If you're a filmmaker and use Google's Sketchup 8 then you'll want to download this brand new plugin, Advanced Camera Tools.

Here's a quick video intro:



From the Sketchup Blog:

It seems that every time I watch a movie’s special features, up pops SketchUp: How’d they figure out the Penrose stairs in Inception? What did a vehicle designer for Avatar use to invent the bad guys’ robot suits? What tool did the production designer for 300 and Good Night, and Good Luck use? The set design for The Social Network? Futuristic environments for Tron: Legacy? The sheer number of films and TV shows that SketchUp’s been a part of is jaw-dropping—and we couldn’t be happier about it.

Since the entertainment industry’s been so good to us, we thought we’d return the favor. The old Film & Stage plugin we built in 2005 has been languishing in quasi-supported limbo for years. We dug it out of the shed, took it all apart, fixed the broken stuff, then... strapped a rocket to its butt. If fact, we made it so much better that we had to give it a new name.

Read entire blog post here.

I personally haven't used Sketchup. I've mainly done previs with FrameForge3D, but this looks really cool and really easy to use. It is on the expensive side at $495, but is likely worth it especially for complicated action scenes, etc. I think on my next project I'll give it a try (or at least a trial).

-Blake