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One key facet to building successful 3D models is to understand how to better use your tools and interact with various extensions and plugins available in SketchUp. If you take a sports car, and you strip away the shiny exterior, you will discover a streamlined framework with a powerful engine that makes the car go fast. Plugins and extensions are the streamlined frameworks and powerful engines that give your 3D model design the extra horsepower it needs to become a truly special tool. An extension or plugin is a third-party software add-on that enhances SketchUp functionality. The terms extension and plugin are typically used interchangeably. Some extensions are free, and others you will need to purchase, similar to purchasing or downloading an application on a mobile device. With SketchUp plugins and extensions, you will find some that are very helpful and others that are not. It is just a matter of seeing which ones work best for you. Investing some time in reading reviews and recommendations may help you in finding the best plugins. Your selected reading assignment for this lesson provides a few places to begin your search for the right extensions and plugins. The author lists several sites for you to view during your search. One of the most popular places to find extensions is SketchUp’s very own Extension Warehouse. The Extension Warehouse is SketchUp’s online extension/plugin store. It is accessible through SketchUp and provides a way for you to search for and install various extensions and plugins. The best part is that the plugins in Extension Warehouse have been fully evaluated and separated off into searchable categories for you. The Extension Warehouse is located in the Window menu. To access the Extension Warehouse, select Window > Extension Warehouse (Figure 1). An alternative would be adding the Warehouse icon to the Getting Started toolbar (Figure 2). Figure 3—Install externally purchased extensions by clicking the “Get this Extension” button. Figure 3—Install externally purchased extensions by clicking the “Get this Extension” button. 1 2 3 Previous Next You may now be wondering how to install an extension once you have found one. Many free extensions can be installed or uninstalled directly through the Extension Warehouse. Use the “Install/Uninstall” button in the top left-hand corner of the extension information page. For externally purchased extensions, you may see a “Get this Extension” button (Figure 3). The process is similar for purchased or free trial extensions. Simply click the “Purchase/Free Trial” button in the same spot and follow the directions. In some cases, selecting this button may lead you to the developer’s website to purchase and download the plugin or extension. Once an extension is installed, it is automatically activated in SketchUp. In some rare cases, especially with tool extensions, they will be located in the Tools menu. The Extension Manager is located in the Window menu. The Extension Manager allows you to view information about the extension’s author, install, enable, update, disable, and uninstall extensions (Figure 4). It is SketchUp’s one-stop shop to install and manage your extensions. Any plugins or extensions downloaded from external sites can be installed using the Extension Manager as well. In the bottom right corner, you will find an install extension button. Clicking this button will allow you to browse for the third-party extension (.rb or .rbz) file that you wish to install. Once the extension is installed and is available to be managed by the Extension Manager, you may notice that some of the extensions have Signed or Unsigned next to the developer (Figure 5). If an extension is signed, it means that the developer is registered with Trimble and that the extension has been securely coded. If the extension is unsigned, the extension cannot be linked directly to a SketchUp account. This occurs quite frequently with third-party extensions that are downloaded from external sites. Unsigned extensions have not been fully vetted by SketchUp staff and can be less secure and buggy. Unsigned extensions are a “use at your own risk” type of situation. They may become difficult to work with when SketchUp is updated, so beware. There are many extensions for every industry available in the Extension Warehouse and other resource sites mentioned in the course book. The Extension Warehouse has handy extensions for professionals in several different industries including: Architecture Construction Education Engineering Film & Stage Gaming Heavy Civil Engineering Interior Design Kitchen & Bath Landscape Architecture Urban Planning Woodworking Let’s look at some popular extensions for SketchUp and how they can help improve your 3D models. Below are some useful plugins and extensions we have discovered that can be quite useful to SketchUp designers. We have tried to spotlight extensions that can be used in multiple professions or industries. There is something for everyone—no matter what line of business you are in. Some of these extensions are free and others are available for purchase. All of them are available through SketchUp’s Extension Warehouse. Here are some of the most popular extensions: SU Podium and Podium Browser: (Available for purchase on SketchUp Extension Warehouse or SUPlugins) SU Podium enhances your 3D models to make them appear to be realistic and near photo quality. Podium Browser provides a library of over 16 thousand realistically rendered models. Here are some visual galleries that can be viewed on their website: Podium User Galleries Podium Panorama User Gallery Podium Contest Winners CleanUp³: (Free on SketchUp Extension Manager) A handy little tool to help tidy up and enhance your 3D models to make them more streamlined, efficient, and aesthetically pleasing. Advanced Camera Tools: (Free on SketchUp Extension Manager) Used by many in the film and entertainment industry, this extension helps with storyboarding, set design, camera placement, scene visuals, and location scouting. Skalp for SketchUp: (14-Day Free Trial on SketchUp Extension Manager) Incredibly useful slicing tool that allows you to slice and scale your model in a variety of ways. 3D Printing Extensions: There are several 3D printing service extensions available on the Extension Warehouse that not only offer a way for you to clean up and prepare your model for 3D printing, but offer an online service that will 3D print the model for you. We have listed a few examples of these 3D printing services and prices vary. 3D printing model Repair Service (Makeprintable) i.Materialise Split4Print: An extension that helps you split your print ready 3D model into smaller segments that are then joined to create the final piece. Viz Pro: (Available for purchase on SketchUp Extension Manager) Viz adds parametric modeling to SketchUp. All your modeling history is retained, and you won’t need to redo all the work anymore. Often updating your complex model will turn out to be a matter of tweaking a couple of sliders. Edddison: (Free on SketchUp Extension Manager) Allows designers to perform a visual walkthrough for their creations, and port your projects to portable devices. Note: This plugin requires the “edddison for SketchUp” software, available at edddison.com. BiMUp 5D for SketchUp: (Available for purchase on Extension Warehouse and at BiMUp) Quality building information modeling software that assists with the BIM process and reporting needs. Besides the extensions, there are many other useful tools and applications that interact with SketchUp that you should be aware of at this time. The three most important ones that come to mind were recent acquisitions or added tools of Trimble called LayOut, Style Builder, and Sefaira Architecture. LayOut: LayOut is a unique and useful tool that aids you in creating and linking documentation to your SketchUp 3D model. In a LayOut document you can add labels, photos, dimensions, documentation, and other details. You can then save these details in a PDF and send it to other members of the project team or a client. Style Builder: Style Builder is useful for designers who like their designs to have that freshly sketched look. You start by drawing several lines by hand on paper or another medium. Style Builder allows you to take your sketched lines or rough outlines that you have drawn and create an electronic library of sketchy edge style lines for use in your SketchUp designs. Sefaira Architecture: Sefaira Architecture helps architects and designers create highly energy efficient buildings and designs. It considers building design, access to external light and heat, airflow, and other key indicators to help design energy proficient and functional designs and buildings. SketchUp Studio incorporates all these tools in its offering. The abilities offered by these tools and the added capabilities offered through the many extensions make it easy to understand why SketchUp is so popular with designers in the traditional architectural and interior design type professions as well as designers in other fields that have adapted SketchUp to fit their industry’s needs.