The DXF Export plugin created by Joergber on SketchUcation.com is a useful plugin allowing you to export your 3D model to AutoCAD as a DXF file developed by AutoDesk (Drawing Interchange Format or also known as Drawing Exchange Format). The plugin works with Google SketchUp 8 and known to at least work with AutoCAD 2010.

The plugin works well and enables you to the export function that the pro version of Google SketchUp offers in the free version. This DXF exporter explodes and then regroups segments in order to simplify the drawing. There are some minor imperfections of the plugin. The exporter does not export faces, only line and arc segments are exported. And there are cases in which arc orientation is off. These issues are discussed in the SketchUcation.com forum.

Overall, the DXF Export plugin created by Joergber on SketchUcation.com is an extremely useful plugin and exporter to sync your creation with AutoCAD and other drafting platforms. At the time of this review this plugin is free and is available at SketchUcation.com. I give this plugin 3 out 5 stars, though it looks as if future versions will have more of the bugs worked out.

Download Notes: Need to be logged into SketchUcation.com in order to download.

Pen Tools included in version 1.4 are:
- Soft Draw – is to help you create softened or smoothed lines. It works the same way the eraser tool (with ctrl) works to soften lines and thus curves. You can trace over existing lines with this tool to soften them. (To see the lines turn on Hidden Geometry)
- Hide Draw – is at it implies. Helps you to create hidden lines. (Turn on Hidden Geometry)
- Guide Draw – allows you to create guide lines.
- Weld Draw – helps to create connected lines to draw out curves. It serves as multiple soft draw tool. (Turn on Hidden Geometry)
- Edge Draw – creates edges of lines without the faces. Comes in handy when sketching objects that do not need faces.
- Line Draw – exactly the same as the Line Tool that comes with SketchUp.
- Point Draw – helps to create construction points.

This plugin works with Google SketchUp 8. And after some getting used to can be very handy when utilizing SketchUp. The only drawback is that the Weld Tool could be a little bit more user friendly and intuitive. Maybe adding a new pen tool that allows you to draw a curve in 3D, or allowing you to chisel in the x, y and z axis. Though we cannot really complain, this plugin becomes more and more useful as you use it.

Overall, the Pen Tool + plugin created by R. Obrien on the Ruby Library Depot is an essential tool for advanced SketchUp users and can really help speed up the design process. At the time of this review this plugin is FREE and is available at The Ruby Library Depot. I give this plugin 5 out 5 stars.

The Texture Tool plugin created by TIG on SketchUcation.com is a decent plugin to adjust textures. Works with Google SketchUp 8 and allows you to adjust the texture in many different ways including: Texture Adjust, Texture Nudge, Texture Rotate, Texture Scale, Texture Shunt and Texture Tweak.

Once installed the plugin has two main sets of buttons, one with a red pointer box and others without. The red pointer box seems to do nothing at first but it actually just lets you set increments of whatever function. And this stays locked, by simply using the arrow buttons on your keyboard you can adjust these settings. The other buttons that do not have the red box just allows you to use the function ones and results are immediate. For a more detailed set of instructions be sure to read the instructions on the download page.

Overall, the Texture Tool plugin created by TIG on SketchUcation.com is a useful tool for those needing accurate textures. At the time of this review this plugin is free and is available at SketchUcation.com. I give this plugin 4.5 out 5 stars.

Download Notes: Remember to be logged into SketchUcation.com in order to download a plugin.

The Curve Maker, Taper Maker and Stock Maker plugins created by Terry Ross on DrawMetal.com are great plugins for those in metal working or sculpting. This plugin comes with 3 plugins as mentioned and is compatible with SketchUp 8.

The first is The Curve Maker, this plugin is going to be your main tool in creating your designs. The plugin offers you a variety of standard curves. Including the Archimedes spiral, Bernoulli (logarithmic or equiangular) spiral, Catenary, Cornu spline, Cotes spiral, Euler (clothoide or Cornu) spiral, Fermat spiral, Golden spiral, Helix, Hyperbolic cotangent spiral, Hyperbolic spiral, Hyperbolic tangent spiral, Lituus (volute, shepherd’s crook or bishop’s crook), Parabola, and Sine wave and Cosine wave functions. Once selecting a spiral the plugin allows you to input the measurements such as radius, length, height etc. At this point though your not done.

