Once you have mastered the native SketchUp toolsets, it is time to look at what extensions can offer to boost your SketchUp workflows. Extensions are a great resource for intermediate and advanced purpose-built tools that are designed to optimise specific tasks.
If you haven’t explored extensions, you’re missing out on discovering all the innovative quick tools that could take your project to the next level.
Extensions are plugins containing specialised tools and features that you can download easily and add them directly into your SketchUp Pro.
There are over 750 apps in the SketchUp Extension Warehouse library, including tools for rendering, drawing, energy analysis, 3D printing and more. The Extension Warehouse is made to work together with SketchUp. It is accessible on your SketchUp toolbar under Extensions. With just a single click, you can download most free extensions directly from the Extension Warehouse into SketchUp.
The Extension Warehouse platform is designed to help you easily find the tool you need. You can search by industry and workflow categories, free or paid extensions, or free- text keywords.
Most of the apps are free but some require a small fee, charged by third parties. Some of the extensions such as Diffusion and Trimble Connect Visualizer are included in your SketchUp subscription toolbox. Extensions are supported in SketchUp Pro, Studio and EDU subscriptions (Note: you get SketchUp Pro as part of your Studio and EDU subscriptions).
Learn more about using Extension Warehouse.
sketchUcation is an alternate, third-party marketplace and a resource center for the wider SketchUp community. It is not directly accessible in SketchUp and you will to need create a separate account (free) on their website for access. Many extensions on this platform are also free, and the tools that have a price are often quite affordable relative to their value
Some developers or companies choose to host their extensions on their own websites such as Skimp and artisan4sketchup.
You can do a lot with SketchUp’s native tools, but it doesn’t mean you cannot explore other possibilities of optimizing your project workflows.
Extensions exist as a part of the SketchUp ecosystem, channelling its ethos of interoperability and adaptability through integration with a wide palette of additional purpose-built tools, thus expanding your workflow options and capabilities.
For example, there are extensions to optimize importing CAD drawings. You can use CleanUp³ to clean up the information within SketchUp before you bring them into 3D, and Universal Importer to import a range of file types.
Furthermore, extensions can also help with model management especially when you are importing multiple high-quality models and textures. Extensions can convert various 3D formats to SketchUp files, control the size of textures, remove unnecessary geometries, review impact of components, etc. thus, improving the model performance in SketchUp.
Before you start looking for extensions, the first question that you need to ask yourself is “What do I want to do with the extension?” If you are clear about your purpose or what you want to achieve, then it’s much easier to begin your search.
Every extension is created for a reason, for example, to resolve a common pain point or optimize a workflow specific to an industry. With so many extensions available, chances are there is already an extension existing for the purpose that you are looking for.
On the Extension Warehouse homepage, you can view Featured Extensions and the most popular ones based on the number of downloads. It is a great platform to browse the different types of extensions available for SketchUp, but if you want to learn a few tips to find the right SketchUp extension, you can watch the video in the next section.
Watch this video to learn a few tips on finding the right extensions.
We’ll showcase a number of popular Extensions here under these categories:
CleanUp³ : Cleans up and optimizes your SketchUp model. Some of the features include : purge unused items, erase hidden geometry, repair split edges, just to name a few.
SKIMP : Simplifies high-poly models and greatly reduces the time to import them.
Material Resizer : Quickly resize images in your model.
Universal Importer : Import 3D models in SketchUp and reduce polygon counts on the fly, with over 50 formats supported
CG Impact Report : A diagnostic reporting tool used to find components and groups that may have the biggest impact on a model’s size and performance.
Fredo Scale : Orientate the selection box around a set of objects and interactively apply a number of geometric transformations, such as scaling, tapering, stretching, planar shear, twisting, bending and rotation.
CleanUp³
Material Resizer
Fredo Scale
Modelur : Easy-to-use Parametric Software for early-stage Site Planning & Feasibility Studies.
3Skeng : Innovative & intuitive engineering software for SketchUp. Parametric design tools for: Engineering, HVAC design, Pipe fitting, Waste water, Oil, Semiconductor, Solar, and more
PlusSpec : A powerful, affordable and easy to learn 3D BIM/Virtual Design Construction & Estimating software for the Design & Construction Industry.
Eneroth Building Instructions : Manage and preview the order parts that should be assembled in.
Phases4D : A SketchUp extension allowing users to assign objects to Phases in a project. Users can create a schedule by adding Phases, add duration (days) and non-workdays (weekends, holidays), add Predecessors, etc., then assign objects to each phases. Once the Phases are generated, a simple slider allows the user to drag along a timeline to watch the 3D model come to life.
Introduction to Modelur
Eneroth Building Instructions
S4u MakeFace : Select edges to make faces or Right Mouse select make face.
Simplify Contours Tool : This script reduces the number of edge segments that make up the contour lines, which in turn reduces the overall file size making it easier to work with the contours in SketchUp. This is useful when you import contour line drawings that were executed in other CAD applications, SketchUp will often convert polyspline contours into polylines that contain hundreds or even thousands of straight-line segments.
Fredo6 Tools : Fredo Tools groups a number of Fredo’s standalone plugins. By delivering them as a single package, it reduces the footprint on Sketchup and avoids individual installation of each plugin. Some of the plugins included are EdgeInspector, Face Triangulator, DivideEdges, etc.
Edge Tools : A suite of tools for working with edges including simplifying sets of curves, closing small gaps, dividing edges.
Solid Inspector : Inspect and repair solids in SketchUp
s4u Make Face
Edge Tools
Sandbox Tools : Native SketchUp Tool
Fredo6 Bezier Spline : Draws a variety of Polylines, Bezier and Spline curves, all in 3D.
Curviloft : Curviloft is a script dedicated to Loft and Skinning, that is, generation of surfaces from contours.
Soap Skin & Bubble : Allows you to apply a skin over edges to create complex curved surfaces.
ClothWorks : A cloth simulation extension for SketchUp
Artisan 2 Tools : Artisan is an extension for SketchUp that lets you do the impossible! With powerful tools for subdivision, sculpting, soft selection, free-form deformation, extrusion, and more, Artisan will supercharge your ability to model terrain, characters, furniture, and other complex organic forms.
Eneroth Upside Extruder : Extrudes profile while keeping it upright. This can be useful on everything from railings to roads.
Slicer v6.0 : A toolset to ‘Slice’ up a volume – useful in real-model making or finding likely areas in master plan volumes.
Fredo6 Tools
Artisan 2 Tools
V- Ray : Included in your SketchUp Studio subscription, it is a 3D rendering software that combines real-time and photoreal rendering.
Enscape : This real-time render plugin empowers you to create beautiful, realistic renderings in a matter of seconds.
Lumion : Models and renders in real-time – can make changes on the fly, quickly test ideas and visualize your designs at any time in the development process.
Diffusion : Create concept visuals in seconds with generative AI (available with all SketchUp subscriptions)
Spacely AI : Render photorealistic interiors and exteriors in seconds with AI
Note: Ambient Occlusion is prebuilt into your Styles menu toolbar. Just tick the box to turn it on.
Enscape
Spacely AI
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