10 SketchUp Extensions Every Architect Should Know

Should you be using SketchUp extensions? You've probably heard they can speed up your workflow and make otherwise complicated modeling tasks much easier. But how do you know which extensions are right for you? And which ones will just be a waste of your time and money? We've helped thousands of architects answer questions like these. And in this video, we'll share what we've learned with you. I'm Alex Oliver, lead instructor at SketchUp School, the place where professionals go when they're serious about learning SketchUp. And today, I'm gonna share with you 10 SketchUp extensions every architect should know. Keep watching. Sometimes known as Ruby scripts or plugins, extensions are tools that you can add on to SketchUp that solve time-consuming or difficult problems. Some are free and some you pay for, but each is designed with a specific function or goal to streamline your workflow and speed up the modeling process. And you'll find a majority of them on websites like the Extension Warehouse and Sketchucation. All told, there are close to 1,000 extensions to choose from. But while it's great to have access to all these extensions, how do you choose the right ones for you? Not all extensions are created equal. And while some are exactly what you need, others might lead you down the wrong path. Over the years, we've helped countless professionals integrate extensions into their SketchUp workflow. In the process, we've seen firsthand which extensions are the most useful for architects and related design professionals. Now I should quickly mention, for this video, I've decided to focus on the paid extensions that solve the biggest and most common issues you run into on the job. There are great free extensions out there and we cover many of them in the courses on our website. But in general, free extensions solve more narrow problems. Also, to further whittle down this list, I prioritized extensions that solve more time-consuming, difficult, or nearly impossible 3D modeling problems. In the end, I came up with 10 SketchUp extensions every architect should know that are a huge help with some of the most common, time-consuming roadblocks that you'll hit on almost every design project. But before I jump into the list, a warning. If you're new to SketchUp or you're self-taught and a little worried you might have missed a few fundamentals along the way, I do not recommend jumping straight into using extensions. That'd be like trying to run before you learn to walk. You'd be setting yourself up for a hard fall. At a minimum, I recommend you pause this video and review our Watch This Before You Get Started with SketchUp video. And once you're comfortable with the concepts covered there, also take a look at our How to Model Hard Things in SketchUp video, which covers some more advanced SketchUp material. Okay, you're back from watching those? Great, now you're ready to take your SketchUp skills to the next level with extensions. Let's bring up the list and go over each extension and the design challenge in SketchUp that'll help you solve. Starting with number one, Instant Roof Newing. It's helpful to know how to use SketchUp's native tools like Follow Me and commands like Intersect Faces to model a roof by hand. But many a greater SketchUp modeler than you has been brought to their knees by having to model a particularly difficult roof. Fortunately, Chuck Valley was one of those designers, and he's since taken it upon himself to automate roof making with the Instant Roof Newing extension. With Instant Roof, you simply select a face and its edges, then run the extension to create a complex roof in just a few seconds. You can choose from dozens of styles, such as Craftsman, Dutch Gable, Tudor, and more. Plus, you can add dormers where you need them. You have the option to draw just the rafter, beam, and hiptail ends that are visible from the exterior, or draw them full length so all the framing is there on the inside. You can also decide whether you need to add details like rain gutters, bird blocks, and corbels. Plus, there are tools to easily texture all of the elements of the roof, and even tools to show 3D shingle shape rather than having a 2D-only representation. You can get a standalone license of Instant Roof, or you can subscribe to the Instant Architecture bundle of extensions, which includes Instant Roof, as well as a few other extensions on this list. Either way, if you build roofs in SketchUp, it's a no-brainer. This is one of those tools that pays for itself the very first time you use it. Okay, next up, we'll talk about an extension that helps you with a problem you'll face more than once in the same project. Number two, FlexTools. When it comes to adding doors and windows manually in SketchUp, there are a few things you have to keep in mind. If you're working from a plan, you need to get the opening set up in the right spot first. Then, you need to either draw your own components or find suitable ones in the 3D warehouse. As you develop the design, this may involve swapping out basic representations for more detailed, accurate options. Finally, when it comes time to create plans and other construction documentation, you often need to do additional work to display the components properly. For example, adding a door swing symbol in a 2D floor plan. Again, these are valuable skills to have in SketchUp, but once you have them, you should know there's a quicker way to go about this whole process. One great option is the FlexTools extension. With FlexTools, you select from a pre-configured library of doors and windows and add them to an existing wall. They'll automatically cut out an opening in the wall. If you need to move the component, the opening will move too. Now, if you already have your window and door openings cut, you can still add doors and windows using FlexTools and then use the scale tool to fit them to the openings. Because the components are built on top of SketchUp's dynamic components technology, they'll redraw themselves, meaning that they will often add in new geometry and the parts and pieces won't become warped. Plus you have a menu of options that can help you quickly configure the doors and windows to match the specifications of your design. And when it comes time to create plan views, a single click gives you the 2D symbols you need. In my experience, the FlexTools extension is particularly useful earlier in the design process when you're not completely sure yet what the exact specifications for the size or style of your doors and windows will be. You can just drop something in and play around with configurations on the