Once the spiral is created you will need to give it a shape. The Taper Maker thus comes in handy here. You can choose from a variety of standard shapes such as circular, square, diamond, octagon, etc. And these can be tapered or kept the same at both ends. If you have a more complicated shape then the Follow-Me Tool would come in handy. But unfortunately using the Follow-Me Tool will not taper, thus an additional taper plugin may be necessary.

Also as part of the DrawMetal package, The Stock Maker is available. This tool allows you to have an accurate estimate as to the stock of metal to be used. These raw material requirements are important for metal working. Using this tool has a few steps and I suggest referring to the DrawMetal website. But essentially it will give you a print out of what is needed for your project.

Overall, The Curve Maker, Taper Maker and Stock Maker plugins created by Terry Ross on DrawMetal.com is a great plugin for those in the metal working industry. At the time of this review this plugin is FREE and is available at DrawMetal.com. I give this plugin 4 out 5 stars.

Download Notes: Note that ther are 2 versions, one for MAC and other for PC. The file contains all 3 plugins.

The Building Structure Tool plugin created by Tak2Hata on SketchUcation.com is a useful tool for design professionals such as structural engineers and even architects. A note that I would like to bring to your attention early in this post is that the developer is from Japan and is offering this plugin FREE though please consider donating to the 2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami fund as those people are still in desperate need for aid. You can donate by:
Going to World Vision or text “4japan” to 20222 to send a $10 donation which will show up on your phone bill.
Or the American Red Cross also accepts donations via text message. Text “redcross” to 90999, and you can make a $10 donation. And finally you can contribute $10 via the Salvation Army – text “japan” or “quake” to 80888.

And now back to the review… The Structure Tool Plugin works great for those with a generous understanding of building structure design. For those that do not know the design code it may be difficult to fully understand how to use. The plugin allows you to create steel girders, beams, and columns in addition to concrete girders, beams, columns, footers and walls. And you can extend these objects and connect them with each other seamlessly with other tools available. Note that this tool is still in the Beta version so changes and updates should be coming soon.

Some elements missing are the standard (American) design specifications and even an ability to custom create your own design of beams or columns.

Overall, the Building Structure Tool plugin created by Tak2Hata on SketchUcation.com is a useful plugin for building professionals. At the time of this review this plugin is FREE and is available at SketchUcation.com. I give this plugin 4 out 5 stars.

Download Notes: Remember to be logged in with SketchUcation in order to see the file download.

The Toggle Units plugin created by Matt666 on SketchUcation.com is an essential plugin to have in your SketchUp toolbox. It allows you to switch between metric units, standard units and other fornmats while using SketchUp.

Toggle Units allows you to switch from Meters to Centimeter and Millimeters in the Decimal mode. You can also switch from Architectural, Fractional and Ingeneiry. Though many of these modes are very similar to each other.

This plugin definately is a feature that SketchUp has left out. It allows you to change all dimensions and even changes the way you can input distances for creating lines and other objects. The plugin uses the metric conversion of 0.3048 meters equals 1 foot. A drawback to this plugin is that there are no shortcut keys to toggle between. Though on the Sketchucation.com forum you can read some tips to do this.

Overall, the Toggle Units plugin created by Matt666 is a simple and easy to use plugin and should be at the top of your tool palette. At the time of this review this plugin is free and is available at Sketchucation.com. I give this plugin 5 out 5 stars.

Download Notes: Download link on the page button links to. The main (1st page) has an outdated version that did not work on my system.

Updated: 6/30/2010

The Shaderlight renderer created by Art VPS is a new beta rendering engine for SketchUp and many other 3D design programs. The renderer is actually its own separate program that integrates with SketchUp. Once installed it is automatically picked up by SketchUp.

