#sketchup-loop-subdivision A Loop subdivision plugin for Google Sketchup. Loop subdivision smooths hard edges to give a more rounded organic looking shape.

##Installing Download the file loop_subdiv.rb from http://www.guitar-list.com/download-software/sketchup-loop-subdivision-smooth-plugin and save it in your Google Sketchup plugins directory. On Windows it will be somewhere like C:\Program Files\Google\Google Sketchup 7\Plugins. On Mac OSX. The sketchup plugins folder is /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 7/SketchUp/Plugins Re-start Sketchup, there should now be an extra option "Loop subdivide smooth" in the tools menu

##Using To use the plugin select your model and click "Loop subdivide smooth" in the tools menu. A box will appear asking how many times you want to repeat the subdivision (1,2,3 or 4 times). More repeats gives a smoother model, but also takes longer, so try 1 or 2 first.

You can choose whether the subdivided object has softened and smoothed edges. If you have a large model (with lots of faces) the smoothing will take a long time so be prepared to wait!

The smoothed model is added to a new layer(called Loop_subdiv_XXXX). The original selection is deleted (but you can Undo the operation to get it back)

##Technical details For the technical details see the Hoppes and co-workers paper: Piecewise Smooth Surface Reconstruction . This paper also describes how to do partial subdivision, using crease edges and darts, which are not yet implemented in this plugin.

##Known issues There are known issues with non-manifold meshes where adjacent faces do not share edges (try smoothing a capital E), I am looking for solutions. Also when smoothing components the face materials are lost in the smoothed object.