From the Book
This chapter of Architectural Design with SketchUp introduces methods for creating photorealistic renderings of SketchUp models and illustrates how you can use those for highly polished presentation images. It covers how to establish a rendering workflow, gives an overview of rendering software, and presents techniques for setting up the rendering environment, lights, materials, and entourage.
Go beyond the book:
Check out my tutorials on this site in the Rendering category
Rendering Software for SketchUp
The following list is an up-to-date version of the list of available rendering software that is included in the book. URLs change and – as it turns out – rendering software can also come and go over the years. I’ll try to keep this list as up-to-date as possible.
SketchUp-integrated:
| Name | Tutorials | Student Version? | OS |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArielVision | Link YouTube | Yes ($) | Win only |
| Brighter3D | YouTube | Free option | Win only |
| Caravaggio | discontinued | ||
| Enscape | Link YouTube | Yes ($) | Win/Mac |
| IRender nXt | Link YouTube | Yes ($) | Win only |
| LightUp | Link YouTube | Yes ($) | Win/Mac |
| Raylectron | Link YouTube | No | Win only |
| Render[in] | Link YouTube | Yes (Free) | Win/Mac |
| Renditioner Pro | discontinued | ||
| Shaderlight | discontinued | ||
| SU Podium | Link YouTube | Yes ($) | Win/Mac |
| Twilight | Link YouTube | Free option | Win only |
| Visualizer | discontinued | ||
| VRay | Link YouTube | Yes ($) | Win/Mac |
External programs with exporter extension:
| Name | Tutorials | Student Version? | OS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3D Paintbrush | discontinued | ||
| Artlantis | Link | Yes (Free) | Win/Mac |
| Bloom Unit | discontinued | ||
| Indigo | Link YouTube | Yes ($) | Win/Mac/Linux |
| Kerkythea | Link | Free software | Win/Mac/Linux |
| KeyShot | Link YouTube | Yes ($) | Win only |
| LumenRT | Link YouTube | Maybe | Win only |
| Lumion | Link YouTube | Yes (Free) | Win only |
| Maxwell | Link YouTube | Yes ($) | Win/Mac/Linux |
| Thea | Link YouTube | Yes (Free) | Win/Mac/Linux |
| Twinmotion | Link YouTube | Yes (Free) | Win/Mac |
External programs:
SketchUp Models In This Chapter
Below are two of the models that you can explore interactively in your browser (click and drag to orbit):
You can view and download all models from this chapter on the 3D Warehouse.
Sample Videos From This Chapter
You can access all Chapter 5 videos using the password from the book on Wiley’s companion site: www.wiley.com/go/schreyer2e
All Chapter 5 videos:
- 0501: Layered styles explained
- 0502: Intro to rendering software (included here)
- 0503: Rendering with Kerkythea (included here)
- 0504: Improving rendering materials (with Twilight)
- 0505: Spot and IES lights (with Twilight)
- 0506: Making a rendering presentable in Photoshop
Links In This Chapter
Updated links beyond those that were mentioned in the software listing above will be listed here:
- http://www.sketchupartists.org/presentations/sketchup-styles/ – SketchUp Artist’s style collection
- http://www.kerkythea.net/cms/index.php/downloads/software – Kerkythea application (UPDATED)
- http://www.kerkythea.net/cms/index.php/downloads/software – Kerkythea SketchUp plugin (UPDATED)
- http://www.kerkythea.net/cms/index.php/downloads/resources – Kerkythea materials and models (UPDATED)
- http://www.kerkythea.net/cms/index.php/downloads/documentation – Kerkythea tutorials (UPDATED)
- http://www.cgtextures.com/ – CG Textures
- http://www.kerkythea.net/cms/index.php/downloads/resources – Kerkythea studios (UPDATED)
- http://ict.debevec.org/~debevec/Probes/ – Light probe collection
- http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?24038-Free-high-res-skymaps – Sky map collection
- http://www.mcmaster.com – McMaster-Carr
- http://www.rip3d.net/web/en.html#/free/downloads – IES Generator 4
- http://www.lightolier.com/home/file-finder.jsp?ftype=ies – Lightolier IES file collection
- http://3dexport.com/cg-textures – Texture collection (UPDATED)
- http://www.bricksntiles.com – Bricks ‘n’ Tiles
- http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/ – Trimble’s 3D Warehouse
- http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?uq=0209659327533626787604282&styp=c&scoring=m – GE appliances on 3D Warehouse
- http://www.sketchupartists.org/ – SketchUp Artists
Next Steps
- Check out my tutorials on this site in the Rendering category.
- Don’t forget my Freebies page for materials and 360-degree environments.
- Need more IES light files? Try these sites:
- Need more HDR environments? Try these sites:
- Another forum for rendering topics is at forums.cgarchitect.com
- If you don’t own Photoshop, then try out these free image editors:
- Some inspiring rendering websites (not necessarily done with SketchUp):
- Plankton Group
- Visualizing Architecture by Alex Hogrefe
UP NEXT: Chapter 6 discusses various techniques for making with SketchUp.
Discuss This Chapter
Use the discussion area below to add any comments, tips, tricks etc. for this chapter…