V-Ray for SketchUp: Render-Ready Checklist
Thank you for watching our YouTube video:
Watch This Before You Get Started With
V-Ray for SketchUp 3.6 (2018)!
As we covered in the video, this is our Render-Ready Checklist:
The 5 things you need to get right in SketchUp before you get
started rendering with V-Ray for Sketchup.
1. Orient Your Model
V-Ray can light your model with realistic
sunlight. But it looks to SketchUp to tell it the
position of the sun.
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Some tips for making sure your model is oriented properly relative to the sun:
By default, the solid green axis points North - so orient your
model accordingly
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Set the position of the sun using the Date and Time
sliders in your Shadows dialog
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For more accuracy:
Geolocate your model using the
Window > Model Info > Geolocate menu option
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Find true north using the Solar North extension
https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/solar-north
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2. Optimize your File
Speed up your rendering workflow by
organizing Groups and Components onto
Layers. Then hide/show only what you need for
any given shot.
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Ideas for how to use Layers to speed things up:
Hide things that aren’t visible in the final render
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Hide on-camera details while test rendering and
only turn them on for the final render
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Hide/show different design options within the
context of your realistic rendering
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3. Organize your Materials
Invest in creating good Materials habits in
SketchUp now that will pay off for you in V-Ray
later… your future self with thank you! ;)
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Here are the key takeaways:
Name your colors/materials in SketchUp. It will
make it easier to figure out which was used where
later in V-Ray.
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Use different colors/materials for different stuff.
Example: Create two different grays for “Wall Paint”
and “Chrome” so you can differentiate in V-Ray later.
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Use the same colors/materials for similar stuff.
Example: Use one metal material (e.g. “Chrome”) for
multiple metal surfaces that look similar enough to
chrome.
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Purge Unused materials from the Window > Model
Info > Statistics menu option
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If you Import a material, pay attention to the image
size/resolution:
• Too small = blurry
• Too big = slower render times
• Just right is a size that is similar to the resolution
of the material in the final rendering
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Use a proxy color in SketchUp to make it easier to
swap it for a material from V-Ray’s render-ready
library later.
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4. Add Realistic Details
V-Ray renders faces, not edges. You have to give
the details some depth to get them to show-up
in the final rendering.
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Common places to add details:
Add small gaps between surfaces that butt up
against each other (e.g., between cabinet doors)
Don’t rely on SketchUp edges to give the
appearance of transitions on a surface - add depth
instead with tools like Push/Pull
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Round or Bevel corners and edges with either the
Follow Me tool, or an extension like Round Corner
https://extensions.sketchup.com/pl/content/roundcorner
Remember: The closer to the camera an object, the
more important the details are to represent.
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5. Mind Your Polygons
The level of detail - or number of polygons/
faces - you have in your model will contribute to
both the quality and speed of your rendering.
Too little gives you faster render times, but at
the expense of poorer quality. Too much might
give you better looking renderings, but they’ll
take a long time to create.
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Tips for achieving a number of polygons that strike the perfect balance between quality and speed:
The distance from the camera matters: Objects
further away can be lower poly, and closer may
need to be higher poly.
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Use component instances wherever possible: Each
copy raises the polygon count, but V-Ray can render
instances faster than loose geometry.
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When you still need higher poly objects, use V-Ray’s
Proxy feature
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If V-Ray for SketchUp 3.6 looks right for you, you can try it free for 30 days. Just head
over to Chaos Group’s website to download the free trial:
https://www.chaosgroup.com/vray/sketchup
If you’re serious about evaluating V-Ray for SketchUp during the free trial, then you’ll want to take a look at our
SketchUp Video Course Library. It’s filled with $8700 worth of SketchUp courses exclusively for professionals -
including our V-Ray for SketchUp course.
Try our Video Course Library for free:
https://www.sketchupschool.com/video-course-library
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