I love SketchUp’s native toolset because there is just so much you can do with it! Though, sometimes you need an extension to help you get your model done a little quicker and a little easier. These extensions are some of my personal favorite general-purpose extensions for SketchUp. These extensions (with maybe one exception) can be added to almost any workflow and help you to create better models faster.
Selection Toys (Thomthom) - This extension is a must-have for EVERYONE. It allows you to filter your selections, making the act of choosing specific pieces of your model a snap… or a click!
Bezier Curve Tool (SketchUp Team) - I draw a lot of arcs, but there are plenty of times that I also need to draw a curve that is not a symmetrical arc. When that happens I love the simple interface of Bezier Curve.
Curic Mirror (Curic) - I know I can flip along an axis, or scale to -1.00 to mirror selected geometry, but Curic Mirror’s one-click interface is a time and headache saver!
Curviloft (Fredo6) - Some shapes are easier than others to create with SketchUp’s native tools. Smooth, sweeping geometry can be achieved using arcs, push/pull, and scale, but sometimes you need to get a compound curved shape in one click. Enter Curviloft. A great way to loft between curves or skin line geometry.
NOTE: Curviloft will require LibFredo to run.
Weld (Smustard Team) - A simple function that you need an extension for, Weld takes care of joining multiple lines into curves with a single click.
Solid Inspector2 (Thomthom) - Whenever possible, I like to make sure that my models are solids. Solid Inspector is the quickest, easiest way to make sure that happens.
PushLine (Denis B) - Wait… an extension that allows you to push edges the same way that the Push/Pull tool allows you to push faces? What’s not to love?
Joint Push/Pull (Fredo6) - Push/Pull only works on a single face at a time. If you have more than one connected, smoothed set of faces that need to be pushed around, then you need Join Push/Pull.
NOTE: Joint Push/Pull will require LibFredo to run.
Sandbox Tools (SketchUp Team) - Yeah, I know it is installed with SketchUp, but it’s still an extension! A great set of tools that took me far too long to appreciate!
SubD (Thomthom) - When you join SubD with Vertex Tools and Quad Face Tools you turn SketchUp into a quadface, smooth geometry generating engine! While this set of tools does fall outside of the “falls into any workflow” promise that I mentioned in the intro, these tools to bring SketchUp a totally new 3D modeling workflow!
So there you go! Some of my personal favorite extensions for you to check out. The best part is, with one or two exceptions, they are totally free to use! Check out the links below to help you get the most out of extensions, and let us know YOUR favorite extension in the forum!
