SunCast Tutorial

<Virtual Environment> 5.9

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Contents

1. Introduction.................................................................................................................3
1.1. What is SunCast?..............................................................................................................................3
1.2. What You Need To Know To Get Started .........................................................................................3
1.3. The Model .........................................................................................................................................4
1.4. Getting Started ..................................................................................................................................5
2. Images .........................................................................................................................6
2.1. Creating an Image.............................................................................................................................6
2.2. Zooming on an Image .......................................................................................................................7
2.3. Creating Another Image ....................................................................................................................9
2.4. Deleting an Image ...........................................................................................................................10
2.5. Saving Image(s) ..............................................................................................................................10
3. Animation ..................................................................................................................11
3.1. Daily Simulation...............................................................................................................................11
3.2. Zooming Multiple Images ................................................................................................................14
3.3. Fly-round Simulation .......................................................................................................................15
3.4. Composite Animations ....................................................................................................................15
3.5. View Scripting..................................................................................................................................16
4. Shading Results........................................................................................................18
4.1. Annual Results ................................................................................................................................18
5. Advanced Features...................................................................................................20
5.1. Setting Visibility ...............................................................................................................................20

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1. Introduction
1.1. What is SunCast?
SunCast enables you to perform shading and solar insolation analysis studies
and can generate images and animations quickly and easily. SunCast
generates shadows and internal solar insolation from any sun position defined
by date, time, orientation, site latitude and longitude. SunCast can be used at
any stage of the design process from a model created by the IES
ModelBuilder. This can be the same model used by other applications within
the <Virtual Environment>. SunCast can be run as an independent application,
providing the user has already built the required model.

1.2. What You Need To Know To Get Started

Standard conventions for manipulating files are used throughout the <VE>.
Standard conventions for manipulating windows (moving, resizing, closing,
etc.) are used throughout the <VE>. Ask your IT Manager for help if any of
these processes are unfamiliar to you.

To get an understanding of the <VE> see the document "<Virtual

Environment> User Guide" which explains the various startup options. It will be
useful to have a working knowledge of ModelIT, in order to create the model
and obstructions.

This tutorial contains step-by-step instructions that will show you how to use
SunCast. It is perhaps also useful to read this document at the same time as
you run the program.

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1.3. The Model
The guide will assume the user has created the following model using ModelIT:

This is the same model used as “Example 3” in the Radiance Training

Examples.

It is important that the user has defined the site location (site latitude in
particular) and the orientation of the model to North, as these are critical to the
Sun's position in the sky.

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1.4. Getting Started
The “SunCast” button in the “Solar” application tab is activated.

In the current implementation of the <VE>, SunCast runs as an external

application (i.e. it has still to be fully integrated into the <VE>). All the
properties of the model are passed into the SunCast application. The default
window containing the “pull-down menus”, “Toolbar”, and the “Browser”,
“Model” and “Image List” sub-windows is as shown below -

Other pop-up windows will appear as activated by the selection of particular

options.

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2. Images
2.1. Creating an Image
Select which type of image you wish to generate from the menu:

Single image

Images throughout chosen day

Fly round

Sun view images

The following “Preview” options appear when you choose to generate a single
image:

The user defines the “Date” and “Time” which determines the Sun position and
the “Azimuth” and “Altitude” which defines the viewing direction (views are
axonometric). If the user activates the “Plus” button the image will be
generated (a progress bar will be shown).

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 When the simulation is complete each image is listed.

2.2. Zooming on an Image

The zoom buttons are positioned at the bottom left of the screen (same
position as ModelIT)

These are as follows:

 Fit window - reset to original view.

 Zoom window - user selected area.
 Zoom in - incrementally zoom in to centre of window.
 Zoom out - incrementally zoom out from centre of window.

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Example of above image zoomed in:

In large models this is particularly useful to be able to see shadows in detail.

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2.3. Creating Another Image
To create another image the user must go back and re-activate the “Plus”
button. This time the user sets the “Time” to 10:00 am and simulates and
stores the image.

