OpenPlan3D models the building. OpenLandscape3D models the living site around it.
Both read and write the same file. No converter, no lock-in: a house goes in, a garden comes back with it.
The round trip
- Draw or scan the house in OpenPlan3D and export its prepared JSON.
- Open it in OpenLandscape3D. The building is kept exactly as it was; set north, region and frost dates and draw the site around it.
- Design the landscape. The
OL-CLEARANCEcheck uses the real walls to warn when a tree’s mature canopy will reach the house. - Export
<Site>-openplan3d.jsonand use Import JSON in OpenPlan3D. The house comes back unchanged; plants, fences, patios and site objects arrive as OpenPlan3D catalog objects.
Sized for the year you choose
Plants export at their size in the scenario year you’re viewing — so you can hand OpenPlan3D the garden at planting, or at year ten. Hedges and masses export one object per plant.
Known gap
OpenPlan3D doesn’t have ground-surface regions yet, so lawn, beds, mulch, gravel, paths, driveways, terrain and the boundary stay in the file’s openlandscape3d block. OpenPlan3D ignores that block today and keeps it intact, so a later version can read it without re-exporting. Full details: export format and the step-by-step guide.
OpenLandscape3D is a sibling of OpenKitchen3D, which uses the same approach for kitchens.
How objects map
| OpenLandscape3D | OpenPlan3D catalog id |
|---|---|
| Tree (oak genus / other / under 6 m) | tree_oak / tree_default / tree_small |
| Conifer (under 6 m) | tree_pine (tree_cone) |
| Palm | tree_palm |
| Shrub by spread | bush_small / bush / bush_large |
| Perennial by bloom colour | flower_red / flower_yellow / flower_purple |
| Grass · groundcover | grass_large · grass_tuft |
| Succulent (1 m or taller) | cactus_short (cactus_tall) |
| Fence: board · picket · metal · rail | fence_planks · picket_fence · metal_fence · fence_simple |
| Gate | fence_gate |
| Patio or deck area | deck_patio |
| Pool area | pool_rectangular |
| Site objects | pergola, gazebo, shed, boulder, bench_outdoor, planter_box, … |
Questions
Do I need OpenPlan3D to use OpenLandscape3D?
No. You can draw a site from scratch. OpenPlan3D is useful when you want the house in the design, or want to review garden and house together.
Will my house change when it comes back?
No. Walls, doors, windows, openings, rooms, stories and floors from an OpenPlan3D file are kept verbatim and written back unchanged.
What doesn’t show up in OpenPlan3D yet?
Ground surfaces — lawn, beds, mulch, gravel, paths and driveways — plus terrain, the property boundary, field observations, schedules and analysis. They stay in the file’s openlandscape3d block, which OpenPlan3D ignores today, so nothing is lost.
Start designing in your browser
OpenLandscape3D is free and open source. Draw the site, place regional plants, and scrub through seasons and years before anything goes in the ground.