Batzal Roof Designer for Max 2020 is like that reliable, rusty toolbox in your garage. It isn't pretty, the handle is taped together, and you have to hit it twice to open it. But when you need to frame a 12-unit apartment complex before a Friday deadline, it will save your career. Just save your scene before clicking "Generate." You have been warned.
Students using Max 2024/2025 (it won’t work), animators who need deforming roofs (it’s static), or anyone working on organic, curved, or asymmetrical contemporary architecture (think Zaha Hadid). Also, avoid if you hate typing numeric values.
Don’t expect a sleek, modern ribbon. Batzal’s UI is utilitarian—a compact panel with dropdowns for roof type (Gable, Hip, Dutch, Mansard, Pyramid) and a dizzying array of numerical input fields for overhang, pitch, fascia width, rafter depth, and sheathing thickness. Batzal Roof Designer For Max 2020
Combine Batzal with "FloorGenerator" for the floor slabs and "RailClone" for the gutters. That trifecta turns Max 2020 into an architectural modeling monster.
Let’s face it—modeling complex roofs in native 3ds Max is a chore. Between boolean operations gone wrong, spline cage modeling that takes hours, and the sheer agony of aligning hip rafters manually, roofing has always been the bottleneck in residential arch-viz. Enter . I’ve been using the 2020-compatible version for roughly 18 months on over a dozen projects, ranging from suburban single-family homes to a complicated mountain lodge. Here is my brutally honest, long-form review. Batzal Roof Designer for Max 2020 is like
★★★½ (3.5/5 Stars) – Essential for specialists, frustrating for generalists.
Getting this plugin to work with 3ds Max 2020 requires a bit of archeology. The official Batzal website feels like it was designed in 2008, and the download links for the 2020 version are buried. However, once you find the correct .exe (version 1.2.3 for Max 2020), installation is straightforward. It integrates as a floating toolbar and a modifier. Important warning: It does not play well with Max 2021+ due to SDK changes, so if you are stubbornly holding onto Max 2020 (like many of us with legacy render farms), you are the target audience. Just save your scene before clicking "Generate
Reviewed by: Michael T., Arch-Viz Generalist (4+ years of experience with the plugin) Date: October 2025 Software Environment: 3ds Max 2020, V-Ray Next, Windows 10 Pro