simply use a png map with a transparent background in the in the diffuse slot. make sure to tick the "use texture transparency" checkbox. you can use the same diffuse png map to get bump/displacement/reflection/whatever map just with a little photoshop.. hope this can help..

Hi guys, I tried exploding the walls (since I have grouped them into components earlier) and it works out well! Although there are still faint splotches on the 2nd & 3rd blocks from the left. I am guessing that it might have been a SU bug? I have another question: how do i make the yellow roof (supposedly perforated metal roof) more porous? cause it seems to me now that they are still somewhat opaque from far. (not much light passing through) I have included the bump map for rendering but whenever I have changed the porosity sizes (on SU paint material setting) I would have to alter the corresponding bump map on photoshop before loading it on vray material editor. Is there a faster way of doing this? Many thanks! -) [image: LYpV_Compare.jpg]

@neeharikavijayrao said: doing the exteriors feels daunting!!! I'm not so sure about that. Just start with the default vray settings and you are most of the way there. You can remove texSky from the GI color, increase the GI multiplier until you have enough light in the shadows, and turn on default lights in your global settings (to keep the sun on) You might need to increase your camera shutter speed or f-stop to get the correct exposure as you increase the GI. Hope that helps. Andy

Hello, if you render with HDR on GI and BG, take a look at this VIDEO. It will help you for your shadows parameters...

Make sure you are using Fresnel reflections and turn up the IOR to something like 1.85 - then make your reflection glossiness something like .75 as suggested above and turn up your subdiv to 22 or higher or you will get a lot of noise.

@valerostudio said: That makes sense! Thanks Thom! As you found out, setting an aspect ratio in SketchUp and matching the VfSU view usually works. (Though I've had issues at some ratios...) But I find it generally best to set an aspect ratio in SU as the scene can then be rendered on any machine and still be matching. Without the different size of the monitor will mess things up. I also found that rendering Photo Matched scenes doesn't work well. But I recreated the scene as a normal scene with the Ruby API and then it would render. It will be in the update of VfSU Tools 2.0 which I am working on.

looks like "z-fighting" to me. (when more than one face is co-planar) Here's one thing you can try: "unglue" your image from the plane that you have it attached to. move the image forward away from the background plane by .5 mm (and move those floating boxes in front of the plane, yet another .5 mm -- sometimes the glass renders incorrectly too if you have it coplanar.) Andy

you maybe can try to take a look at camera settings that control the exposure.. The GI light intensity as well also effect the brightness of the scene.

is Zejola referring to this effect? http://www.hdrmill.com/HDRI%20with%20Vray%20Tutorial/HDRI_MaxVray01.htm like when you get the v-ray infinite plane to receive the shadows, but the plane in itself is invisible and lets the background/HDR shine through? this tutorial doesn't work http://www.ehow.com/how_7369443_vray-sketchup-tutorial.html and that's a pity, i could use this effect

mmm.. maybe you can try to resize the model.. not sure..

@dkendig said: with the way things currently are set up, we have to basically restart the whole scene parsing process again for each scene if we want to account for visibility changes, which slows down animation renders considerably. i understand, i suspected it.. but maybe would be possible to add it as an option to tick, so that it is not default, but, if you really need it from time to time, you may try to render the animation properly even if slowly.. i don't know, you have to tell, but i think this could be at least an half way solution.. as we say in italy "meglio feriti che morti" ---translation--> "is better to be hurt than to be died" very thank for your answering

Hi John, Maybe you need to lower your ambient occlusion value (radius & amount), or increase ambient occlusion subdivs value to 32 or more, if you have fast computer. I'm suspecting it is the ambient occlusion effect behavior. regards, vd

i'm speechless, great find!

i hope layer change will be supported in the so waited new version..

oh hi, if you scroll up and find the image with red circles and numbers that i posted, then i found what number 2 is - it's apparently called a 'terminator problem' and a description of it could be found for example in this blender change-log (with images). for those interested, the more technical view is in this PDF, which is also cited in that blender article. the most detailed description i could find was in the Thea forums in this thread (with images). so, since sketchup doesn't have Subdivision modifiers (only SDS plugins, which however are a) paid and b) create solid hi-poly geometry), this is apparently an issue of shader coding and the solution lies on the shoulders of the developers... ping, dkendig? EDIT: and another technical PDF with the description of the problem (and apparently some solution, too)

Thanks chaps, that made the world of difference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvOWlhZzq78 <-- Displacement water level tutorial. This will help you punch holes in the geometry.

Worked like a charm, thanks for the quick response, it was really driving me crazy.

Cool Illustration Andybot! So everyone can understand what we are after! Professionnal in architectural photo field always utilize such tool (In french it is called "un objectif à décentrement") It keeps the perspective height (usualy human eye) keep all the subject in the photo and vertical lines stay "vertical". That is exactly what you do in sketchup when you activate "two point perspective". When it is on you can pan the image whitout loosing the perspective point of View. It is a crucial tool in Archviz. Take a look at Thea or Maxwell. the use ot this tool is absolutly obvious...In VFSU it is much less IMO! but andybot approach does work