Model and Measure Part Two: Hip Roof Framing Demystified by Modeling in SketchUp

Previously in Model and Measure:

In Part One of this 3-part Model and Measure series I gave an overview of some important aspects of hip roof framing geometry. To explore that geometry I created a SketchUp model that includes every rafter needed for a complete 7:12 pitch framed hip roof. The challenge of modeling all those pieces and parts in SketchUp is not unlike the challenge of cutting and building a hip roof on a real world jobsite. In either case a handful of tricks will make the process manageable and a whole lot quicker. Here in Part Two I demonstrate the tricks I use to create a hip roof framing model.

First Things First:

This first of two videos shows the process I use to model a hip rafter. It’s important to keep in mind that this is modeling on a “Digital Job Site” where we’re not restricted to the physics of working with real-world job site materials. Adapting this mindset speeds up the modeling process by allowing non-conventional techniques for drawing. You’ll (hopefully) see what I mean as you watch a hip rafter materialize by watching this:

Modeling your first hip rafter will take longer than your second one, and with a little practice you’ll be amazed at how quickly it goes.

Exponential Effort:

Now that we have a hip rafter to work with, modeling jack rafters is the next step. With so many lines and faces for each jack rafter (34ea. x 8 jacks = 272 jacks x 8 sets = 2,176 lines and faces total) it would be a daunting task indeed to build this model line by line… UGH!! By using the Move/Copy and Rotate/Copy tools however, we can create 8 jacks with less effort than creating one common rafter and 64 jacks with less effort than creating the first 8. I think it’s fair to say that the effort expended yields exponential results when modeling this way:

To Be Continued…

Model and Measure Part Three: Hip Roof Framing De-Mystified by Measuring in SketchUp will cover the aspect of this process I find most beneficial: measuring modeled parts for layout angles and dimensions. I’ll attempt to show how to gather dimensions from the modeled parts and apply them for actual rafter pattern layout.

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