Adding Roof Element

The house has a simple gable roof with ceramic roof shingles. Both sides are enclosed with ridge verges and the top is enclosed with ridge shingles, all with the same material with the roof shingles. The roof has a 30° slope and is positioned exactly in the center point of the west wall. Fascia will be added to cover the bottom end of each roof. The roof will be extended 60 cm downward to create roof eaves for added protection to the wall.

In this tutorial, I do not include the roof truss because the detail of this structure is best left to experts. However, you can draw the truss when its design has been completed, i.e. to study available space for roof storage, and superimpose it to the final 3D model.

Steps taken to create the roof are as follow:

1. Previous 3D Model

   Chapters in this Sketchup tutorial are expected to be done in chronological order. However, if you want to start from this chapter, please download the last model created from previous lesson(s) at the the 3D warehouse.

   Separating walls and floors from the back and front yards before adding the roof element
2. Creating basic shape of the roof.
   
3. Creating roof shingles component.
   
4. Creating ridges and ceiling.
5. Adding decorative molding to the ceiling.
   
6. Roof finishing.
   

Separating Walls, Floors and Yard Elements into groups

At this tutorial stage there are already quite a lot of objects that we have added to the SketchUp 3-D model. In general, these objects can be be grouped into:

1. Floors and Walls
   Walls and floors including every object attached to them, such as doors, windows, bathroom and terrace.
2. Front yard and back yard.
   The remaining empty area in the lot that we will fill with outdoor objects and vegetation.
   

To ease further editing the 3D model, we need to isolate these objects by putting them into separate groups. One by one, we will select similar objects using Selecttool and make them a group.

1. Tip & Trick

   Selecting object using Mouse Clicks We can use mouse click to select object(s). Single click to focus editing on an object. Double click to select a face and its edges. Triple click to select all connected  faces and edges to the clicked object. To change our selections: Holding [Control] key to add another object to the selection, Holding [Shift] key to  add OR remove an object from the selection. Holding [Shift+Control] keys to remove an object from selections

   Move the camera so the whole model can be clearly seen from the west.
   
2. Choose Selecttool and press/hold [Control] until the cursor appear like . Double Click at the front yard,  and then double  click at the back yard to include it to the selection.
3. Put the selected objects into a group using  Context menu -> Make Group. Reactivate the context menu to rename the group as "Yards" using Entity Info window. Close the window to finish.
   
4. Select all objects using windows Select All  short-cut (Ctrl+A). Then select again  Selecttool and press/hold [Shift+Control]  until the cursor turns into . Click once at the Yards group to exclude it from current selection. I don't particularly user mouse clicks to select objects one by one since there are already a number of object in the model(doors, windows, terraces, bathroom components)
5. Redo as in step (c) to make the selected objects a group. Name this group as "Floor 1".

Tutorial Animation for Creating wall and floor group.

Creating the roof basic shape

We want the roof to have a 30° slope, with its axis positioned right at the middle of the western wall. For that, we will create a prism based on an isosceles triangle as the basic form of the roof. With available dimensions and slope specification we can find the roof high using trigonometric formula. But that's not SketchUp, in this tutorial we will only use Tape Measuretool, Protractortool and Linetool to help us create triangle.

1. Tip & Trick

   Protractor Tool SketchUp provide us with a Protractor tool to create a guide line at a specified inclination to a certain line/object. Set the origin point of the slope, and specify another point to specify the base line. Then, set the size of the slope using the mouse and the Measurement Tool. The cursor will change as illustrated. The cursor color will be black when its rotation plane is not the parallel with one of the three axes.

   Make sure we are not inside any of the groups by clicking anywhere outside the existing groups.
   
