It would be good to have a free plugin with a few simple vertex tools. You have to use Sketchup.active_model.select_tool. Vertex selection/transofrm plugin. Jan 31, 2012 - Update: June 2014. This article was written right before Google sold SketchUp to Trimble. Since then the instructions has changed slightly. In May 2013 SketchUp 2013 was released which included the Extension Warehouse which allow you to browse and discover extensions directly from within SketchUp.

SketchUp is one of the easiest, fastest, and most popular 3D modeling software. Its tools and interface are simple and easy to deal with for the beginners. However, as work starts to get a bit more complicated, these simple tools might become a hindrance. Egames Snake Arena. That is when SketchUp plugins or extensions come into the picture. These plugins are created by users who noticed the shortcomings of the default tools on Sketchup and decided to solve them.

Now, using such plugins is essential for faster and better results. Once you have grasped how they work, you will realize how much time they could save you. Doing basic repetitive tasks like extruding (push/pull) multiple surfaces or creating offsets and multiple copies will be your job no more. Insert your data, and the plugins will do their magic in a blink of an eye. See also: • • • • • Here, we will give you a list of handy SketchUp plugins that will get things done better and faster. Moreover, they can help you with developing some really creative designs, and they are all available for free.

We will tell you first, though, how to install a plugin on the latest version of SketchUp. First, click on “Extension Manager”; the red gem icon on the far right of the toolbar. Or, you can open “Extension Manager” from “Window” drop menu. Second, click on “Install Extensions” at the bottom left of the Extension Manager Window. Third, choose the extension file with the ‘rbz’ extension from the download folder.

Now, the extension will appear in your list of extensions. Make sure it is enabled. When you restart SketchUp, the shortcut toolbar or icon of the installed extension will appear.

Now, check out these helpful extensions. This is a plugin that provides various options for extrusion of surfaces, one of which is extruding multiple surfaces in parallel. You can check out the user manual provided by the developer for more details. You may need to download the by the same developer before that. Are you familiar with AutoCAD’s offset? That does the same job but in 3D. The extension offers the offset methods.

You can select one or more surfaces you would like to offset and then choose one of the three options. This plugin lets you bend a group or a component to match the path of a curve or even a free-hand line. It gives you a wireframe preview of the product before execution. You can play with this plugin to create various forms or playful wall cladding. It randomly extrudes all the selected surfaces within the range you enter. You just need to insert a minimum and a maximum value, then you will get a set of extruded surfaces with depths ranging between these two values.

This plugin provides a variety of scale transformation options to your model. These options include stretching, tapering, and twisting among others.