APCD basics 2
What we need to do now is draw in the shapes of the holes in detail. To do this we need to go to the plan tab and select the create shape icon or simply press c. You need to make sure that you are working in the top view, (maximise it if need be for a better view) and that you have "show shapes" selected (shift-b)
Select a texture from the selection box making sure it is something that will be highly visible in the top view once it is drawn as we are going to use it as a template for meshing later on. I am going to use the par 3 hole I showed you earlier in the "hole planning" section as an example. I have selected "green" here to draw the fairway and tee areas and I used "sand" to draw the green and back tee. The texture properties are unimportant at the moment and any highly visible ones will do. To draw the shapes of the hole you can left click on the top view window and then keep the button pressed down as you use the mouse like a pen to draw the shapes you require.
Try and make sure that your fairway etc flows with the shape of the hole ie there is a hill between the tee and green area that you can see clearly in the perspective view. I have chosen to allow the fairway to snake around this before rising up to the green area. It may take you quite a few tries before you are happy with your shapes and dont worry if you make a mistake, you can simply undo the action by pressing ctrl-z and redo it. If you want to make any minor adjustements to the shape you can click on the adjust shape icon (a) and then select the shape you want to alter. You can move the control points around in the top view as you see fit until you are happy with it.
Keep alternating between looking at the hole in the top view and looking at it in the perspective view as this will give you a clearer picture of how the shapes fit in with the underlying terrain. The more natural you can keep the overall look the better and try and fit in the natural terrain features as best you can. This is no different that being a real architect and getting the best out of the existing landscape.
Once you are happy with your hole shapes we can move on to "meshing" them in so we can texture and elevate them.