fly, allowing you to test options without getting hung up on the details. Also, doors and windows that you add with FlexTools start off with default white faces and SketchUp glass colors. If you need wood or other textures, you'll need to edit the components to add them yourself. The good news though, is that once you've done that, you can use FlexTools' component finder feature to save that version to more easily use it on future projects. FlexTools comes with some other tools and features worth checking out, and the team behind the extension is very responsive to user feedback, adding new tools and functionality frequently in response to customer requests. When you go to their website, just look for FlexPack Pro, which comes with all the features you'll need. Now, it is worth mentioning that there's another extension I also recommend for doors and windows called Instant Door and Window. If you plan to try any of the other instant extensions on this list and decide to get them via the Instant Architecture Bundle I mentioned earlier, you'll have access to Instant Door and Window. It's a popular alternative to FlexTools, very powerful, and certainly worth checking out. All right, let's move on to another extension that solves a particularly frustrating problem. Number three, Instant Stairs. Building stairs in SketchUp is another one of those foundational skill sets you should learn. In its most simplified form, you learn to think spatially by drawing a rise and a run, or setting up a 3D step with the proper dimensions, and then using the Move tool to copy an array and using SketchUp's tools from there to refine the stairs further. But there are so many more details to account for, not to mention more complicated styles of stairs that present a challenge to even the most experienced SketchUp user. That's where the Instant Stairs extension can be a real lifesaver. With Instant Stairs, you start out by determining whether you wanna build your stairs in one of three ways, by starting from a standard shape, by starting from the alignment you'll need, or by starting from a plan drawing of the stairs. Having this flexibility up front allows you to adapt the tool to your workflow rather than the other way around. From there, there's a big catalog of common styles to choose from, as well as all the dimensions and settings you'll need to configure to ensure your stairs are accurate. And you can take any materials already in your model and use the tool to add them to your stairs. You'll notice that the tool takes care of aligning the textures properly, such as switching the wood grain direction properly around the different elements of the stairs. Now, of course, most stairs aren't complete without a railing. And while Instant Stairs doesn't create the railing, it does have a setting to create your railing lines for you. These lines can then be used by another extension from the same developer. Number four, Instant Fence and Railing. Adding railing to the staircase manually in SketchUp would require you to use the Follow Me tool to extrude profiles such as the handrail, combined with copying and placing arrays of components along the way. Not only is this tedious and time-consuming, but for more difficult scenarios, such as a spiral staircase, it can be nearly impossible. That's where Instant Fence and Railing comes into play. Following along with the stairs example, with the Instant Fence and Railing extension installed, you simply select the railing lines in your stairs component, then select a railing style to quickly create the railing for your stairs. But this is just one problem that Instant Fence and Railing helps you solve. As the name suggests, you can use the tool for all of your fence and railing needs. So long as you have a path, you can choose from the library of fence and railing styles. And you have control over a bunch of parameters to help you configure the result to your exact needs. Now, whereas Instant Fence and Railing helps you create fences and railings, there are other design challenges with similarly repetitive elements that are perfectly suited for our next extension. Number five, Profile Builder. On every project, you'll need to extrude profiles along paths. And while SketchUp's Follow Me tool is helpful, it can be tedious and time-consuming to set up each profile and extrusion. And when it comes to more complicated paths, the tool just fails altogether. Combine that with the fact that you might need multiple profiles extruded along the same path, and that you might also need to repeat any number of components along the path as well, and you have the perfect setup for an extension like Profile Builder. With Profile Builder, you can create assemblies that consist of components that can repeat along a path, and profiles that can follow along the same path. When you combine this functionality, and you pair it with a good imagination, it's truly impressive what you can come up with. While there's a lot of overlap between some of the things you can do in Profile Builder versus the Instant Fence and Railing extension that I just mentioned, Profile Builder offers more flexibility to create and add custom repeating elements to your model. Of course, you can tackle railing, fencing, and barrier walls of any imaginable design, but you can also tackle construction detail assemblies for walls, repetitive seating, paths and roadways, and so much more. And without using the Assemblies feature, you can still take advantage of using the Profile Along Path feature to build out things like base and crown molding or steel trusses. Now, once you've created a profile or assembly, you can save it to use again and again on all of your projects. Plus, there's a growing library of pre-made profiles and assemblies you can download and use. Head over to the Profile Builder website to learn more and give it a try. Okay, next up, let's switch gears to talk about an extension that helps you establish the context for your model. Number six, Placemaker. In SketchUp, you can geolocate your model using the Add Location feature. It will bring in a flat 2D satellite image and 3D terrain that you can use as the basis for a project. But one of the first problems you'll notice is that the resolution of the satellite imagery isn't great. In the latest version of SketchUp, you now have the option to purchase higher resolution satellite imagery through a data provider called NearMap. But what if you want a more comprehensive solution for building out the area around your model? Enter Placemaker. It's an extension that comes with an assortment of tools for enhancing your site. First, Placemaker allows you to import