SketchUp AS A PHYSICS SIMULATOR? MSPhysics for SketchUp
In today’s video, we check out MSPhysics, a full featured physics simulation extension for SketchUp!
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Plugin Name: MSPhysics
Plugin Developer: Anton Synytsia
Plugin Cost: Free
DOWNLOAD MSPHYSICS AND AMS LIBRARY HERE
https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/msphysics
https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/ams-library
MORE MSPHYSICS RESOURCES
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=56852
https://github.com/AntonSynytsia/MSPhysics/wiki
This extension literally simulates Physics within SketchUp. There are a lot of functions contained within this tool, including the ability to simulate gravity, friction, joints, and more!
There are a lot of features in this extension, but I’m going to try to provide a high level overview of what the extension can do, and if there’s a desire for a follow up video about specific features, I can do that.
When you install this extension, you’re going to get three menus. The first is for running your physics simulation. You can access the physics UI, as well as playing and rewinding your simulations.
The second menu contains all the tools for containing mechanical joints, and the third allows you to record and export your videos.
In this tool, you can assign many different kinds of physics properties to objects, including density, friction, magnetism, shapes, and more. In addition, you can also adjust things in the world itself, like gravity.
By setting these properties for each object, you can simulate things in your models like collisions.
One tip to get started is to set your objects that you don’t want to move, like planes or ramps, as static meshes.
In addition, you can also interact with the physics objects with your mouse for real-time interactions.
This tool also contains a complete set of objects for creating mechanical connections. By using these connections, it’s actually possible to simulate an entire car. These connections can be operated using a slider, keyboard, joystick, or scripts.
In addition, MS Physics comes with a recorder that will allow you to export animations to Indigo Render, Kerkythea, or a sequence of images that can be stitched into videos.
Overall, this extension has a HUGE amount of possibilities – it allows custom scripting, as well as keyboard control of objects. That being said, it also has a steep learning curve.
At a minimum, I’d recommend download it and giving it a try – it’s a ton of fun generating a brick wall and rolling an object into it! 😊
About Justin Geis
Hi, I'm Justin Geis, and I'm the founder of The SketchUp Essentials. I started using SketchUp as part of my work as a general contractor in 2008. I quickly realized the power of the software and started using it for personal projects. I started The SketchUp Essentials as a place to share easy to follow SketchUp tutorials and tips to help everyone harness the power of 3D Modeling in their lives. When not working with SketchUp, I enjoy playing soccer and spending time with my wife and our two dogs.
