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
@darth666 said:
@jaxcoffee said:
Seem to be getting nothing but bug splats when trying to use the instant roof plugin. I'm on version 8 pro. Am I missing something here?
Thanks
same here... if I choose to create new roof (not predefined) sketchup crashes. All defined roofs work until I choose options to edit slope...or hips...during roof creation, then sketchup crashes.
SK8PRO, Windows 7
I've found a conflict with OpenStudio, which needs to be unchecked in preferences, and sketchUp restarted for InstantRoof to work. (I made a custom work-around for OpenStudio - which I can make available - but I had to disable the single undo feature to get it to work)
I also understand that there is a conflict with lightUp as well. But I haven't traced that problem yet.
If you don't have either of these other plugins, could you temporarily rename your "Plugins" folder to something else like "Plugins1", then create a new "Plugins" folder, place only InstantRoof in that folder,and restart SketchUp. If the script works then we'll know it's a conflict with some other plugin.
Chuck
@rpaul said:
Hi Chuck
Is there a way to adjust this, other than manually?
Ron[attachment=0:36sostdm]<!-- ia0 -->Trellis.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:36sostdm]
When writing the script, I simplified a few things to make it easier for me to write it: one was to work on each eave section independently and place rafter tails from right on that section. This hugely simplified the script for dealing with multi-level buildings, but created some issues as you show with this trellis.
The result is that, in a simple symmetrical building, such as this trellis, the opposite sides are rotated copies, rather than mirrored.
Unfortunately, the only way to obtain mirrored rafters is to erase 2 of the sides and mirror the remaining 2 sides. In a similar way, if rafters tails aren't exactly lined up either side of a gable roof, the offending rafters must be selected and moved over.
I'm considering changing the script name to "Sort_Of_Instant_Roof"
Chuck
@manamana said:
I'm having some trouble with instant road.
crunches for a few hours and then says it can't triangulate the mesh, reduce max road length. I've gone down to 5' and it still bonks out. Anyone have any ideas?
[attachment=1:3iccghc2]<!-- ia1 -->roadfail.skp<!-- ia1 -->[/attachment:3iccghc2]
The script says to be patient. But more than a few minutes is too much patience.
Please accept my apologies. Looped roads are not allowed in InstantRoad. I thought I had this documented: but realize I only mentioned this in the "road from centerline" method docs.
So for this model, I cut the outline into 2 separate groups and generated the road sections separately. Each road section took around a minute on my machine. I then filled in the missing sections manually (in red).
BTW, the terrain had some extra lines in the area of the road that I erased before executing.
It isn't the issue here, but I'd like to stress that it's important to have a virgin group when using InstantRoad. This means: if you scale; make a copy of; or rotate the group, you need to explode and regroup prior to running the script. Otherwise strange things may happen.
Chuck
[attachment=0:3iccghc2]<!-- ia0 -->roadfail doesnt allow closed loops.skp<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:3iccghc2]
@jaxcoffee said:
Seem to be getting nothing but bug splats when trying to use the instant roof plugin. I'm on version 8 pro. Am I missing something here?
Thanks
I don't know it this is the issue in your case, but it's very important to close the 'Outliner' window prior to running Instant Roof. If not, the script will crash.
Another possible reason for a crash is when the geometry in the model is slightly off, say out-of-square by a small fraction of a degree. This can happen when geometry is imported from another cad program. Not likely if geometry is drawn in SketchUp.
View this tutorial on Instant Roof http://www.valiarchitects.com/tutorials/some-simple-roofs
More advance tutorials at: http://www.valiarchitects.com/sketchup_scripts/tutorials
Thanks for giving the plugin a try,
Chuck
@jaxcoffee said:
I seem to be having problems access your site. Something I should be aware of?
Hi jaxcoffee,
I am not experiencing any problems, so please try again http://www.valiarchitects.com
What browser are you using? We are still trying to figure out this website stuff --- the different web browsers, different languages, different operating systems... Any feedback is welcome, so we can get our interface working without glitches.
Thanks,
Chuck
@solo said:
Chuck,
How do I solve the gap between road and ground, I fear it may be because of SU size limitation, but when I opt out of curb and even set hieght to 0, I get gaps.
It's not a SU size limitation. The road thickness must be >= 1" or <= -1", otherwise a gap will occur. If you need the road surface flush with surrounding terrain, you can generate the road at some arbitrary thickness, select the top road surface and move it down. (It has the exact same perimeter as the hole in the terrain, so it will fit).
Chuck
@solo said:
Chuck,
How do I solve the gap between road and ground, I fear it may be because of SU size limitation, but when I opt out of curb and even set hieght to 0, I get gaps.
Solo,
Disregard my last message - I think I know what it is. Did you set the road thickness to between -1" and +1" and if so does it work when you set road thickness outside that range?
Chuck
@solo said:
Chuck,
How do I solve the gap between road and ground, I fear it may be because of SU size limitation, but when I opt out of curb and even set hieght to 0, I get gaps.
Solo,
Would you mind sending me the .skp so I can try to figure out what's happening?
Thanks,
Chuck
@tails said:
Is it possible to create a cross gabled roof as in my attachement, using this software as when I have tried I end up with one roof higher than the other. i'm still using the free version for the time being.
Tails,
It looks like the slope on the one gable is different than that of the other. Is that the intent? The script can make intersecting gables, but the roof slopes must be the same for both parts of the roof. I spent some time trying to make the script capable of generating different roof portions with different slopes, but I kept ending up with a really complicated user interface. So I gave it up, assuming that I would just tell people to generate different sloped parts in separate pieces.
Chuck
Reply to Grim,
The terrain has to be larger than the road plus the shoulder width. So I scaled up the terrain slightly to get it to work. But it made kind of a bumpy road. That's because the road precision was much tighter than the terrain spacing - which makes the road follow the coarse terrain. So in the next copy, I reduced the precision of the road by changing the "adjust number of curve segments" parameter from "3x" to "same as input" and the road was less bumpy. Try turning on hidden lines to see what I mean.
As for "try before buy", all that pro does is let you make a few things wider - everything else is the same. So please see if you like it first. (And can figure out all my cryptic parameters)
Chuck