V-Ray for Sketch Up

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 Introduction to V-Ray for Sketch Up

o V-Ray is an extension added to Sketch Up.

o It allows us to extract realistic images using the 3D model built in SketchUp.
o All of this is done by adjusting a few settings for the materials, lighting, and
render settings. Check next slides for examples.

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 V-Ray for Sketch Up – Setting Scenes

o Before rendering you will need to set the scenes/views to be rendered.

o Make sure for this part you have your camera set to perspective.
o Go to camera tab and click on perspective.
o The main tools you need to use to produce a scene are: position camera, look
around, walk, zoom viewing angle. All of which are found in the camera tab.

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 Camera Tab

Perspective View

Zoom tool. Click on it then

type the viewing angel.

To set a scene start by

clicking on position camera,
then click in your model, and
type the height of view. Prepared by: Ms. Rooshina Nair
After positioning the camera, right click to access further scene setting options.

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 V-Ray for SketchUp – Setting Scenes
o To save scenes, go to the trays on the right side and open the scenes tray. OR go to
windows tab → default tray → scenes
o Here you can manage the scenes you save. You can add, update and delete scenes. To
keep track of your scenes make sure to name them.

o Having scenes helps you save the views that you would want to go back to later.
o Make sure your scenes have interesting angles and that you do not cut out pieces of
furniture. Do not zoom in too much, and make sure to show the ceiling, walls and floor.
To adjust viewing angle click on the zoom tool and type an angle between 45 to 65. The
larger the angle the more stretched/unrealisticbecomes your view.

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 Scenes Tray
From left to right
Update, Add, Delete
Right click on the scene to
get the options as shown.

Saved scenes will

appear here.

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Once you get a good view that you want to save go to the scenes tray and click the plus sign. Save several scenes
of your project. You will also get upper tabs of your scenes for quick access. In case you orbit in your project or
get lost you can always click on the saved scene and you will go back to that saved view.

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 V-Ray for Sketch Up – Shadows
o To activate shadows, go to the trays on the right side and open the shadows
tray OR go to windows tab → default tray → shadow
o If you have windows and your project requires natural lighting you can turn this
feature on before rendering. You can also control the shadows by setting the
time and date.
o If your project does not have access to natural lighting or you would like to
render a night scene using artificial lights, then switch the shadows off.
o Windows have to be oriented towards the sun in order to get the effect.

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 Shadows Tray

Toggle this button to switch

shadows on or turn them off.

Date and time settings

Control how dark/light the

shadows are.

Make sure to select where you

want the shadows to be visible.

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Once you turn the shadows on you will get something like this example shown below.
Windows have to be oriented towards the sun in order to get the effect.

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 When you download V-ray, automatically the extensions will show up in your SketchUp file as shown below.
If you can not find them or want to control their visibility, right click next to the tool and activate them from the
menu as shown below. The main ones you will be needing are the V-Ray for SketchUp and V-Ray Lights toolsets

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 V-Ray – Asset Editor

o To start with V-Ray, the first thing we need is to go to the asset editor.
Here we can view the material settings, light settings and general render
settings. Click on the asset editor icon shown in the V- Ray for SketchUp
tool set.

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When you click on ASSET EDITOR you will get the window shown below on the left side. To access further settings
click on the small arrow icon marked below. You will get the complete window as seen on the right side.

Material Light Render

edit edit settings Render

Viewof the material you are

editing. Here you can see the
changes your are applying.

Add a layer on top of the

material
M aterials and lights
settings of your project

Set of options you can

manipulate for each material.
Each material will require
different settings depending on
what it represents and how you
want it to appear.

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Start by selecting the material you want to
edit from the SketchUp model. Go to the
materials tray and select the eyedropper
then click on the material in your model. It
will automatically appear in the V-ray
material viewer.

Depending on what the material is, go

adjust its settings, for example reflection,
will add shine and reflect surrounding
objects/materials.

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Start by selecting the material you want to
edit from the SketchUp model. Go to the
materials tray and select the eyedropper
then click on the material in your model. It
will automatically appear in the V-ray
material viewer.

Depending on what the material is, go

adjust its settings, for example refraction,
will make the material transparent and
allow light to bent and pass through it.

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When you have a rough material that you
want to emphasize its texture/roughness,
go and activate the BUMP setting.

After turning it on, go the small square

with four squares and select either bitmap
and insert the image again or select the
type of material to get the finish
associated with it.

In the amount setting you can move the

slider to the right to increase the bump
effect or to the left to decrease it.

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 To add certain glow to a material to make it look like its emitting light, go to the additional layer plus sign and
select emissive as shown in the image on the left.
You can set the colour and intensity of the glow using the sliders as shown in the image on the right. This can be
used for lightbulbs or any element that is supposed to give off a certain glow.

