SketchUp's Top 5 Film & Stage Plugins

In this SketchUp article briefly describe top five film & stage plugin you can work with to create a film or stage set, such as Sky Dome, Thumb Cinema, and much more.

1. Sky Dome

The extension allows you to replace SketchUp's sky gradient with a real sky image that includes the sun, clouds, and stars. The purpose of this extension is to demonstrate how useful it would be if extensions were able to render textures anytime without needing to activate the tool. Unfortunately, SketchUp only allows extensions to render OpenGL textures when the tool is active.

How to use Sky Dome?

Menu first, then Extensions, then Sky Dome, and finally Display a sky dome.

1. Navigate
2. Click on an item to look around, press Ctrl+click on an item to orbit, and press Shift+click on an item to pan.
3. Select image for spherical projection by right-clicking. Photo must contain 360?*180? of area, including ground, for spherical projection.
4. Click the right mouse button to choose a hemispherical image: Only for images of the sky, 360?*90?, no ground image.
5. The Set azimuth angle option can be accessed by right-clicking: Rotate the panorama so that it orientates according to your preference. Drag the image with the mouse or type an angle on the keyboard.
6. Use the right-click menu to create entities from the sky dome. This will create textured SketchUp geometry.

For more information, visit: extensions.sketchup.com

2. Eneroth Precise Pan Tool

You can move the camera sideways or pan the camera precisely to align with any point on the model by using this plug-in. A camera position can be set up using this tool & more. A vanishing point may be used for several perspectives. You can activate this tool by going to Extensions and then Eneroth Precise Pan Tool.

To learn more, watch the following video tutorial.

For more information, visit: julia-christina-eneroth.se

3. Burkhardt Leitner for Sketchup

A Burkhardt Leitner SketchUp Extension makes it easier for you to get access to Burkhardt Leitner products so you can create better projects faster. Using Trimble SketchUp software, you can create product reports with item codes and quantities, open predefined files, and easily reach the 3D product models.

1. Pila Petite and Pila Fabric products can use with this extension.

2. It runs on both Windows and Macintosh.

3. The extension provides a reporting feature that lists all the products in the project with their item codes, names, and material information. By clicking on Create Report, you can generate a report of those components. Due to the automatic detection of overlapped components, it won't be necessary to select them manually. You will then ask if you would like to continue.

4. You can click the Excel icon in the report window. The report.csv file will open in Windows's default folder. If you are using MAC-OS, you can open the report.csv file with numbers, excel, and many more apps.

5. Open Collections is the button you can use to browse Burkhardt Leitner's product collections. These components are available for download and can use in the model.

To learn more, watch the following video tutorial.

For more information, visit: burkhardtleitner.com

4. Thumb Cinema

You can use this extension to scroll through your model's scenes by simply swiping your finger across the mouse wheel. With fine-grained control of interstitial steps between subsequent scenes, you can quickly navigate to a particular scene or watch an animation in action.

How to use Thumb Cinema?

1. Click Thumb Cinema on the toolbar or menu, then on the tool & press Enter.

2. You can scroll up and down to switch between views. You can also use the left or down arrows on the keyboard.

3. You can switch faster up to 9 times by holding down the Shift button.

4. Hit Enter to set how many interim steps should take between two scenes while each scene is only one step, the default is nine.

System Requirement

This extension requires SketchUp 2019.2. Since the second SketchUp feature release of 2019, the mouse wheel has been available.

5. FredoPortrait

FredoPotrait is a plug-in for cameras, views, and images.

Features:

Custom Cameras

1. The model is stored as a SketchUp file and later restored.
2. The camera is set accurately by longitude, latitude, and horizon angle on the studio set.
3. The Studio export images tool generates and exports images of geometry, groups, and components.

Studio 2D Components

1. A 2D flat component generates from a 3D object.
2. Depending on the dimensions and screen resolution, the screenshot feature creates and exports images for the viewport or part of the viewport.

To learn more, watch the following video tutorial.

For more information, visit: sketchucation.com