Cutting a hole in a roof for a dormer is painful. This plugin includes a "Dormer Cutter" tool. You draw a box where the dormer goes, and the plugin trims the main roof, adds the dormer roof, and welds the textures seamlessly.
Instant Roof Pro is a dedicated roofing extension that automatically generates fully editable, textured 3D roofs based on the geometry of your building’s walls. Unlike SketchUp’s native tools, which require manual plane creation, this plugin analyzes your floor plan and builds an intelligent roof in seconds.
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Instant Roof Pro (now often referred to as Instant Roof Nui) is a powerful SketchUp extension developed by Chuck Vali of Vali Architects. It is designed to automate the often tedious process of modeling complex roof structures, converting simple faces into detailed, professional-grade architectural elements in seconds. Core Functionality & Automation
The plugin allows users to generate a wide variety of roof types by simply selecting a face or specific edges within SketchUp.
Automatic Generation: Select a face to create a hip roof by default, or select specific edges to define gables, sheds, or Dutch gables.
Broad Roof Support: Includes styles for hips, gables, sheds, mansards, gambrels, plantations, and open trellises.
Parametric Precision: Every element—from the pitch and overhang to the fascia and rafter settings—is adjustable through editable parameters. High-Level Features for Professionals Instant Roof Pro Sketchup Plugin
Detailed Framing: The Pro version can generate full roof framing, including rafters, hips, beams, and even decorative trusses.
Roof Details & Materials: Beyond basic geometry, it adds realistic 3D details such as mission tiles, standing seam metal, shingles, and gutters with customizable profiles.
Style Management: Users can choose from a library of preset "Roof Styles" or save their own customized parameter sets for future projects.
Take-off Logs: A built-in feature tracks quantities and provides a takeoff log, aiding in material estimation for construction.
CAD Fixer: It includes a tool to repair problematic geometry from imported CAD files, ensuring a clean base for roof generation. Installation & Pricing INSTANT ROOFS IN SKETCHUP with Instant Roof NUI
Instant Roof Pro is a high-performance SketchUp extension by Vali Architects designed to automate the creation of complex roof structures. It allows users to generate professional-grade roofs—complete with rafters, fascia, and materials—in seconds rather than hours. 🛠️ Key Capabilities
Diverse Roof Styles: Automatically generates hip, gable, shed, dutch-gable, mansard, gambrel, and plantation roofs.
Detailed Components: Creates realistic roof elements including eaves (boxed, exposed, or soffited), fascia trim, ridge tiles, and hip tiles.
Realistic Textures: Includes presets for mission tiles, shingles, standing seams, and sheet metal with adjustable slopes and overhangs. Cutting a hole in a roof for a dormer is painful
Framing & Beams: The Pro version supports full framing, including rafters, hips, beam ends, and corbels.
Custom Presets: Users can create, save, export, and import their own unique "Roof Styles" to maintain design consistency across projects. 🚀 Step-by-Step Workflow
Prepare the Base: Ensure the top edges of your walls are clean, continuous, and form a closed face. Make Selections: Select a Face: Generates a standard hip roof.
Select Edge(s): Tells the plugin where to place a Gable or Shed.
Activate Plugin: Go to Extensions > Instant Roof > Make Roof.
Configure Settings: Choose a preset style from the library and adjust parameters like slope, eave depth, and material type.
Generate: Click "Create Roof" to build the 3D geometry instantly. 💎 Pricing and Availability
1. One-Click Roof Generation The core magic is simple: select your building’s perimeter walls or a flat face, click the plugin’s toolbar icon, and choose a roof type. The plugin instantly generates:
2. Intelligent Dormer Creation Adding dormers—typically a complex modeling challenge—becomes drag-and-drop. The plugin includes a library of dormer styles (gable, shed, eyebrow) that automatically cut openings in your main roof and integrate seamlessly. What would you like next
3. Full Parametric Control After generation, the roof isn’t "baked" geometry. You can adjust:
All changes update in real-time without rebuilding from scratch.
4. Automatic Hole Cutting Need a chimney, skylight, or HVAC penetration? Draw a rectangle on the roof face, and Instant Roof Pro can automatically cut the hole and add a flashing curb. No more manual "intersect faces" cleanup.
5. Material & Texture Mapping The plugin applies materials to shingles, tiles, metal panels, or flat membranes with proper UV mapping. It also generates separate groups for fascia, soffits, and gutters—perfect for material takeoffs or renderings.
Let’s simulate a real-world application. You have drawn a two-story house with a complex garage bump-out.
Phase 1: Preparation
Ensure your walls are a single group or component. Clean up extraneous lines. The plugin reads topology; stray lines will confuse the edge-detection algorithm. Use the CleanUp plugin first if necessary.
Phase 2: Selecting the Pitch Open the Instant Roof Pro dialog. Set pitch to 8:12 (moderate steepness). Set overhang to 18 inches. Choose "Asphalt Shingles" from the texture library.
Phase 3: Generation Select the top edges of your wall group. Click the "Create Roof" button. Watch the magic happen: The plugin calculates the primary roof over the main rectangle, then automatically calculates the second roof over the garage, intersecting them into a clean valley.
Phase 4: Gable Conversion Select the side edge of the garage. In the tool panel, hit "Toggle Gable." The plugin automatically removes the hip and raises the wall to form a vertical gable triangle.
Phase 5: Final Detailing Use the "Add Fascia" tool. The plugin generates a 2x6 board running along the entire perimeter of the roof edge, perfectly mitered at the corners.
Select your wall loop or interior floor polygon, click the "Instant Roof" icon, and the plugin reads the edges. It automatically distinguishes between eaves, gables, and hips. You don't need to tell it which side is which; the algorithm analyzes the geometry.