The Lattice Maker plugin created by TIG on SketchUcation.com is a simple plugin allowing you to make lattice style arrays and frames. The plugin works great to create skylights, sculptures, mosaic glass tiles, greenhouses and much more. This plugin is great for architects and contractors to create works simply and quickly.

The plugin allows you to create the frames and inset panes for any surface. It works great to create just about any shape you desire. When using the plugin you need to select the faces and then go to the plugin menu and click the “Lattice Maker” plugin. A dialogue will appear with options for the width and depth of the frame, the pane inset dimension, the lattice or frame material and the pane material.

The drawback of this plugin is that there are only a limited amount of colors to choose from for the lattice and same with the pane. Though having the glass option is great, but the plugin does not allow you to specify the thickness of the glass. And a great benefit for this plugin would be to have an icon or button to save some time, though you always do have the option of creating a shortcut key for it.

Overall, the Lattice Maker plugin created by TIG is a very useful plugin to have. 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: Make sure to be logged in on SketchUcation.com

The Windowizer plugin (version 3) created by Rick Wilson on Smustard.com is a simple tool to create windows for your SketchUp model. It gives you many options such as trim colors, glass styles and arrangements.

Using the plugin is simple but not really that intuitive. You need to make sure that you select a single face and know that the face will become the window area. Once you select the face then right click (on windows) and select the Windowizer tool. Then you have a set of options to select from, allowing you to set the amount of rows and columns, frame and mullion sizes, insets, and glass and frame colors/textures. Note that if you cannot see the drop out menu, then your face needs to be exploded further. The tool is very simple and works well. Though it would be helpful if there was a toolbar also available for it.

Overall, the Windowizer plugin (version 3) created by Rick Wilson is a simple but yet effective tool to create windows, especially store front ones. At the time of this review this plugin is free and is available at Smustard.com. I give this plugin 4 out 5 stars.

The Fur plugin created by user Tak2hata on SketchUcation.com is a simple plugin to create blades of grass or fur in a model. Most SketchUp users will probably use this to create grass and other greenery. But I am sure there are those exceptions that will have the need to model a guerrilla, they will truly have the most fun with this one.

The plugin allows you to create a lot of “fur” on a face at predetermined heights thickness density and so on. The settings menu can be a little daunting and does take a little time to figure out. But once you understand how these settings are used the outcome is pretty outstanding! The plugin allows you to create leaves, blades of grass, and general greenery. While picking a face, make sure that they are oriented upwards so the fur appears on the correct side of the face.

Overall, the Fur plugin created by user Tak2hata is a simple and useful plugin to have. 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: Need to be registered with SketchUcation.com to download

The Door Tools plugin created by Tomot on Ruby Library Depot is a great set of tools to create custom doors. These tools allows you to create doors, frames and trims with different styles.

Each of these tools in this set works by using the 3 click process, click the top two corners and then specify the height of the door to the floor on the last click. In order to create a door you do need to have the door opening already cutout onto the wall. The plugin comes with the ability to make mullion and louver doors. You also have the ability to create right or left hand doors. The plugin in addition creates the door path on the floor (usually found on floorplans) making it easy to see the path of the door. Finally it also creates the doors on separate layers making it easy to find or hide them. This plugin could be improved if there was an option to create multiple panel doors and allowing a bevel option for the trims.

Overall, The Door Tools plugin created by Tomot is a very useful plugin for those working on homes and home designs. At the time of this review this plugin is free and is available at The Ruby Library Depot. I give this plugin 4 out 5 stars.

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.

If you are an architect, builder, general contractor or in the construction world this plugin is a necessity. It creates the frame work based off of user inputted lumber sizes, heights, justification, spacing and may other important defining measurements. If you are working on a 4D (construction time-line based animation) this plugin simply is a must.

This tool has no real drawback other than making custom doors and windows would have to be done manually. But the standard door and window shapes are available and can be used with almost any sizes needed. The great part of the Home Builder plugin is that it also lets you move or change properties to doors and windows. In addition to the Standard (US standard measurement tool) there is also a metric version of this plugin.

In future versions of the House Builder, it would be beneficial to have unpainted drywall placement part of the plugin. And even including the use of concrete cinder blocks and columns.

Overall, the House Builder plugin created by Steve Hurlbut and D. Bur is an essential plugin for anyone in the construction field. At the time of this review we used the House Builder plugin and the extension to the house builder plugin. This plugin is free and is available at The Ruby Library Depot. I give this plugin 5 out 5 stars!

The Balustrade plugin created by T. Marek and D. Bur on Ruby Library Depot is a clever plugin that allows you to create your own balusters (also known as hand rails). This plugin allows you to create your own baluster using the menu to control the styles of the posts, handrails and panels. And you can even take it one step further and create your own custom balusters by creating the elements and naming them according to what they are.

The process of creating your own custom baluster is to first create components named HR (for handrail), PO (for posts) and PA (for panels). Then once you create the components you create the track for your baluster (note that the baluster will be positioned on center of the track). And then you can go ahead and run the plugin. It will give you the option to use the plugins already set styles or choose your own by choosing the mentioned components. Be sure to note the positioning of your components, because this can effect your end result. For a more detailed instructions, click here.

Overall, the Balustrade plugin created by T. Marek and D. Bur is a great plugin. It is easy to use and can be very helpful when designing architectural works. At the time of this review this plugin is free and is available at crai.archi.fr – Ruby Library Depot. I give this plugin 5 out 5 stars!

*Be sure to download the Balustrade Components file*

The Slab Tool plugin created by Last Software on the Ruby Library Depot is a simple yet useful tool. It does what it sounds like, it creates square slabs for your model. I know this isn’t the fanciest tool but it does offer a solution to creating those slabs.

The best part of this plugin is that it creates the slab as a group automatically. Don’t you hate it when you create a floor and then put walls on top only to find out now these objects are stuck together? This plugin will solve that. To use the plugin you simple go to the plugin menu and click “SlabTool” and then the option screen comes up. Choose the slab color and thickness. Then draw out a rectagle and then voila the slab is created. A drawback of this plugin is that it doesn’t give you the option of which side the slab will be extruded to. But since it is a group it is easy to adjust.

Overall, the Slab Tool plugin created by Last Software is a simple and effective tool to create slabs. At the time of this review this plugin is free and is available at the Ruby Library Depot. I give this plugin 3 out 5 stars.

NOTE: To save the file you need to “save page as” .rb
and then place in SketchUp Plugin folder.

The Cabinet plugin created by the Ruby Library Depot is a plugin to automatically create cabinets. These can be used to create kitchens, bathrooms and even furniture.

The plugin works by clicking the “Cab” button and then some options come up to describe your new cabinet. These options are great, there is a set of 3 screens that will pop up. The first one describes the general dimensions of the cabinet (width, length, depth and kick) and the second screen describes the door frame dimensions and the third is the counter top dimensions. The end result is a cabinet that is almost exactly what (most of the time) you are looking for. And it even creates the shelves within the cabinet, but does not give you any option to adjust those. But when it comes to styles there isn’t much options here. And the handles are not included, you will have to add them in later. Another drawback is that this tool does not create drawers. But in general this creates the basic cabinet. But what we found is that this plugin is a great tool to build the frame of your cabinets. Then you can go in and edit the cabinets as you see fit.

Overall, the Cabinet plugin created by the Ruby Library Depot is a great plugin for architects and furniture designers, or for those people wanting to design their own kitchens. At the time of this review this plugin is free and is available at Ruby Library Depot. There is another plugin called cabinet.rb, I assume that this probably had the extra options that I am looking for but this plugin is not available currently. I give this plugin 4 out 5 stars.