Architectural_Design_with_SketchUp

Chapter 4
Using Plugins Effectively
In this chapter, we’ll explore the many plugins that are available to extend SketchUp and
use them for tasks that can’t be done using SketchUp alone. Those plugins are often freely
available, they are easy to install, they add a wide range of functionality, and you can use as
many or as few as you need for a given task.
Some of the things that are possible with plugins are physics simulation, advanced creation/deformation
of objects, organic modeling, fabrication preprocessing, building energy
analysis, and—as we will see in Chapter 5—photorealistic rendering.
Key Topics:
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Where to find plugins and how to install them
Plugins for general 3D modeling
Plugins for architectural modeling
Plugins for digital fabrication
Plugins for data integration
Plugins for animation
Plugins for analysis
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What Does a Plugin Do?
Arguably one of the most forward-looking and best features of SketchUp (and one that was
implemented early in the software development) was the inclusion of a scripting language called
Ruby. Having many functions available in this scripting language effectively made it possible to
control every aspect in SketchUp using only a few lines of code. It was thereafter possible for
any user to extend the functionality of SketchUp by writing some Ruby code, posting it on the
Web, and letting other people use the tool they created, too. Any available plugin can be used
with the free version of SketchUp, which is a tremendous benefit for users on a budget who
want to get access to powerful 3D CAD software.
Over the past years, this has expanded from small pieces of code that come in one file
and add one tool to SketchUp to sometimes very complex software packages that provide
an entire tool set and a visual user interface and that allow SketchUp to exchange data with
external software such as a photorealistic rendering or a building energy analysis program.
The number of available plugins has increased, too. One of the oldest plugin repositories,
Didier Bur’s Ruby Library Depot, at the time of this writing was listing over 930 plugins—not
even counting many commercial plugins that are available on other websites.