Plugin Sketchup Shape Bender
Before clicking a single button, you must understand the math. Shape Bender does not "smush" geometry. It performs a linear deformation.
Imagine you have a straight line (the "straight curve") and a curved line (the "target curve"). The plugin maps the position of every vertex relative to the start of the straight line. If a vertex is 30% along the straight line, it will be placed 30% along the arc-length of the curved line.
The Golden Rule: Shape Bender only works cleanly on geometry that is fundamentally linear. If your object has internal curves or complex faces that rely on absolute angles (like a gear), bending it will introduce shearing. plugin sketchup shape bender
Rating: 8.5 / 10
When searching for "plugin sketchup shape bender fix," these are the top complaints: Before clicking a single button, you must understand
| Problem | Likely Cause | Solution |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Geometry disappears | The Red baseline is not at the object's start edge. | Move the object so its left edge touches the line's starting point. |
| Bends inside-out | The curve was clicked in the wrong direction. | Undo. Re-run the tool, but click the Target Curve from the opposite end. |
| "Not a group" error | You haven't grouped the geometry. | Select all faces/edges, right-click > Make Group. |
| Stretching/shrinking | Red baseline length doesn't match Target Curve length. | Measure the curve length using Entity Info. Adjust the Red baseline to match exactly. |
If your geometry is vertical (Blue axis), but you need to bend it horizontally: Imagine you have a straight line (the "straight
Shape Bender cannot follow a complex S-curve in one pass. Solution:
Because the "plugin sketchup shape bender" landscape has changed with the deprecation of .RB files in favor of .RBZ, follow these steps for SketchUp 2017 and newer: