House Builder Google SketchUp Plugin

The House Builder plugin created by Steve Hurlbut and D. Bur on the Ruby Library Depot is a very efficient tool to create a home wood frame construction processes with studs and joists. The plugin allows you to create doors, windows and even roof pitches automatically.

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Phlatscript Google SketchUp Plugin

The Phlatscript plugin created by Mark and Trish Carew of Phlatboyz, LLC is a plugin allowing you to turn SketchUp models into a real life physical model. The plugin converts the SketchUp project into gcode to be produced in a cnc (computer numerical control) plotter. It allows you to create inside and outside cuts, tabs, folds and more. We do not have much experience in CNC plotting but from what we can see, if you have one of these printers than this plugin works really well.

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SketchUp Plugins: Extruding and Offsettin Curved Faces

The new sketchup plugin! Extruding and Offsettin Curved Faces!
The Joint Push Pull plugin created by Fredo on SketchUcation.com is a useful tool to use the push pull command on curved surfaces. There are times that you need to do this and the original tool provided by SketchUp will not work on surfaces if they have even a slight curve to them. Joint Push Pull solves this dilemma.

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Laser Scans in Google SketchUp

Pointools has just announced the availability of a new plug-in for Google SketchUp. This would seem to be quite a statement about the level of demand for point cloud data by Google SketchUp customers.

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Organic modeling with the Artisan plugin

SketchUp plugin wizard Dale Martens (a.k.a. Whaat) recently released an amazing and incredibly useful organic modeling toolset called Artisan. Based on Dale’s popularSubdivide & Smooth tools, Artisan is perfect for people who want to use SketchUp to model organic shapes and terrain features. Artisan includes a set of “deformation” tools that allow you to sculpt, smooth, flatten, pinch and apply textures just like you would with a brush.

The toolbar for Dale Martens' Artisan Organic Toolset for SketchUp

Eric Lay modeled Patrick Beaulieu's "Bobby Bubble" character, then rendered him (her?) with Twilight Render.

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Amsterdam adds another dimension in Google Earth

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting the beautiful city of Amsterdam for yourself, I’m happy to say that Google Earth now offers the next best thing: Amsterdam in 3D.

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Great new book: Mastering the Art of 3D Construction Modeling

Dennis Fukai is Director of Research and Development at Insitebuilders. He’s a licensed architect and contractor with more than 25 years of design and construction experience, and a Fulbright Scholar with a PhD in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley. He taught graduate and undergraduate courses in building construction and architecture for ten years before beginning his publishing company Insitebuilders.com.

You may recognize Dennis’ name; he’s been writing SketchUp books since 2004.Mastering the Art of 3D Construction Modeling is the title of his latest publication, which was released in March of this year.

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