Rendering Archives | SketchUp for Design

AI Rendering with SketchUp’s Built-In (v. 2026.1) AI Render Tool

December 20, 2025December 20, 2025 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

Now that version 2026.1 of SketchUp is rolling out, we are getting a clearer picture of where SketchUp's AI implementation is heading. As you likely know, the SketchUp folks had previously released SketchUp Diffusion, a rendering and visualization solution. At the last Basecamp, they then also teased their AI Assistant, which was implemented as a chatbot that could show help topics, write Ruby code, and do various other things that are implemented within an extensible dialog. As of the latest version, there is now a single toolbar button (yes, it's YAMDB = yet another magic dust button) that brings up the SketchUp AI interface, which now looks like this: There are two tools listed in there: AI Assistant and AI Render (the new iteration of SketchUp Diffusion). In addition, they introduced a credit system for the various AI tools where users get some credits as part of their subscription plans, but can also buy additional ones, as needed. This floating toolbar now...

PBR Materials Cheat Sheet (for SketchUp 2025)

March 4, 2025March 6, 2025 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

This image of a wood-veneer tray with a decorative brushed metal ball was exported right from SketchUp - no rendering software needed SketchUp 2025 introduced a new graphics system for materials: PBR (physically-based rendering) photoreal materials. As you can see in the image above, you can now have shiny, glossy, dimpled, and otherwise textured materials right in SketchUp's model area. You can then use that new appearance while modeling or when you export images or animations. As I discussed in my review of SketchUp 2025, the PBR materials look best when you enable one of the new environments (you can see one in the images below (in the reflection). In addition, you may need to make sure that the "Photoreal Materials" are also enabled for SketchUp's modeling area. You can do that on the Styles toolbar or in the View > Face Style menu. In this post I will give you a visual overview of the new PBR material parameters. So that the...

Realistic Material Reflections for Interiors with SketchUp 2025 (it’s possible with a TRICK!)

February 28, 2025March 5, 2025 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

Interior reflections like these (on the floor) can easily be done right inside SketchUp with this little trick SketchUp 2025 introduced some very nice visualization capabilities: PBR (physically-based rendering) materials and environments. While those are great (especially for exteriors), indoor material reflections are a bit trickier since objects cannot be reflected even with the new PBR materials. In this tutorial I'll show you how you can create some good-looking reflections (in e.g. floors or mirrors) with a simple trick. Check out the video below for a walk-through of the process. But in short, here's what you need to do: Step 1: Create an inverted copy of the model As a first step, turn your entire model (or at least what will be visible) into a group - or even better: a component (to retain the live link between the two copies). Then flip it along the reflective surface either using the Flip tool or by copying/scaling it. In my case I need a floor...

SketchUp 2025 is Here!

February 27, 2025March 5, 2025 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

To properly introduce ThomThom - this version's scale figure - I decided to go with a Nordic look for this post's title image As of this week (February 25, actually), the latest iteration of SketchUp - version 2025.0 - is now available. Desktop users can click on the Help > Check for Update menu item and download it (or get it here) and iPad users can see new (version 7.0) features once the app updates. Users of the web app will apparently need to wait a little bit longer to see the new visualization features appear. What’s New in SketchUp? There are a bunch of new features, some of which were teased at last year's Basecamp/Dimensions conference. Let's dig into those... PBR Materials and Environments Now that SketchUp has a new graphics engine under the hood, it was apparently possible for the developers to implement not just ambient occlusion (which was introduced with SketchUp 2024), but also PBR (physically-based rendering) materials and environments. With those...

SketchUp 3D Basecamp (and Trimble Dimensions) 2024 – Recap

December 9, 2024January 16, 2025 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

SketchUp's party was in the not-quite-rectilinear Frank Gehry-designed "Keep Memory Alive" event center After the 2022 3D Basecamp in Vancouver, Canada, it was time again this year for Trimble's bi-annual conference that covers everything relating to SketchUp. This year marked the first time that SketchUp's conference was co-located with Trimble's big (now annual) event, Dimensions. And since Dimensions had been in Las Vegas for many years, this year's 3D Basecamp used that location, too. Overall, the venue was great (as can be expected in Vegas)! Basecamp had its own space on the third floor of the Venetian's conference center, complete with a Knowledge Hub, Art Gallery & Lounge, an AR Exhibit Space, and a SketchUp Labs zone that allowed everyone to test unreleased features and provide feedback on SketchUp directly to the developers. But most importantly: This event is always a great time to check in with old friends and fellow SketchUp-pers and see which cool projects everyone is working on. Equipment at...