Alex,
Wow, you've made some very impressive designs and models!
I think I've already seen plugins for interior objects objects such as cabinets, doors, etc. And furniture design seems to be so much about uniqueness that I'm not sure what I would make the script do. Perhaps I just don't understand the issue enough. What kind of features would a such a script have?
Chuck
@rvdkruk said:
Hi,
I'm using SU 8 pro with the freeware version of instant-road.
Quite often I get this result:The terrain partly covers my roads.
Which parameter do I need to tweak?thanks in advance
This usually happens when the road or road shoulder is larger than the terrain. Are you certain that at the other end of the road (not shown in this image), it isn't too close to the edge of the terrain such that when the script tries to grade the shoulder it falls off the terrain?
Instant Roof - the easiest way to make roofs!
Thanks to the SketchUcation community Instant Roof is available in French(Didier Bur), Spanish(Diego Rodriguez), and Portuguese(Marcelo Pavan).
New User Contributed Styles Library is now available at our website.
A "Styles Library" is now available for users to post their own roof styles for others to download and use. I have just added two styles "Thatched Roof" and "Sea Lodge". The Styles Library can be found at Miscellaneous Downloads.http://www.valiarchitects.com/misc_downloads
Instructions on how to create, export and import styles to Instant Roof is available in pdf format.http://www.valiarchitects.com/sites/default/files/tutorials/pdf/Roof-Styles.pdf
We look forward to seeing your roof creations or just download styles and post a user rating for that style.
What Instant Roof can do:
* Create a complex roof in seconds - just select faces and edges; then run Instant Roof.
* Hip, gable, shed, dutch-gable, mansard, plantation, gambrel, open-trellis, combined, more...
* Eave types: boxed-in, exposed, soffited
* Hips and rafters with customizable ends
* Fascia, fascia-trim, ridge and hip tiles, shingles, or sheet-metal
* Complete mission tile or standing-seam roof
* Use default roof styles - or create your own
* Export and Import user defined roof styles
* Choose any unit type supported by Sketchup: Metric- angles for slope or Feet/ inches - ratio for slope
* Upgrade to Pro version for more roof slopes (The free version will only create the following roof slopes: 1/8:12 (0.6 degrees) ; 2:12 (9.5 degrees) ; 6:12 (26.6 degrees) ; 16:12 (53 degrees) or 24:12 (63 degrees).
Plugin Author: Vali Architects (Chuck Vali)
Plugin Website: http://www.valiarchitects.com/sketchup_scripts
@louis.s said:
Hi, i'm having trouble with the instant road plugin (free) and sketchup7.1 (free).
Whatever i'm trying i get "ERROR: No group selected". i have exploded the ground surface as stated and the centerline is in a group. With both selected i activate the plugin and get the error. any tips ? The instant roof plugin is working fine btw.
That error message is generated when the script doesn't find any group in the selection set. Are you sure that the centerline is enclosed in a group and not a component?
@braddaad said:
I've got a long road that seems to split the difference on interacting w/ the terrain. It appears that the outside of the curves attach to the terrain, but the inside of the curves are independent. The attached image is an example, and I've turned on shadows to show the gap between the road and the terrain. I've tried various road widths, max. segments, curve smoothing, number of curves, and sub-grade height, but nothing seems to have much of an impact. The plug-in works with more simple curved forms (also attached), but haven't found a specific 'number of curves' that work consistently or correctly to use that as a guideline. Please help!
I can't tell, but the road looks too close to the hole for the building. If the shoulder outline intersects any edge of the terrain - including the building hole - it will stop the script.
If this isn't the issue, could you send me the file? I may be able to figure it out. SketchUp will sometimes confuse 2 different points as having the same location - which will cause a failure. I was surprised to discover this could sometimes happen when points were up to 1/2 inch apart. So when making the road surface, and especially when intersecting the terrain, there is a probability that this will occur. The only solution I found was to try slightly different starting conditions in an attempt to move the point where the tolerance problem occurred.
@manamana said:
question about licensing on instant road:
If I have a laptop and a desktop, can I use a "single user license" on both or do I need two copies for that?
