Sketchup-Ur-Space

"11 easy to use & helpful SketchUp Plugins ”

Subhra Bera: Editor

SketchUp Warehouse is full of different useful extensions that are used in modeling in SketchUp by users but there are 11 extensions which are used frequently.

About Extension Warehouse: It is an online resource with various plug-ins developed made especially for SketchUp and these extensions help to add some special tools and features to SketchUp. These extensions can be found for any particular application like drawing or 3D printing and some industry specified tools for architecture, interior design, construction and many more. So basically in this Extension Warehouse people can do the following things:

  • Users can search extensions by name or as per the functionality.
  • They can also install various extensions with a single click of a button.
  • Or users can also control all the extensions from easy-to-use location in the My Extension page.

The organization named Fat Pencil Studio uses SketchUp for their all works and among all the other benefits of SketchUp, the plugins which are generally known as SketchUp extensions make the work so great to do. There are lots of extensions or plugins in SketchUp which are used for different reasons and works but the team has chosen 11 great plugins which are best to use for their vast FPS toolbox.

This article will cover the plugins and their functions; the plugins or extensions are: Selection Toys, Selection Memory, Weld, Eneroth Camera Memory, Fredo Scale, Architect Tools, Dropgc, Zorro, Wire Tool, Instant Terrain and Loose to Groups.

  • Selection toys: Selection toys is a vital extension for all modelers and for any kind of modeling that allows the users to filter objects in and out of a previous selection. Users can both select and deselect only edges, groups, components or entities that have particular properties such as hidden, soft or smooth etc. the people of Fat pencil Studio, use this extension very much in a variety of ways like for hiding bounding edges, optionally applying materials and more.
  • Selection Memory: This extension helps users in remembering the selections made in SketchUp so people will not miss any selection for any model or size.
  • Weld: This extension adds the loose edges into a soft curve that can be selected in one click; Fat Pencil Studio uses this tool to prevent extra popping up edges while working with Push/Pull tool on traced geometry. Actually much long arrays will need an extra application of the extension and Weld is expert on this.
  • Eneroth Camera Memory: This is a wonderful extension that captures camera views from one model to another allowing remembering the users easily; basically it is a great idea while working between versions of models and wants to copy scenes. When the both models remain opened, it captures the view from the first model and choose “Put to Memory” option and in the working model, users can select “Retrieve from memory” to bring up the view.
  • Fredo Scale: It helps to sale normally with the help of native tools in SketchUp.
  • Architect Tools: This is a set of tools that comes in easy working on large models with buildings and terrain while the “flatten selection” tool helps to tracing the edges easily. There are two more tools like the “Contour Tool” and the “Project Down Tool”.
  • DROPGC: It is a shortcut for dropping objects to a contoured surface and DropGC will create the PathCopy extension and fall cleanly onto a piece of terrain.
  • ZORRO: It is a wonderful tool to cut the fat and makes it easy to chop off geometry around the edges of the model which don’t need to enter into components.
  • Wire Tool: It works greatly on drawing catenary curves.
  • Instant Terrain: It hangs a continuous, triangulated surface over everything; selecting into surface and using Selection Toys will garb the lines only.
  • Loose to Groups: This helps to gain the geometry by ungrouping it and organizing it in something useful.
11 easy to use & helpful SketchUp Plugins

Source:fatpencilstudio.com/blog/11-stress-reducing-sketchup-plugins/