I'm sorry, architeer, I'm going totally off-topic here but I need to rant a minute:


When I (old woman) was in architecture school we had to learn to cast shadows on our drawings. We did that by using a graphic method but also by looking at how shadows actually fall in the physical world.

We also had to sketch from life, a lot. So we looked at the physical world - a lot.

Young architects aren't learning to see the material world any more.

Maybe that's OK since we're all going to be avatars living in a non-polluted digital version of the planet soon, but it still saddens me AND I see it as a huge skillset that grads from the past 15 years simply don't have.

Rant over.

Can someone please answer architeer's question w/o a cranky "you kids get offa my lawn!" reply? Thanks.

sketchup + 1001shadow

sketchup will only export a raster of the shadows I believe. But you could trace over them in illustrator pretty fast, especially if there are repeating elements (just alt-drag copies around)

revit also can export shadows, not sure about raster v. vector however

1001shadow creates vector lines based on the shadow information.

there's like 20 plugins for sketchup for shadow analysis.

and they're free.

Technology is neither our saviour nor our enemy. I'm so sick of this false dichotomy.

D, the reason the old guys had to rely on hours and hours of observation and practice was because there were no calculations/algorithms to do the same thing [isn't the goal accuracy?] in a few minutes.

I don't see anything wrong with using Ecotect, as long as we're conscious as to how and why and what for. Just because it's comparatively easier doesn't make it less valid. It simply means it frees the subject [him or her] up to focus on things that are actually more valid. IE how to change the design to get the shadows he-or-she wants/requires for whatever reason.

To answer the OP, Ecotect is probably the fastest, easiest, and most accurate way to do it at the moment. Think you should be able to export at least as EPS, if not DWG. As you can do the same in[less accurrate] 2009-2011 versions of 3dMax. Barring that, SketchUp seems like a fine way to do it, and it's free.

I graduated from grad school two years ago; we spent two weeks (in architecture school, that's eternity) learning how to construct an accurate shadow drawing based on time of year, figuring the altitude / azimuth and casting accordingly. By hand. (hand! anachronistic!)

I think that in some cases the technology can make us lazy, make us not fully understand what we're drawing... but I can also pull a pretty sexy quick shadow drawing from Revit in about two seconds.

It's a bit of a wash.

form follows format

I hear you, jp, and I don't mean to set it up as some good v. evil dichotomy - it is what it is.

Like liz says, technology makes us lazy AND gives us more time to spend on, as you say, things that are more "valid". Whether or not a lived understanding of the physical world - you know, the stuff that makes buildings, stuff that ages and reacts differently to water and feels pleasant or not and looks good under direct harsh sunlight or not - is "valid" is obviously a question for how one chooses to practice.

Once you figure out how to cast shadows, you need to spend sometime working on understanding all the Building Code Requirements that go into making your Building a Type II-b
Non-combustible building. Just so it doesn't burn down and your casting shadows of an ash pile.

it's 5 o'clock somewhere

we are required to provide shadow plans for building permission of most projects here in japan (to prove your neighbours won't be living life in shade of you). so learning to construct shadow plans is essential.

It is however a pain in the arse to do it. sorry donna but after the 1st project it is just tedium and nothing more, especially since we always end up spending days twigging the shape of the building so it won't cast a shadow on neighbours.

Anyway, we use freeware cad software called JWC for the calculations. It is tied to the building code here so probably not useful outside of japan but is easy to export to dwg format and very useful.

Well for official submittals of shadow plans obviously programs are a better idea.

I'm just saying: understanding how to build in the physical world is enhanced by spending time looking at and seeing the physical world. Sketching and other exercises are a good framework for doing so. That's all.

i hear you about people depending on technology Donna, the college i went to had us learning how to draw accurate shadows, but compared with most other programs i guess it is something that most colleges do not focus on anymore. oh and i did graduate less than 10 years ago.

Personally, my eyeballs hurt after a day of computer cadding, so I'm going to go watch the physical properties of bourbon melting two ice cubes in a glass. Water management, people. It's a huge part of architecture.

rhino / ecotect will do it, too

but really you can just render accurate shadows in plan with any modeling/rendering combination, as long as the renderer allows for sun positioning, etc.

I would much rather spend 10 minutes on an accurate shadow study than half a day on a intuitively fabricated shadow study. Leaves more time for more 'valid' things like evaluating the ramifications of the intelligence garnered. For example over shading, under shading, block views, glare etc. Leaves more time for scotch as well. Work smarter not harder.

hear hear. more time for alcohol sounds like best plan.