In today’s day and age, three-dimensional modeling software is more than capable of offering plenty of benefits. During the past decade, SketchUp has continually evolved – from a simple tool used by architects to one that is capable of providing a full-blown visualization experience. In spite of the fact that the journey has not been easy, it has been able to grow into a competent modeling program that is compatible with an array of plugins and rendering software applications which are some of the most robust on the market.
The 3D modeling, rendering, and visualization industry is one that is here to stay, and SketchUp may be just the thing you need to get your feet wet. Become proficient in these plugins, and you will be able to produce images and animations that the rhino bullies on your block are only able to imagine.
No matter what level of skill you possess as a computer-savvy rendering artist, SketchUp can be of service to you. As a result of its user-friendly nature, this product can easily be learned by beginners and mastered by professionals alike. Become familiar with SketchUp so you can take advantage of all the features available within this war chest of auxiliary plugins.
Best Extensions for SketchUp users
There are a lot of excellent Sketchup plugins out there, but here are the best:-
VRAY plugins
It is a term that is familiar to any individual who has stepped foot inside a design studio. The majority of us design geeks do not realize, however, that VRAY also supports SketchUp via a plugin that is equally user-friendly. You should probably start by looking into VRAY if you are interested in creating photo-realistic renderings from SketchUp. You will be able to produce pro-quality images and animations with its material editor, as well as all other helpful tools.
With VRAY, you’re offered a free set of tools and materials, as well as the option to put a little skin in the game to make use of the full range of options and settings available to you.
JointPushPull plugins
Has there ever been a time when you got tired of that ordinary push/pull tool with its rather stunted ability to do just that…push and pull? In order for you to make your model resemble the digital Gumby, JointPushPull offers you various specific tools that you can use to make it resemble this digital toy.
Aside from entering into the technical details of what each of these tools does, rest assured: that mastering this plugin will significantly reduce the amount of time you have to spend modeling.
Brighter 3D software
I’ve already become a big fan of this rendering engine for SketchUp, and have been using it ever since I discovered it. With an easy-to-use interface and streamlined toolset, it advertises an easy-to-use interface that also has a lot of power under the hood when it comes to rendering.
Providing seamless integration with SketchUp, as well as an intuitive preview tool that allows you to simulate an accurate sample image in seconds, Brighter delivers what it promises. In order to produce lightning-fast results, it uses unbiased rendering technology, which uses a variety of algorithms.
Thea rendering tool
It is a rendering plugin for SketchUp that is best used for its material design and effects features, especially when used in conjunction with material design.
It is possible to render an interactive render via Interactive Region Rendering in Sketchup using the renderer’s fog and cloud presets that are included with the renderer. It provides designers with the ability to select a specific part of the design they want to render, and Sketchup will automatically respond with the results.
Aside from providing a broad material library for your different needs, Thea offers a wide range of material types. No matter what type of layering, tone-mapping, displacement, or procedural texture you are working on. The paint bucket tool in SketchUp and the content browser are both ways of accessing these libraries through SketchUp’s Paint Bucket tool.
CurviLoft tool
CurviLoft is the ideal tool for those who want to create curvilinear models, things you might have thought would only be possible if you had programs like Maya and Rhino available to you. With Curviloft, you have a choice of three tools: lofting along a path, lofting along a line and skinning.
There are some similarities in the practical aspects of the CurviLoft tool and the Follow Me tool. On the other hand, CurviLoft is not only capable of connecting two shapes along a path, but can also connect two different shapes at the same time.
Twilight Rendering Extension
There is still a long way to go with Twilight Render. In terms of rendering plugins, this one is free, and it will give you decent image output and a decent library of materials, but we would like to emphasize that this is not intended for professional players. In my opinion, TR is an extremely important component of the growth of the visualization industry, so I have included it in this article.
Besides being a capable bit of software, it’s also a good addition to Sketchup that allows people to try out a rendering tool for free, allowing them to become familiar with it completely through experimentation. As a matter of fact, it is much like SketchUp itself in this regard as well.
Purge All tool
In SketchUp, it can be a tedious and infuriating task to keep your model clean and organized. Besides being a good practice, it’s also a must, as if your model gets too large, it can spread layers and model components like the plague across the whole thing. As the name suggests, Purge All is a very simple, yet very important plugin whose purpose is pretty much clear from the title.
With this plugin, you can do a more precise and robust purge than SketchUp’s default tools, and you can even see what exactly has been damaged after the purge has been done.