high resolution aerials. Just open the Placemaker dialog and click on the Imagery tab. You'll see the aerial imports default to a data provider called Mapbox, which gives you higher resolution imagery than the default satellite images you get from SketchUp's Add Location feature. You can preview the area you've geolocated and purchase with credits to import directly into your model. If you need even higher resolution imagery, you can switch to importing aerials from NearMap. Just note that NearMap aerials will cost more credits. Credits for Placemaker can be purchased as you need them, or you can subscribe to the extension for discounts. Here's the other cool part. For many locations, you can also use Placemaker to import 3D buildings, roads and walking paths, bodies of water, trees, and 3D terrain, allowing you to quickly model your site's context. It will save you hours, if not days, of work. All right, next up, let's talk about one of my personal favorites. Number seven, Artisan. One of the most common obstacles professionals face in SketchUp is needing to model organic shapes such as terrain and landscape features, as well as complex inorganic surfaces for buildings and furniture. We cover the fundamentals of this process in our How to Model Hard Things in SketchUp video. Once you feel like you understand those fundamentals, I highly recommend you check out Artisan for modeling anything that has freeform, organic, or complex surfaces. Artisan comes with subdivision and sculpting tools that will blow your mind as you use them to create anything from contemporary architectural elements to the terrain and landscape features around your project, to any number of hard-to-model objects in your model. To harness Artisan's power, it's really important that you understand the core principles of how it works. Underneath the hood, Artisan helps you effortlessly subdivide surfaces into a mesh of polygons, change the size, position, and orientation of those polygons, and soften and smooth the edges, all with the aim of helping you create less boxy and more realistic designs. If you're serious about adding Artisan to your tool set, we have an entire course for Artisan on our website. Okay, let's move on to talk about the next extension on our list. Number eight, Instant Site Creator. One of the most difficult problems to tackle in SketchUp is taking your design and integrating with your site's terrain. The Sandbox tools come with a few basic tools to help you, but as a professional, you'll quickly find you need far more control to get the results you need. For example, if you need to integrate a house into terrain, you can use the Instant Site Creator extension. It will help you define the graded area, the cut and fill slopes, and even the materials for the graded area. Plus, there are tools to fine-tune the results to your exact needs. Instant Site Creator also works for retaining walls, roads, walkways, basically anything that would require grading in the real world. Again, just add the object to the terrain, make sure it's either a group or a component, and select both the object and the terrain surface, and use Instant Site Creator's tools to integrate into the landscape. Okay, just two more extensions to cover. Number nine, Instant Road. One of the problems I see architects often give up on is figuring out how to build 3D walkways, sidewalks, and roads. There really aren't any native SketchUp tools for handling this, so most fall back on using the sandbox drape and paint bucket tools to outline and paint 2D paths on a surface. But many designs require you to visualize how the walkways and roads will follow the contours of the terrain around your design. And that's where the Instant Road extension can help. With Instant Road, you can generate 3D walkways and roadways based on center lines only, or profile faces on a preexisting terrain. They can be raised or depressed, and you can add curbs, medians, and islands. Plus, you can add road striping, arrows, and other common markings. The Instant Road extension will also perform some grading around the road for you. You can even use Instant Road to make waterways. Basically, it helps you integrate any pathway you need into the terrain. All right, time for one more extension. Last, but certainly not least, number 10, PlusSpec. So far, we've talked about extensions that each solve pretty complicated problems. And if you combine a few of these extensions, along with some fundamental SketchUp modeling skills, you can put together a solution that's tailored to your specific needs. But what if you'd rather find an extension that's more like a one-stop shop, where it handles most of your needs in a single package? If this sounds like you, I recommend you take a look at PlusSpec. It's an extension that aims to automate nearly every aspect of SketchUp for design and construction industry professionals. Inside the extension, there are tools for creating foundations, floors, walls, windows, doors, and roofs, each including all of their construction details and materials. And that barely scratches the surface of what it can do. There are many other features that help with creating construction documentation, cost estimation, and other BIM functionality. Compared to the other extensions I've mentioned, PlusSpec is the most expensive. However, it's geared towards helping professionals produce end-to-end design packages faster and is well worth the investment for the right types of projects. If it sounds interesting, take advantage of their seven-day free trial to test drive it yourself. And that's it. Congratulations, you've made it through all 10 extensions. Did you learn something new in this video? Do me a quick favor and tell us which extension you liked the most in the comments below right now. Or just let us know you liked the video by giving it a like. Just by watching this video, you've already learned what tools can help you tackle some of the most complicated modeling tasks you'll face in SketchUp. Integrating any one of these into your workflow will pay huge dividends in the future. From here, it's definitely possible to jump in and start using any one of these extensions. We've provided links to all of them in the description. However, if you want to avoid wasting time and money on an extension that isn't right for you, then I recommend you head over to this page on our website. You can tell us about your situation and we'll tell you which extensions will be the biggest help. Oh, and one last thing. If you don't want to miss our next video, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel right now. Until next time, happy sketching. Real life saver.