and making
sure the Apply to Copy box is
checked. To make it a smaller
size, just move the nodes us-
ing F3.

of 17
Copying/Morphing
Then, with both objects se-
lected, go to Edit - Morph Be-
tween.
Type in the number of objects
you’d like in between. Ecotect
will then generate a series of
lines that morph between the
larger and smaller one.
This will generage construc-
tion lines with which you can
trace windows.

of 17
Copying/Morphing
Click the Insert Window but-
ton.
Now trace the windows on
each side of the walls.
Then click on one set of win-
dows and the adjoining wall
and link them by clicking the
Link button.
Be sure to assign a window
material in the Material assign-
ments tab.

of 17
Copying/Morphing
Click on the Visualize tab to
make sure your windows are
inserted properly.

of 17
Voids
If you want to insert a court-
yard or opening in your zone,
be sure to insert a Void so
Ecotect understands what is
happening.
Here, another zone has been
inserted inside the first zone.
The roof of the third zone was
deleted.
With the roof of the first zone
selected, click on the Insert
Void button. Then outline the
roof of the courtyard. This will
tell Ecotect that there is open
space here.

Ecotect Modeling Basics

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