This image is as follows:

The user can create a third image by changing the “Azimuth” to 230° (i.e. the
same shadow as before viewed from a different position).

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2.4. Deleting an Image
To delete a particular image, select the image from the image list:

Then activate the “Minus” button, the image will be deleted and removed
from the list.

Note that multiple images may be selected and deleted by this mechanism.

To delete all the images activate the “Delete” button. This pops-up the
following warning message:

2.5. Saving Image(s)

Using the “Save” button, the user may save the selected image(s) in a file,
the following window is popped-up:

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3. Animation
3.1. Daily Simulation
One of the most common animations is to take a fixed viewing position and see
how the shadows move over a single day.

This is achieved by the “Generate images over 1 day” button. The

following options appear:

This shows the default parameters, the number of images will be determined
by the “Start Time”, “Stop Time” and “Step (mins)”. The more images the
smoother the final simulation will be however it will take longer to process.

Note that the Sun may not have risen at 8:00am and may have set by 18:00pm
in the winter months.

Images will be stored in the image list automatically (it is often useful to clear
the list before starting this option).

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When the simulations are completed the image list is as follows:

The user can at this stage select any of the created images. Using the “↑” and
“↓” keys on the keyboard, they can see a simple animation effect.

To create an animation the user selects the “Animate the images” button.
This pops-up the following window:

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When the “Make the video” button is clicked the following window pops-up:

Click the “OK” button and the movie is created and displayed.

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3.2. Zooming Multiple Images
Having simulated a sequence of images, as above, the user can decide they
would like to see an animation of a particular part of the model.

Select any image and use the zoom buttons to get the required view:

Now click the “Apply zoom” button. This will set every image to have the
same zoom factor. You can now proceed to create an animation as before.

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3.3. Fly-round Simulation

This option is activated by the “Create a fly-by of the building” button. The
following options appear:

This window has parameters similar to the daily simulation, except in this case
the shadow (Sun position) is fixed and the eye view is rotating round the
building.

Having created the images the user can proceed to create an animation as
required. Note that the options for zooming in will be more difficult because
each image is a rotation of the model.

3.4. Composite Animations

By not clearing the image list between sequences the user can create
animations which combine the features of the daily and the fly-by, perhaps also
with single images and zoom effects. This is only limited by the user’s
imagination.

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3.5. View Scripting

The requirement of creating composite animations leads to the “View

Scripting” option. The following is popped-up:

This allows the user to create a list defining the images to be created. There
are a few standard scripts which can be accessed via the “Open” button. The
“Save” button allowing the user to save a customised script for future
reference.

By clicking on button the user can add an entry to the script, defining the
required simulation parameters. In the next image the user can see an
example where they are incrementing the time by 5 minutes each step and
also the rotation by 5 degrees:

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4. Shading Results
4.1. Annual Results

Selecting the “Solar shading for Apache” button pops-up the following
window:

Select the “First” and “Last” months you want to simulate and click the “Start”
button. The simulations will start, for each time-step a solar simulation is
performed, for complex models this may take a while (hourly time-steps for a
single day of each month, defaults to the 15th).

These simulations may also be performed for a single day or a user defined
range by selecting the appropriate option.

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The results which may be passed to Apache can be reviewed via the following
table:

The user selects the “Room” and “Surface” and then has the following options:

All of these may be displayed as either area (m2) or as a percentage of surface

area

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5. Advanced Features
5.1. Setting Visibility
Sometimes the user is interested in the location of solar patches inside a room;
this can be difficult if the room is obscured by other rooms. To make it easier to
see into the room the user can select the obscuring rooms and make them cast
shadows but not to be drawn in the eye view. To demonstrate this, look at the
image in section 2.2, it is desired to remove the roof and look into the first floor
room.

Select the required roof zone in the model browser (“roof (Sr)”); switch the
“Status” of this room to “Invisible”, repeat for the zone “roof (E)”:

Now repeat the simulation and zoom in on the image:

This effect can also be applied to individual surface e.g. to remove the walls of
the zone.

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