Smart Spline

Price : Free

Perfect curves

 

Zero config

Why Smart Spline ?

Standard SketchUp tools struggle with organic 3D shapes. Other plugins offer powerful solutions but drown you in dialog boxes and parameters before you even draw a line.

Smart Spline is different. We stripped away the interface to focus on the flow. No menus, no settings to tweak. Just point, click, and watch the curve naturally find its path through your geometry.

Key Features

 

  • ⚡ Zero Interface: No popup windows blocking your view. Draw directly in the 3D viewport like a native tool.

  • 👁️ Live Preview: The orange guide line shows you exactly how the curve will behave between points before you click.

  • 🧠 Smart Smoothing: Our algorithm analyzes the last 4 control points in real-time to calculate the perfect curvature and segment count automatically.

  • 🚀 3D Native: Perfect for stair handrails, terrain contours, or organic furniture cables. It snaps effortlessly to any geometry in 3D space.

 

Specs

 

  • Version: 1.0.0

  • Compatibility: SketchUp 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 (Windows & Mac)

  • License: Free for commercial use.

Tutorials

Using Smart Spline is designed to feel like drawing with a physical flexible rod. Here is how to control it:

1. Drawing & Snapping

  • Click to Anchor: Left-click anywhere to place a control point. The curve passes through every point you click (Catmull-Rom algorithm), giving you predictable control without fiddling with tangent handles.

  • Smart Inference: The tool respects SketchUp's native inference engine. You can snap your points to existing vertices, edges, or directly onto faces. The curve will naturally "hug" the geometry.

 

2. Finishing the Curve

  • Open Curve: Double-click on your last point (or press Enter) to validate and finish the drawing.

  • Closed Loop: To create a closed shape, simply click once on your very first point. The tool will automatically close the loop and weld the geometry.

3. Editing While Drawing (The Safety Net)

Made a mistake? Don't worry, you don't have to start over.

  • Backspace to Step Back: Press the Backspace key to remove the last point you placed. You can press it multiple times to go back as far as you need.

⚠️ Important Workflow Note: Do not use Ctrl+Z (Undo) while drawing/editing the spline. Because the curve is generated in real-time, Ctrl+Z will cancel the entire tool operation. Use Backspace to correct mistakes instead.

 

⚙️ Under the Hood: Automatic Optimization

You focus on the shape; Smart Spline focuses on the topology.

  • Adaptive Segmentation: You don't need to define the number of segments. The tool calculates the curvature between points and adds more segments where the curve is tight, and fewer where it is straight. This keeps your model lightweight yet smooth.

  • Real-time Calculation: The shape is constantly recalculated based on the position of your last 4 points to ensure perfect continuity.