Singing the roofing blues

[Robert Anderson]

1. Draw the roof on the same layer for now. (uncheck the "create roof in layer" box.) The answer about the 3D relationship between layers is complicated, and there are answers, but let's keep this simple for now. If you want to see your roof, make sure the layer that the roof is on is visible and use the "align layer views" command.

2. Roof face requires that you draw the shape (outline) of the roof and have it selected BEFORE you run the command.

3. Because you're probably not looking at the roof, you're looking at the shape that formed it. ?

4. Why don't you have a question 4? ;-)

5. Because the layer views aren't lined up. See answer 1.

[BisbeeBlue]

Thanks for the helpl.

(4) Was a quick vacation. Hope you enjoyed ;-)

I find that if I use the create roof and have a rafter angle I finally do get a roof. If I set rafter angle to 0 i.e. a flat roof. Nothing is visible with create a roof or roof face. If I go to say a front view I will see the walls of the structure and a rectangle the size of the original roof, but it is in an opposite plan from the walls. I've used the same layer and align layers is not available.

Progress, but still looking for that flat roof. (I live in Arizona. Not many pitched roofs here.)

[Kevin]

If your roof is actually flat, then the "Floor" tool will create your flat roof. You will have to draw it in plan with the proper overhang. There is really no difference between a flat roof and a floor and thus the floor tool is a natural.

A few days ago, Robert told us how to make a shed roof. Don't know how low the Create Roof tool will go, but I would guess that your flat roof may have some slope to it.

[BisbeeBlue]

I've tried tips from several people (thanks Robert, et. al.) but I can not create a roof no matter what I do. Obviously, I've missed something fundamental.

I've reduced the problem to simple test case. A rectangular building with 6" X 96" wall drawn in plan view. If the walls are unselected no wall too is available. If I select all walls, I can use "Create Roof" but "Roof Face" is greyed out. Selecting all walls and Create roof, I set the eave to Double, Horizonatal - 5.5", Thickness - 5.5" as is bearing inset, Bearing height to 8' (Eave height is greyed out), overhang 12" and create roof in layer "Roof.

In plan view I have a rectangle. A left, right, front, back view yields a view of the walls (in plan view) and a single line representing the roof.

Going to a Rt. Isometric I get an angled view of a rectangle which I suppose to be the roof with the walls still in the original plane.

My questions are fundamental: (1) how do I "see" the roof on the walls? (2) Why doesn't "Roof Face " work? (3)Why does the roof in any view or layer have no thickness? (5)Why is the roof plane always oblique or at odds with the wall view?

No view or rendering technique changes these relationships. I have spent a great deal of time with the manuals and the learning CD's and the text (for example with roof face) glibly states, "easy way to creat a slap or flat roof by converting any closed 2D object into a roof face object." I'm not having this result.

I'd appreciate it if some one would give me the magic word on this as VWA 11.01 gets increasingly less popular here.

[Jonathan Pickup]

there are very few truely Flat reoofs, even nominally flat roofs have a pitch of 1.5?. Over a long span that can have an effect on the design and to draw the roof as 0? pitch could be misleading.

You could try a roof pitch of 0.1?, that might work.

I have covered all my roof tricks in my Architect tutorial.

[mike m oz]

I had a go and yes you cannot use the CREATE ROOF MENU ITEM to produce a flat roof - all it does is create a 3D polygon which then has no thickness.

You can use the ROOF FACE MENU ITEM, but there is little point in doing so. A flat roof is just the same as a floor slab so you could use either the FLOOR MENU ITEM or just draw the shape as a polygon and EXTRUDE it. You can then move it to the desired height by using the MOVE 3D MENU ITEM (extrusions are by default drawn with their base at the zero level of the layer)

To punch holes in it or change the shape of the 'roof' just double click on it - this will take you back to the 2D polygon which can then be edited as you like (corners can be rounded using the FILLET tool - more complex reshaping can be done with the POLYGON RESHAPE TOOL) . EXIT GROUP will take you back to the 3D view of the 'roof'.

Modelling is straight forward as long as you understand what basic geometric elements will be used to build your building. After all what you are really doing is building a virtual model of it - a little bit of lateral thinking can overcome many problems.