2. Add a guide to create an isosceles triangle  with a slope 30° and  with roof peak positioned at the middle of the western wall:
   
   • Select Tape Measuretool and click at the right edge of the western wall to find the top center position of the wall. Move the mouse toward the middle of the wall and press Click when the Midpoint inference appears indicating the exact middle point of the wall edge.
   • Select Protractortool and move the mouse some where on and above the west floor until the protractor color turns Red. Press Shift to lock this position and click at the upper right corner of the wall to initiate the slope.
   • Click somewhere on the upper end of the wall to make it  the base line and rotate the protractor upward and type in [30] to set the slope at 30°.
3. To create an isosceles triangle, just use the Linetool to create a line starting from the right most point of the west wall edge, to the intersecting point of the guides, and to the left most point of the wall edge, and go back to the starting point so an isosceles triangle will be created. When the three lines has completely created an enclosed space, SketchUp will automatically create a face.
   
4. Select the Push/Pulltool and push the newly created triangle away until it reaches the east wall, forming an isosceles prism.
5. Remove the guides using Erasetool.
   

Tutorial animation to create the roof basic shape.

Creating detail shape for roof shingles

1. Creating Roof Tile Component.

   Although technically, we can easily make each shingle as a component with the shape and size similar to a real shingle. This can make a lot of burden to the computer processor. Therefore in this tutorial we will only make the overall shape of the roof shingles and later we will add a pattern that will cover this shape.
   The roof shingles of the house is comprised two identical parts, front and rear. At this stage we will prepare only the detail shape of the roof tile parts and we will add tile patterns in the next chapter of this tutorial. We will add ridge verges on the left/right side of the roof and fascia to cover the bottom edge of the roof shingles. We will the same material patterns for the all the shingles verges, and therefore we need to make this part of the roof a group or component  (More about this in  "Finishing"). Since the front roof is shaped exactly the same with the rear, we will make it as a component so that it can be reusable for the rear side.
   
   

   Tip & Trick

   Component If a rather intricate object is going to be used for more than once in a model, it is better to define it as a component since edits to a component will be reflected in every instance of the component in the model, thus more efficient modeling.

   The roof shingles shape will be based on the the front face of the roof basic structure. Create a new box by pulling the face 10 cm high (the thickness of the entire structure of the roof and battens) using the Push/Pulltool. Make the box a component and change its the axis consistent with the roof slope. We also need to lengthen the lower part of the component by 60 cm to create roof eaves to cover the upper part of the front and rear wall.
   
   
   

   1. Tip & Trick

      Selecting object(s) using the context menu In addition to mouse clicks, object selection can also be done using the Context Menu -> Select with these options: Bounding Edges. To select only the surrounding edges of an active face Connected Faces. To select  only faces that have edge(s) touching directly with an active face. All Connected. To select  all faces and edges that directly connected to an active  face.

      Select Push/Pulltool and press [Control] once to create a new face. Click at the front face of the roof basic shape and pull it upward 10 cm
      
   2. Select all the connected faces to the newly add face:
      
      • Choose  Selecttool and  right click at the face of the roof structure to activate the Context menu.
        
      • Select all the thickness of the object using Context Menu -> Select -> Connected Faces. This command will select all face connected to the initial face we select. The underneath face will not be selected. We will fix this later.
   3. With the objects selection as in point (c), reactivate again the  context menu and display the "Create Component" window.
      
      • Rename the component to "Roof Shingles"
      • Press Set Component Axis button to reorient the axes consistent with the roof slope.
        
        1. Click at the bottom corner of the roof shingles to set it as the axes crossing point
           
        2. Click on the bottom line which is parallel to the main red axis to establish the direction of the component red axis (This is just to confirm that the component red axis remains parallel to the main red axis).
        3. Click on the bottom sloping line to set is as the component blue axis .
        4. When the "Create Component" window reappear, check at the "Replace selection with component" so that the original group will be completely replaced with the component that we create.
        5. Click the Create button to finish the component.
   4. Add the lower part of the roof shingles  by 60 cm for roof eaves so the top of the wall will be protected from rain and sun.
      

   

   Tutorial animation for the front section of the roof shingles.

2. Rear roof shingles and finalizing the roof element
   

   The rear part of the roof is exactly the same with the front. So, we only need to copy the front component and fix its orientation it by rotating the component copy by 180° using the Rotatetool. Later we will fascia at the front side of the roof shingles with a thickness of 2 cm and a height of 25 cm using of Push/Pulltool.
   
