This is the companion page for Chapter 4 of the book Architectural Design with SketchUp.

On This Page

    From the Book

    In this chapter of Architectural Design with SketchUp, you’ll explore the many extensions (occasionally also called plugins) that are available for SketchUp Pro. They are used for tasks that can’t (efficiently) be accomplished using SketchUp’s built-in tool set alone. These extensions 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 on a given project. Note, however, that extensions only work with the desktop versions (Windows or Mac) of SketchUp Pro, not with the web or iPad apps.

    Some of the things that are possible with extensions are advanced creation/modification of objects, organic modeling, fabrication preprocessing, physics simulation, building energy analysis, and—as you will see in Chapter 5—photorealistic rendering.

    Chapter Sections:

    1. What Does an Extension Do?
    2. Getting and Using Extensions
    3. Extensions and Their Applications

    Go Beyond the Book

    These are my most recent tutorials posted in the Extensions category on this site:

    Point Cloud Modeling in SketchUp with Scan Essentials – a Thorough Introduction
    Having Some Fun with AI: The Snarky Architecture Critic
    Compound (Boolean) Geometry in SketchUp with Solid Tools

    SketchUp Models in this Chapter

    Below are two of the models that you can explore interactively in your browser (click and drag to orbit):

    View and download all models from this chapter on the 3D Warehouse.

    Extension Search

    View this page to search for extensions (formerly called plugins) and posts/videos that relate to them.

    Tutorial Videos for this Chapter (Playlist)

    The following YouTube playlist contains my collection of Extensions videos:

    Links for this Chapter

    Related links to relevant websites are listed here.

    Discuss this Chapter

    Use the discussion area below to add any comments, tips, tricks etc. for this chapter…

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    Chapter 5 explains how you can create amazing renderings from SketchUp.