Shelf: A fast, cloud-synced library for your models and materials

Extensions
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Shelf | A fast, cloud-synced library for your models and materials

Hey everyone,

I built a plugin called Shelf out of pure frustration. Trimble Connect and the 3D Warehouse are too clunky for my daily workflow, and digging through massive, messy skp folders on our office server was a nightmare. I needed a fast way to stash a random component for an hour, quickly save a material, or instantly share a room layout with a coworker without dealing with Google Drive links.

The logic is simple: You create a Shelf for a specific project or topic and add your models or native .skm textures onto it. You can store these shelves purely locally (great for shared office networks) or sync them to the cloud. It easily generates a thumbnail of content

Cloud shelves are completely private by default. If you want to collaborate with someone off-network, just generate a share code. Only the people with that code can view and pull your assets directly into their active scenes, perfectly scaled.

It’s currently pending official Extension Warehouse approval, but you can try the signed full version free for 3 days from my site (no credit cards or forms).

I’d really appreciate your feedback and bug reports.
Thanks all.

You can visit website here

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Hi everyone,

I’ve just published a complete walkthrough video demonstrating how Shelf helps you organize your scattered 3D models and textures into a single, easily accessible library.

If you are curious about how the UI works in practice or how the cloud synchronization handles team collaboration, this video covers all the core mechanics.

Thanks.

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v7.6.2

Today, I released version 7.6.2, featuring performance improvements and fixes for texture workflows and storage reporting.

You can find here.

Performance

Library size is now read from existing records instead of scanning every file on disk. This removes the approximately three-second freeze that could occur when:

  • Opening the Library window

  • Opening Settings

  • Refreshing the Library

The improvement is especially noticeable when the library is stored on a network drive.

Fixes and Improvements

  • Textures now correctly activate SketchUp’s Paint Bucket tool and Materials panel.

  • The storage figure in Settings now counts live models only, so it may appear slightly lower than before. No files were removed.

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v7.6.4

Shelf 7.6.4 is out

Quick update on my extension. The big one this time is paste in place: when you add a model to a shelf there is now a “Save position” checkbox. Tick it and the model remembers where it was drawn. Its card gets a small crosshair mark, the button says “Paste in place” instead of “Place”, and one click drops it back at the exact same spot and angle, in one undo step. Leave the box unticked and everything works as before.

Also in this release:

  • Components and groups now come back exactly as you saved them. No more wrapper group, axes and origin stay where you put them. Older uploads are unwrapped automatically when you place them.
  • Picking a texture activates it in SketchUp again, the paint bucket opens with your material ready.
  • The settings window no longer freezes when your local shelf lives on a network drive.
  • A seat left behind by a crash or a dead laptop now frees itself after 30 minutes.
  • For offices with strict data policies I can issue keys that keep everything on the local shelf and never upload to the cloud.

If you are on 7.6.3 you will see an update notice inside the extension, or grab it from paralaks.tools. Let me know if anything misbehaves.