   

   1. Tip & Trick

      Rotate Tool We also can use Move /Copy tool to rotate an object at its designated rotating point(s). To rotate an object at any other point, we use the Rotate tool. To use the rotate tool, first we need to specify its rotation plane, then select the rotation point and specify the rotation angle. The Cursor shape will appear as illustrated . The cursor color is black if the rotation plane is not parallel with any of the three main axes.

      Copy the roof tile component using  Move/Copytool and [Control] key and put it somewhere on the back.
      
   2. Rotate the new copy of the  component so it will be a mirror image to the front roof using Rotatetool.
      
      • Select Rotatetool and focus the mouse to the horizontal plane until the cursor turn blue and press [Shift] to lock the orientation.
      • Move the mouse over the topmost line of the component copy and click at any point along that line and release the Shift key  to set the point as the center of the rotation.
      • Move the the mouse again along that same line and and click to set the line to rotate.
        
      • Make a right rotation using the  mouse and type in [180] to make a half circle rotation.
        
   3. Move the new roof tile component so it will touch perfectly at the top with the original copy of the component using Move/Copytool.
   4. Fixing the lower side of the roof shingles component.
      When creating the roof shingles component (1c), we only selected the upper faces of the roof tile block, so at the moment the bottom face is still missing.
      
      • Double click at the roof shingles component to enter edit mode of the component.
        
      • Using Linetool, create a new line along the bottom edge of the component and a face will be created covering the bottom part of the component.
        
   5. Add fascia to cover the bottom side of the roof tile set.
      
      • Select  Push/Pulltool. and press Control key to add a new face and pull the face forward by 2 cm.
        
      • Still using Push/Pulltool, click at the bottom face the newly created  square and pull it down to crate fascia with  2 cm thick and and  25 cm high along the tile lines.
      • Exit the component edit mode using Selecttool and by clicking anywhere outside the component.
        
      Notice that, the front side roof component also will be automatically fixed and added the fascia.
      

   

   Tutorial animation for rear roof shingles.

3. Adding Ridge Shingles

   Ridge shingles are added to the top edges between the two sections of the roof. The ridge is shaped as a half circle bulge positioned along the top edges as illustrated below.
   To create the ridge shingle shape, we will also us the Arctool to form a semicircular curved line connecting the two peaks of each roof section. Then add two lines using Linetool along the top edge of each roof section to create a face. The face is then pressed down along the width of the roof sections using the Push/Pulltool to create the ridge shingle shape.
   
   
   
   1. Ensure we are not inside a group/component by clicking somewhere  outside any of the group components using  Selecttool.
   2. Move the camera view on to somewhere near the west side of the joining point the roof sections.

   3. Tip & Trick

      Arc Tool We will use Arc tool to create a curved line. Soon after we select the Arc tool, we can enter the number of segments that the arc will consist of. More segments mean smoother arc, but will effect the file size and the processor load. After the arch is created, we can simply type in the height of the arch so that the final shape of the arc can be controlled accurately.

      Select Arctool and click on the upper end of the rear roof section and then click again on the upper end of front roof section. Slide the mouse upward and click when the "Half Circle" inference appears to create a semicircular arch.
      
   4. Select the Linetool and click at the starting point of the newly created arch, click again at bottom point of the roof section intersection, and click again on the other end of the arch to close the edges and to create a face.
   5. Double Click at the newly created face to select the face and turn in into a group using the context menu. Activate Entity Info window and rename the group as "Ridge".
   6. Double click the new group to enter edit mode. Select the Push/Pulltool and click on the surface and push the face eastward and immediately type in [700] to completely fill the gap between the two roof sections.
   7. Exit the group editing by clicking anywhere outside the group using Selecttool.
      

