Advanced Roof Work

[Luke Gilmer]

I'm struggling with using the roof tool to do more advanced work:

1) I now need to adjust roof over hang depths, thickness, and slope: How do I do this? The obj info palette gives almost no ability to adjust current settings.

2) I need to add multi-piece facia: Currently, my file (using 'insert facia') is making a simple facia but placing it in incorrect locations. Any ideal what's going on?

3) I need to add real roofing materials, like underlayment and shakes, with real thicknesses, which overlap the core roof structure. How do I do this?

Ideally, it would be great to have a roof-tool which is like the wall-tool: Able to specify materials, off-sets for individual materials, etc. Given the roof tool is basic, with a few bugs:

a) Is there an alternate way to build out a real roof on-top-of and along-side the current roof?

b) Is there any training video showing how to do more advanced roof work?

c) Is there a way to use individual working planes, then use 'convert copy to lines', then the push pull tool to build-up or build-out roof materials like shakes and facias and rakes?

Your suggestions would be great.

Thanks, Luke

[Tamsin Slatter]

Hi Luke

You can edit the roof parameters by selecting the roof and then clicking on one of the blue "handles." Then, you can change the thickness, overhang etc either of the individual roof face or the entire roof.

To create the roof face by face, I recommend you look at the Roof Face command. Draw a Polygon first to represent the roof face in Top/Plan and then run the Roof Face command on it to create a hybrid object.

You can connect roof faces using the Connect/Combine tool on the Basic palette.

Hope that gets you started.

[CipesDesign]

Luke, All of what Tamsin said and... You need to make a decision as to how detailed your model really needs to be. For me (sole practitioner, mostly custom residential work) I have decided that for early design stage work all I need is a simple roof with the correct pitch, thickness and overhangs. Once a job moves forward to the Con Doc phase I generally model all of the pieces in 3d (rafters, trusses, fascia, barge, etc.) then use my original roof pieces to create the finished roof sheathing.

A lot of what I do and how I do it has been developed over many years and (for me) it works really well. Since you are in Oregon, please get in touch via Private Message and we can discuss all this further.

Jonathan Pickups manuals are a really great place to learn about these sorts of things as well...

Hope that helps.

[digitalcarbon]

this is how you can get details from your model, roof and all.

you have to know when to use parametric objects and when not to use them and if you do use them, how to use them.

[Chris D]

Thanks dm, nice video. Worth a watch if anyone is considering where the 2D/3D split should be.

[Joe-SA]

Yes, nice video but some of the advanced tools can be used to create some of the more complex pieces and used in the viewports. For example, we created a foundation wall type that is made up of two components and we can set the top of each component to a different height. Stepped foundation using a single wall object. Wall Type for the footing as well. Stepping the top or bottom of the components also works for sheathing and siding overlapping floor framing and truss faces on gables. This may require duplicating your base wall type many times for different overlap scenarios. Slab components can be used in a similar fashion.

As to the roof, I started out doing only the sheathing with the roof tool as well. You must do it this way if you want to model crown moulding on your eave. In a recent project I went one step further because I needed to generate interior and exterior 3d views of a gambrel roof. Because we lack the ability to add roof components to the roof objects (major wish list item) I took my finished sheathing only roof object (or objects) and duplicated it. I then altered thickness and overhang to create the frame depth and stacked it beneath my sheathing so it ended at the wall plate. (wall sheathing and siding components can rise up to overlap if needed). I then duplicated again and created a gypbd layer for the ceiling. This was cumbersome but with each component in different classes it was workable. I went this step only very late in the design process as edits had to be done in quadruple including holes in the roof. Both the gypbd ceiling and roof sheathing components were needed as separate roof objects, however, to achieve clean lines both inside and out. I'm imagining an updated roof object that automates this process in the future.

As for fascias and rakes the built in tools are a waste because you have limited options and cutting holes along the eave doesn't cut the fascia. Best bet is to use the Extrude Along Path tool. The co-planer nature of this tool allows for a single profile to be extruded along the entire perimeter roof line of a straight gable roof including transitioning from eave to rake and over the ridge. This tool is not without its quirks and needs to be improved but I'm achieving crowns modeled and mitered in all the right spots that then appear in elevations and building sections and base detail backgrounds which I then only partially draft over similar to what was shown in the video.

So I do use the parametric tools for the walls, slab, and roof for the base model and then add specific 3d elements to it as needed. In the viewport you can use your class overrides and visibilities to manipulate the wall and slab components as needed to work best with the finish drafting.

[Dieter @ DWorks]

As for fascias and rakes the built in tools are a waste because you have limited options and cutting holes along the eave doesn't cut the fascia. Best bet is to use the Extrude Along Path tool.

Why not use the roof framing member tool? (I hope it's called right). You can edit this faster then and extrude along path + you have a 2D and 3D representation.

I also use roofs for a lot more than they are for. We really need a roof with multiple components.

[Joe-SA]

I do use the framing member tool at times for rakes and certainly for rafter tails. If our current project, however, has a crown moulding at the fascia and the rake with mitered corners the Extrude Along Path is the best way I have found to achieve that.

There is also something nice about clicking 6 points on a gable roof from a 3d view to define a 3d polygon path and wrapping a common profile around the whole roof in one object rather then creating 6 different objects to make the same thing....or 12 objects if you have a double fascia and rake.

Of course there are complications like the above only working with square fascias at the eave. Plumb fascias do need to be separate objects from the rake. But say you want to wrap a flat fascia with a gutter around a hip roof? That's where the Extude Along Path object is easiest to implement with great results. Often you can include the soffit and frieze all in the same object.

Like I said...its quirking and needs improvement but I found the co-planer ability that was recently got me to the point where its a more effective use of time to model these elements and have them show up in all the elevations, sections, and details then to omit them from the model and 2D overlay draft them into each of these drawings.

Joe