You do not need to purchase additional licenses for your additional machine(s). One license will do.
@krisidious said:
I'm getting a crash in SU8 Pro when trying to Make Roof...
I tried the renaming folder deal and still got an error, it puts up the list of what I might be doing wrong... I wonder if it could be an issue from making my mesh with "From Contours"?
it seems to be doing it with Instant Road and Instant Roof I've done some tests and it seems as if I can't get any of it to work. I'm not sure what I've broken... it was working fine before in 7Pro.
Would you mind sending me the file you're working on? Maybe I can find out whether it's something related to the file or your system set up.
@pbacot said:
Good points, Chuck. You'd have to have an interface accounting for all the feasible rafter or truss designs. The user can work out the eave height by calculation or CAD which is what we do anyway. Thanks for the reply.
Peter
Plus I only reference plate height when the structure has framed bearing walls. It's much more common for me to reference top-of-slab (roof slab) or top-of-steel (beam). Especially with fireproofing on the steel, the relationship between the reference point and the exterior skin may be quite different from that of a type 5 building referencing plate height.
I played around with Revit a couple of years ago: I think it did a good job of dealing with the structure vs building skin relationship. But, in my opinion, it required too much decision making too early in the project. That's one of the reasons I prefer SketchUp.
Anyway, I don't want to suggest that I don't think the script could be improved - it most certainly could be - but thanks for bringing this issue up.
Chuck
@pbacot said:
Hi,
I wish to add one comment. Well two. These are great tools all around!
But it seems that this roof tool, like others I have tried, uses the eave as the line for the starting plane. I don't know if it is difficult--this coding is wizardry to me--but I wish roof tools would use the plate line, which seems (to me) the logical reference point once the size of rafters and bearing details are defined.Thanks, Chuck, for these tools and your helpful responses.
Peter
Peter,
Thanks, I'm happy that you like my plugins!
It would not have been difficult to use plate height as the reference - and I did consider it. I decided against it because - as I see it -there isn't a fixed relationship between plate height and the exterior building skins.
Here was my reasoning:
If a roof is conventional stick framed the rafter will have a seat cut, if trusses there is no seat cut, and if, as with most of the projects I work on, the trusses are metal, with false rafter tails, there is often an extended truss heel. Each of these conditions, along with different eave and exterior wall finish material thicknesses will result in a different relationship between the plate height - which is a structural datum -and intersection of the outer skins of these finishes - which is what my script works with.
If I want an accurate roof height, I could draw a section of the eave showing the structural conditions and material thicknesses, then determine the height of the point where the exterior wall finish intersects the underside of eave finish, create geometry using this height and then run the script. Had I built assumptions into the script about where the plate height was in all this, I think the above process would be more cumbersome because my assumptions would have to be accounted for where they didn't correctly apply.
On the other hand, my intention was to make a schematic design tool that creates a somewhat convincing roof - if you don't zoom in too close. So I anticipated that users would have only a general idea of the structural members and use approximate wall heights. I would be very happy if anyone successfully uses the script for DD or CD level documents, but I'm afraid they will probably have to do some manual tweaking.
Chuck
@krisidious said:
I'm getting a crash in SU8 Pro when trying to Make Roof...
no sunposition.rb
Does it only crash with a particular roof or just doesn't work at all? One person had drawn an outline in another cad program and imported it into SketchUp. Instant Roof would crash trying to make a hexagonal portion of the roof. When I redrew the same geometry in SketchUp the roof worked fine.
If it just crashes on any outline, then I suspect a conflict with another script. The only conflicts I am aware of are LightUp (I couldn't get it to crash when I tried it on my machine), sunposition.rb, and OpenStudo. (Only the encrypted version of Instant Roof (.rbs) would crash with Open Studio, not my unencrypted source code (.rb) )
I would really like to find out what the issue is. Would you mind temporarily renaming your "Plugins" folder and putting just the InstantRoofPro.rbs and InstantRoofProS.rb in a separate "Plugins" folder to find out if it's a conflict with another plugin?
Chuck