   

   Tutorial Animation to add Ridge Shingles

Creating Gable Ends and Ceiling

Gable ends are the wall structures above the gable walls that support a gable roof. At this point this area is mostly blocked by the roof shingles components. Therefore we need to temporarily hide the roof tile group using Context Menu -> Hide.

Tip & Trick

Hide We can hide one or a few objects temporarily in order not to obstruct view to objects located behind the object(s). To hide object(s) we use Context Menu or menu View -> hide. Use menu Edit -> Unhide to unhide the objects.

The gable end outer shape is exactly the same with the east/west side of the roof basic shape. We just need to add thickness similar to wall thickness using the Push/Pulltool and remove any excess line using the Erasetool. We will rename this group as "Gable Ends".

1. Hide Group shingles so as not to block the editing of gable ends which is located behind it.
   • Click the  Selecttool and right click at the Roof group and activate Context Menu,
     
   • Select "Hide" to hide the roof.
2. Triple click on one of the basic roof shape faces to select all the structure and make this initial structure a group. Rename the group as "Gable Ends" through Entity Info window.
3. Create gable ends by thickening both sides of the roof basic structure similar to wall thickness.
   • Enter the Gable End group and thicken each side of the gable end by 15 15 cm using Push/Pulltool.
     
   • Erase all excess lines between the two gable end using the Erasetool.
     
   • Exit the "Gable End" group by clicking anywhere outside the group using Selecttool.
4. Using the Rectangletool, create shapes of the ceiling right on top of the walls. Each ceiling  has the same shape with the enclosed space between the walls.
   
   • Make the living room ceiling by creating two adjacent rectangles to fill the space between all the living room walls and delete any excess line so there will be only one face to represent the ceiling.

   • Tip & Trick

     Back Face and Reverse Face Default color of any SketchUp object differentiate between the front face color and the back face color. Back face color is slightly darker than the front face. It is important that objects faces are not reversed, especially when we want to apply material to the objects. To reverse a face, use Context Menu -> Reverse Back Face.

     Add a rectangle to each of other rooms exactly the same shape with the inner space of the room walls.
   • At this point, we see the ceiling from above, and it would normally have somewhat darker color because what we see is their back face. If any of the ceiling has somewhat lighter color, we need to reverse the face using Context Menu -> Reverse Face.
     
5. Unhide all hidden objects using menu Edit -> Unhide -> All.
   

Tutorial Animation to Create Gable Ends and Ceiling

Adding Molding to the Ceilings

All room ceilings have decorative molding around their edges. This moulding is usually made of woods or gypsum casts. For modeling simplicity, I do not add thickness to the ceiling and position the ceiling right at the top of each wall, which may not be appropriate in real situation.

The detail shape and size of decorative molding is illustrated in the picture. The flat sections on top and right side are the part that will be attached to walls and ceilings. To create the profile, we need to divide the hypotenuse into five equal segments. The first two segments for the bulge and the next two segments for the depressed part. Both are 1 cm away from the original line.

To create this profile, we just need to make a right triangle of  8x5 cm using the Linetool and decorate its  hypotenuse with a convex and concave lines. To divide the hypotenuse into 5 segments, we just use the Divide function available in the context menu, and using the Arctool  we add a convex line and a concave line each covering two fifth of  the hypotenuse.  When the 2- dimensional profile is made, we will use Follow Metool to create this profile along all the ceiling edges.

1. Focus the view on to the east part rear corner of the bathroom ceiling. If necessary, hide any object that may block your view block using Context Menu -> Hide.
2. Create a right triangle with a height of 8 cm and width of 5 cm using Linetool at a temporary location in such a way that the lower end of the triangle is positioned right at one ceiling corners.
3. Divide the sloping line into 5 segments
   
   • Select the sloping line using the Selecttool and activate Context menu and select Divide. Several dots will appear along the active line indicating the number of segments it will create when the mouse is clicked.
     
   • Move the mouse along the sloping line and click when the segments indicates 5. There will be five equally spaced  intersection points along the line as if the line is comprised of 5 continuing separate lines.
     
