Rendering Archives | SketchUp for Design

Designing a T-Shirt with SketchUp

October 16, 2023October 16, 2023 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

This post is adapted from an exercise that appeared in the first edition of Architectural Design with SketchUp (Chapter 5) but that I have since removed from the book. I hope you find it useful. For this (clearly non-architectural) example, let's assume you want to preview a T-shirt design that you created in SketchUp using an image of a T-shirt model. This example uses SketchUp's styles and especially the watermarking feature and can be adapted for many other (non-clothing) uses, too. It even works with the web version of the program. So, without further ado, here are the steps you can take to create and preview a T-shirt design in SketchUp: Let’s start with a simple SketchUp model—a sphere within a rectangular box. Of course, you may pick whatever design you like. Let’s just assume that we wanted to make a sketchy-looking T-shirt with this design, and that we needed to preview how it will look. The original design idea Open the Styles panel...

Just Released: Third Edition of “Architectural Design with SketchUp”

July 5, 2023July 5, 2023 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

I am very excited to be announcing the release of the third edition of my book “Architectural Design with SketchUp”! You can as of now find this new edition on Amazon, Wiley and everywhere else where books are sold. It is available as full-color paperback and e-book editions. Since the publication of the second edition in 2015, many changes have happened to SketchUp and in the larger realm of architectural software: Trimble introduced a web version of SketchUp as well as an iPad version that has proven very popular. Real-time rendering options have increased in availability, and point cloud modeling is now often used on renovation projects. Beyond that, many new extensions have been published, others have gone away or have been replaced with built-in functionality, and their underlying Ruby engine has received new and updated capabilities. All of these changes made an update to the second edition necessary, which led to me thoroughly editing and rewriting the entire text. I updated screenshots...

Random Tools for Rendering in SketchUp (with Enscape)

July 16, 2020August 29, 2020 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

https://youtu.be/f8QSU63o5zE?list=PL9BB9780934A68B41 This video tutorial shows how the Random Tools SketchUp Extension makes it easy to improve renderings, especially when vegetation is involved. I am showing how the tools work in the context of the real-time Enscape rendering software, however the principles apply to any renderer. With this extension, you can place objects randomly, rearrange them randomly (including size, position, and rotation). and adjust their textures randomly. Links Random Tools for Rendering in SketchUp (with Enscape) on YouTubeRandom Tools Extension ...

Just Published: Two New SketchUp Extensions (Random Tools & Scale By Tools)

July 8, 2020July 5, 2020 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

I just published two new SketchUp extensions that were both based on Ruby code that was either previously posted on this site or in my book, Architectural Design with SketchUp". Random Tools Ever wanted to place large swaths of randomly-arranged grass in SketchUp as shown in the image above? Have you been frustrated by textures that repeat a bit too much on copied wood boards? Do I have an extension for you... Read the announcement Scale By Tools Using the provided tools, you can scale, move or rotate objects based on an image or a mathematical equation. For the equation, you can choose between a trigonometric function or a power function. It is also possible to use image data to push/pull faces or move vertices, which can be useful to create ripples on water or a heightfield topography. Read the announcement...

Intro to Rendering (with Twilight) (Video)

July 1, 2020August 29, 2020 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

https://youtu.be/YWPuAkCxJSk This video covers several basic workflows that are common to all rendering software (materials, lighting, environment) using the excellent Twilight rendering software as an example. Use it as an introduction to rendering in SketchUp and feel free to explore the many options that are available to you these days. ...