Tutorials about using SketchUp extensions: New extensions, applied workflows, tips and tricks, etc. Learn more about this topic in Chapter 4 of my book
https://youtu.be/UmvTROcPETY
This video tutorial revisits a parametric 3D printable panel that I created a while ago using plain Ruby code. You can explore the original 3D model using the viewer below. Just click the image to start it.
Since the underlying code is now included in my Scale By Tools extension, I used it to re-create the same panel. Watch the video to see how you can very easily create the same design (or whatever else you want) with it. You can then 3D print it, laser cut, CNC cut, or use a waterjet cutter to create this panel out of many materials.
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https://youtu.be/f8QSU63o5zE?list=PL9BB9780934A68B41
This video tutorial shows how the Random Tools SketchUp Extension makes it easy to improve renderings, especially when vegetation is involved. I am showing how the tools work in the context of the real-time Enscape rendering software, however the principles apply to any renderer.
With this extension, you can place objects randomly, rearrange them randomly (including size, position, and rotation). and adjust their textures randomly.
Links
Random Tools for Rendering in SketchUp (with Enscape) on YouTubeRandom Tools Extension
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This week's video tutorial shows an application of my recently published Scale By Tools SketchUp extension. Specifically, the Move Vertices by Image tool allows you to modify a mesh based on image data, which as a result embosses the image on that surface. This can then be used to create terrain, but it has many other applications, too. In this example, I am using this tool to deform a wood slatted wall with a ripple pattern. This would be manufactured using CNC cutting, for example.
Links
Creating an Undulating Wall with Scale By Tools in SketchUpScale By Tools ExtensionA different approach: Creating an Organic Wall | Method 1 - From Spline Curves in SketchUp
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https://youtu.be/Q6prKH9vw9c
As I covered in last week's post, Trimble recently released a new point cloud extension for SketchUp, Trimble Scan Essentials For SketchUp. In today's post and video, I am using this tool to perform some analysis with the same 3D point cloud data that I introduced earlier (a scan of our classroom). I am basically checking how level the floor in our classroom really is by using what is aptly called a "floor flatness analysis".
This approach is useful to verify any concrete work, especially if tolerances were defined in the specs. As you may have guessed already - our classroom's floor is not overly flat at all in some areas.
My solution uses the extension's Inspection Map feature and simply compares the floor scan's points to a planar reference surface. This then results in a color-coded map that nicely illustrates where the ridges and valleys are. You can even label individual points and produce well-documented reports from this. Of course, the...
Scan Explorer in SketchUp
A few days ago, the Trimble folks announced the release of a new point cloud extension for SketchUp, Trimble Scan Essentials For SketchUp. This came on the heels of their release of version 2020.1 of SketchUp Pro. And if you asked me, being able to easily work with point clouds in SketchUp is absolutely the most exciting feature of this year's release cycle!
Never heard of point clouds? Check out this Wikipedia article as a primer.
Up until recently, Trimble produced the Scan Explorer extension for SketchUp that allowed you to load a point cloud and extract construction points, planes, etc. into the 3D model. The workflow was a bit clunky in that the cloud would never load into the modeling environment but remained in the viewer dialog. This is now much improved in this new extension.
I should mention at this point that there are also other LIDAR and point cloud extensions for SketchUp, most notably Undet, which you...