4. Add a concave line to first two segments.
   
   • Select the Arctool and click to bottom point of the sloping edge and  make another click at the end of second segment to measure the arc as 2/5 part of the hypotenuse.
   • Move the mouse to the right so a bulge is created and type in [1] to create a concave with 1 cm height. As usual, a face is automatically created when the area is completely enclosed.
     
5. Add a convex line to next two segments
   • Click the mouse at the top point of the concave and move the mouse upward until it cover another 2/5 of the slope and press click at the segment point.
     
   • Move the mouse to the right so a dent is created and type in [1] to create a convex with 1 cm deep.
     
6. Remove unnecessary lines so the final shape of the object is similar to the above illustration.
7. Prepare the new object to be pasted at the appropriate positions by Double clicking the face to select the whole shape, and cut it using Edit -> Cut or Control-X (a standard window short cut for Cutting) to store this object into computer memory.
8. Paste the profile shape contained on the computer memory to a corner of the bathroom ceiling.
   • Select the Move/Copytool  and move the mouse to the left most corner of the bathroom ceiling and press Control-v to place the profile shape at this corner.
   • Still using Move/Copytool, position the profile to its proper location by clicking the top left corner of the profile and move it so it be attached to the upper left corner of the ceiling.
9. Paste this object to a corner of any other ceiling .
   
   • Focus your mouse to the corner of the living room ceiling and press Control-V at the point of this angle, nudge the mouse a little so that the profile shape appear at this position and press click to put the profile on this face.
   • Repeat this procedures to the rest of the room ceilings.

10. Tip & Trick

    Follow Me Tool We can change a two- dimensional face into a 3-D object using Push/Pull tool by pushing/pulling the face along a perpendicular path to the face. To change a two-dimensional face into 3-D following path other than perpendicular, we use Follow Me tool. First, preselect the path, and then select Follow Me tool and click at the face.

    Create moulding for the living room ceiling.
    
    • Focus the camera so that the corner where the profile is attached can be clearly viewed.
      
    • Click at the living room ceiling and  activate Context menu then choose  'Select Boundary' to select all the edges of the ceiling.
      
    • Select Follow Metool and click at the profile face that is attached to  this ceiling. Automatically a profile will sculptured around the bounding edges.
11. Repeat the above processes to other areas of the ceilings to complete all the ceiling molding. (The tutorial animation does not include these steps)
    
12. Exit the Gable group to finish.
    

Tutorial animation to create molding for the living room ceiling

Finalizing the roof

Although from the outside, the roof already seems finished, there is still a small part missing, the rear wall of the living room still has not reached the roof so that there is a big opening above the wall that needs to be filled. Add two wall sections to the opening so that all the walls will touch the roof. The wall addition is done within the “Garble” group so that the top of all the walls will still be flat. (We need to keep the upper side of the walls flat to prepare for the second floor addition).

To do this section, I will only show you the animation of the process for adding these walls. Notice the tools I used, since you have to to do this by yourself.

Tutorial animation for finalizing the roof shingles element

We have Accomplished ....

No	Tutorial Topics
1	Performing three different ways of selecting object using mouse click(s) .
2	Applying standard window shortcuts to do: Select All (Ctrl-A), Cut (Ctrl-X) and Paste (Ctrl-V)
3	Creating Guides with a specified slope using Protractor Tool.
4	Adding, changing component axes, copying and editing a simple component.
5	Selecting object(s) using context menu: Connected Faces and Bounding Edges.
6	Using Rotate Tool to spin an object on a preselected plane.
7	Dividing a line into several equal length lines using context menu Divide.
8	Using Arc tool to create a concave or  convex line.
9	Temporarily hiding an object using Context Menu-Hide and bring it again back using Menu -> Unhide.
10	Using Follow Me tool to draw profile along the edges of a face to create moulding around the face.
11	Reversing a face using Context Menu -> Reverse Face

We are almost done with the Project I. We only need to add details to the front and the backyard and apply appropriate materials such as ceramic shingles, and wood patterns so the 3-D model will look a lot more realistic.

Cheers

Harrynov