Must have newbie plugins?

yeahright

Hi everyone,

I'm just getting started with SU and am curious to know what you think are the 'must have' plugins? I've had a look through the plugins list and visual thread but I'm still slightly overwhelmed by the choice!

For example, I've seen a lot of people use 'contour map' surfaces (i.e. smooth hills and valleys) which seems like voodoo to me - is there one plugin that allows you to do this or are there several?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

TIG

Welcome

Learn to use the basic native tools and then plugins for more complex or repetitive tasks...
There are several threads about 'favorite plugins' - e.g. here http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=31957&p=282853&hilit=+plugins+favorite#p282853

The 'Plugins Index' [red] button above lists all Plugins available here - there are several others at Smustard.com [some $] and Didier Bur's Ruby Library Depot [http://rhin.crai.archi.fr/rld/] also has most of ours, plus some other golden-oldies too...

Gaieus

Indeed a lot of things can be done without plugins. Many plugins help you do these things in a more automated way (when you have to do a lot of these repetitive things).

Then there are some things that could not be done without a plugin...

The "necessary" ones are very different for a carpenter and a landscape acrhitect for instance. You mention contour lines (topos from contours can indeed be done with the Sandbox tools that come with SU although they are also actually plugins). But what would a woodworker do with them? Maybe a cutlist plugin is much more important for them!

pbacot

As someone who has been a noob for a long time, I found there are some plugins for cleaning up the model that are helpful at the beginning:
Default layer geometry (get all your edges and faces back on the default layer)
Remove Lonely Vertices (join edges that have unnecessary vertices into one)
FrontFace tool (get your faces oriented correctly)
Make Faces (get faces to form, especially on imported edges)

Everyone would say work with the basics for awhile , and don't make the mistakes in the first place; but plugins like the above help you get back on track, 'cause things happen. Your approach to the work, as in other realms, is probably more important than what tools you have. Starting out one could quickly make a mess with some of the plugins out there.

There are some in the "must have" plugin index that will get you a step further like Joint Push Pull and Fredoscale. Don't forget Sandbox Tools which comes with your SU and can do a lot with contours and manipulating terrain shapes.