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 V-Ray – Types of Render
o In V-ray we have two types of render. The interactive render and the progressive
render. The interactive render is used for when you want to test render while
you are still working/editing your model. It is not suitable for a final outcome. The
progressive render is the type of render where you can set the quality of the
image and produce the final outcome however it is not interactive meaning you
can not work and render at the same time.

Progressive Interactive

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This is an example of the rendering window known as V-ray frame buffer. You get the view of the whole scene
being rendered along with some options around it and the render percentage.

Save image Start Stop

renderrender

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 V-Ray – Lights
o To be able to insert lighting elements you need to use the V-ray Lights tool set.

o The most common tools are the rectangle light, sphere light and spotlight.
Each can be clicked on and drawn into your model.

o You can also render using natural daylight.

Rectangle light Sphere light Spot light

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 To access the light settings go to the asset editor, light settings.

Light Settings

Shows you the current lights in Light preview

your project model.

Click on the first left icon to

switch on/off.

On the right side we have the

number for intensity and the
colour of light.

Customizable settings for

each kind of light.
This will differ from on type
of light to another .

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This is an example of a render using only sunlight. Model should be oriented towards the sun to get the following
effect. Notice the exposure level is high.

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To adjust sunlight exposure level go to the asset editor then click on setting tab. Here scroll down to the camera
menu and open it. You will find a slider for the exposure value which you can set according to your preference.

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Here is the same seen rendered using daylight after the sun exposure was reduced. Adjust the exposure level
according to your need.

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 When it comes to the rectangle light, you can click on it from the toolset and draw it as a normal rectangle. You
can move, scale, rotate, and flip the rectangle light just like any object in your SketchUp model.
Once you draw the rectangle according to where you need it, make sure the arrow is facing the correct direction.
The arrow tells you the direction of light.

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Following that go to the asset editor light settings, locate your rectangle light and adjust its settings according to
your needs. Note you can right click on the light name and rename it so you don’t lose track of all the lights in your
project. There are further options you can access to control your light. For example here with the rectangle light,
you can set to be invisible if you don’t want the source to be showing.
Check next slide for render examples of the rectangle light.

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 The image on the left shows the rectangle light The image on the right shows the rectangle light set
because it was not set to invisible. The whole ceiling to invisible and so we can see the actual ceiling
becomes a solid rectangle of light. behind it.

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 We have seen how to use the rectangle light horizontally. But you can use it vertically as well.
If you have blinds or curtains and just want a glow of light showing outside the window you can set the rectangle
light and keep them visible. Or even set them to invisible if you have an image outside.

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 To use a spotlight in your model go click on the icon and click it on/in the fixture you have. It would not make
sense to use a spotlight without having a fixture because you need a source to show the light coming from when
you render.

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Following that go to the asset editor light settings, locate your spotlight and adjust its settings according to your
needs. Note you can right click on the light name and rename it so you don’t lose track of all the lights in your
project. With the spotlight you are mostly going to want to control the intensity and cone angle.

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Here is a rendered example of a spotlight.

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The third light option we have is the sphere light. This type of light can give off a smooth light to set the general
mood of the room. Just like the rectangle light you can set it to invisible.

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Here is rendered example of a sphere light. It tends to be softer and smoother, rather than giving a sharp intense
outcome like the spotlight.

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And finally, of course you can use several types of lights together. For example here we have a rendered scene
using rectangle lights, spotlight and sphere light.

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 V-Ray – Background

o To create a background outside your window, draw a rectangle or a curved

plane and push it up. Save an online image of a high resolution view and place it
as a material. Adjust the image accordingly to fit well.

o Make sure if you are rendering using daylight to bring a bright image.
o And if you are rendering a night scene use an image with a night view.
o It needs to make sense.

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This is an example of how to add your view outside the project (left image) and how it will appear inside the
model through the windows (right image).

Make sure to select high quality images and that they are suitable for the scene (day/night)

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 V-Ray – Render Settings
o To access the render settings go to the asset editor and click on the setting
button.

o Here you can adjust type of render (interactive/progressive), the quality,

the exposure value in the camera tab, and the render output/size of
image.

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 The top render tab gives you options for either interactive or progressive render. Here you can set the quality of
your render. For test/quick renders keep the quality low to medium. For final renders you can use the high quality.
Note that the higher the quality the longer will the image require time to render. Can last up to hours.

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In the camera tab, you can adjust the sun exposure by increasing/decreasing according to your needs.

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In the Render Output tab, you can set the size of the image to be rendered either by selecting the ready image
width/height or selecting custom from the drop down menu and writing your own dimensions. Make sure to
maintain the proportions of your image and not distort it. You can also set automatic saves to your renders once
they are done.

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 V-Ray – Further Adjustments on Photoshop

o After saving your V-ray renders, you may notice some would require a few
enhancements.
o You can open the image in Photoshop and adjust till you get what you
want. You can use the image menu for image adjustments.

o Check the example on the next slide.

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V–Ray Photoshop

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