This product works really well considering it is completely FREE. You can render high and HD resolution renderings and is simple and easy to use. The program comes built in with all the base SketchUp materials with added functions to create the glossy, plastic, transparent and other affects to the material and automatically detects and chooses the style to help to create the most realistic rendering. Shaderlight also allows you to place dynamic backgrounds and lighting attributes to the entire model. The render comes with a great support community via their website, their forums and tutorials. Another feature of the plugin is the ability for it to automatically update the rendering as you change items, this is a double edge sword as it does not allow you to work while rendering but does give you the flexibility to change things real time. UPDATED* The auto update feature can be turned off in the settings menu to stop this feature.

Since this product is still in the beta version there are some drawbacks that need to be noted. When rendering complicated objects the rendering time takes quite some time and memory as expected. But, there is no progress bar to display the full progress of the rendering from start to finish, only sub progresses of all the actions being taken as the renderer works. Not knowing the time left to render can be frustrating. Another major downfall is that it is not easy to create lighting points or objects and change lighting colors. This missing feature alone is a deal breaker for this particular rendering engine. Another major drawback that we found is that some flat jpg images, such as an image on a tv set, will not come up in the rendering, we assume that there is a way to make them come up. But could not find a solution to this.

Overall, the Shaderlight renderer created by Art VPS is an up and coming rendering engine that will rival the leading rendering programs out there. But is not quite there yet. At the time of this review this rendering engine is free and is available at www.artvps.com. I give this renderer 3 out 5 stars.

*Updated: 6/30/2010
New version of the plugin is available. Includes a scale from 1-100 as suggested below.

The Superellipse plugin created by Regular Polygon on regularpolygon.blogspot.com is a plugin to create super ellipses or square like ellipses. In general this simple plugin allows you to create these shapes that up until now have been over looked.

The plugin works by first setting the X and Y coordinates, creating a simple rectangle. Then you enter the exponent (affecting the squareness of the shape) and the segment count (controls the smoothness of the curve). This plugin works similar to the Round Corner Plugin but instead of rounding a square, it squares an ellipse. If you notice closely the image above has rounded sides as well. The final product does not end up with straight lines, unless you play with the options to limit it to only 4 segments.

IN OLD VERSION* We noticed that a drawback of this plugin is that there is no known scale for the exponent input. As of now its pretty much a shot in the dark as to how square the superellipse will come out. Perhaps having a scale of 1-100 (100 being a perfect square) the plugin would be more manageable.

Overall, The Superellipse plugin created by Regular Polygon is a useful plugin to have. At the time of this review this plugin is free and is available at regularpolygon.blogspot.com. I give this plugin 4 out 5 stars.

The Face Reverser plugin created by Didier Bur on Sketchucation.com is a simple but yet effective tool to reverse faces so that they are facing the correct direction. A face generally is pointing up or down, just a way for SketchUp to distinguish between both sides of a face. The face orientation comes into play while using some plugins. For example if you use the Fur plugin, the side of which the fur will appear is based on the orientation of the face.

The plugin works easily just by right clicking and the clicking the “View-based Face Reverser” option and then choosing what to change. You can choose from changing the entire model, a selection or just what can be seen. Then a dialogue box comes up and you can choose the accuracy of the tool. The tool is useful but does have it’s drawbacks. When it changes the face orientation it usually just sticks to what is visible. So the back side of an object will change to the opposite orientation.

A MAJOR drawback is that if you have already applied a texture to a surface and the face is reversed, then the plugin will move that material to the other side. So it is best to use the plugin before you apply any material or textures to it.

Overall, the Face Reverser plugin created by Didier Bur is a useful plugin under several circumstances. At the time of this review this plugin is free and is available at Sketchucation.com. I give this plugin 3.5 out 5 stars.

Download Notes: Must be logged into SketchUcation

The Align Tool plugin created by Didier Bur on SketchUcation.com is an essential tool to help you with aligning objects and components in your model. With just a simple right click and then defining a few points you can align objects precisely and quickly.

The Align Tool works really well, but it does take a few tries to get used to how it works and to utilize it to its full potential. The align tool works almost exactly like the AutoCAD align tool in the 3D view. The plugin is great and a button would make this plugin that much better but for the most part is great!

Overall, The Align Tool plugin created by Didier Bur is a fabulous plugin. At the time of this review this plugin is free and is available at SketchUcation.com. I give this plugin 5 out 5 stars!

Download Notes: Be sure to be logged into SketchUcation in order to download the file.