Rayscaper New Releases

Krass

Twilight render was great, but Rayscaper is marvelous compared to it.
I can give you the last version of Twilight

Mike Amos

Yep, trying to get to grips with the actual process or getting them back into the wild.

sashapepperspray

I think I figured something out about the blue material bug, I can make it happen in any file if I use the "edit texture in external editor" in the sketchup material editor, It shows up as blue.
(Another thing I noticed, is that If i edit a material in sketchup, it does not automatically update the material in rayscaper.)

pixelcruncher

I think I figured something out about the blue material bug, I can make it happen in any file if I use the "edit texture in external editor" in the sketchup material editor, It shows up as blue.

That's a good clue. I think it also has to do with SketchUp's colorized textures only. But I haven't looked at that part in depth.

(Another thing I noticed, is that If i edit a material in sketchup, it does not automatically update the material in rayscaper.)

This is by design; You should press the reload button in the Rayscaper material editor. I could add an "auto-sync" option to do this automatically. Rayscaper has a richer set of material capabilities than SketchUp. I assumed you want to edit the materials in Rayscaper, and that it would be counterproductive to override them from SketchUp repeatedly. Maybe that's not a reasonable workflow assumption.

sashapepperspray

okay, thanks (a feature request- maybe you can make a seperate reload button for the regular texture, for the metalness, roughness, and normal maps, so If I edit the regular texture in sketchup but want to keep the metallness changes in rayscaper I can do that.)

Krass

Hi,
when I display a SketchUp scene in RS, the hidden tags within that scene are still visible.

And there's still this problem with certain groups containing other groups and components that don't display unless everything inside is exploded. And I can't always explode everything, as I have variations to make in subsequent steps.
And i no graphic card

pixelcruncher

Hey, Rayscaper users!

Rayscaper 0.9.79 Beta is available. You can get it via:

The SketchUcation store.
Direct download: link.

I recommend upgrading to the latest version.

What Changed?

Add log export feature. You can now export Rayscaper logs directly from the application menu, making it easier to
share diagnostic information when reporting issues. You can access it via the SketchUp menu bar:
Extensions > Rayscaper > Export Logs for Support.
Add a reset button for the post-processing tab. Quickly restore default post-processing settings with a single click.

Help Me Build the Community

If you like Rayscaper, please share your renders (final or work-in-progress, it doesn't matter)! This is motivating and helps me showcase its capabilities
to new users.

Follow me on https://x.com/rayscaper3d.

Happy Rendering!
Thomas

pixelcruncher

@Krass

when I display a SketchUp scene in RS, the hidden tags within that scene are still visible.

Do you mind sharing the scene via e-mail?

And there's still this problem with certain groups containing other groups and components that don't display unless everything inside is exploded. And I can't always explode everything, as I have variations to make in subsequent steps.

Same here, a scene with screenshots of the components would help a lot.

And i no graphic card

Can you check with the latest version I just released? Also check if that version brings the icons back. I think this has to do with your broken installation.

Regards,
Thomas

Krass

Hi,
anyway, it's fixed, the latest version installed correctly.

As for objects on hidden tags, it's still the same; objects on hidden tags in the SU viewport are displayed in the Rayscaper render.

Krass

I finally understand how to use the denoiser. You might initially think that a low-resolution render will be calculated faster... But actually, when the denoiser is applied during rendering, especially when the render resolution is high, the denoising is very clean.
It might seem obvious to you, but it took me a while to figure it out. So I leave the denoiser at full power and immediately set the render size to 2k or higher.

Krass

Thomas, you asked me why I apply an upscale layer after a ray-scaping render. For scenes with windows, I have to do two renders, like a photographer: a light one for the room's exposure and a dark one to replace the "blown-out," overexposed parts of the window. D5 Render doesn't have this problem because its renders aren't truly photographic; they're a kind of pseudo-pathtracing.

Krass

On this page I show a comparison slider between the original rendering and the changes that Magnific Upscale adds

Comparatif rayscaper/magnific upscale – jskup

Avant Après

jskup (jskup.fr)

Of course, we then have to go back through Photoshop to correct the errors that the upscaling process generates.

pixelcruncher

Just to confirm, your GPU is working again and your icons are back?

As for objects on hidden tags, it's still the same; objects on hidden tags in the SU viewport are displayed in the Rayscaper render.

Thanks for reporting. I could find a scene to reproduce it. Seems to happen only for components/groups nested within other groups. I will have a look at this bug.

I finally understand how to use the denoiser. You might initially think that a low-resolution render will be calculated faster... But actually, when the denoiser is applied during rendering, especially when the render resolution is high, the denoising is very clean.

It might seem obvious to you, but it took me a while to figure it out. So I leave the denoiser at full power and immediately set the render size to 2k or higher.

I should document that better. The denoiser works on the full resolution image. And it works now as a post-processing step, so enable/disable won't impact the rendering.

Thomas, you asked me why I apply an upscale layer after a ray-scaping render. For scenes with windows, I have to do two renders, like a photographer: a light one for the room's exposure and a dark one to replace the "blown-out," overexposed parts of the window. D5 Render doesn't have this problem because its renders aren't truly photographic; they're a kind of pseudo-pathtracing.

That's a clever trick, thanks for sharing. Does this mean the tone-mapping operations you are getting in the post-processing step aren't sufficient for you? Should there be more options to provide a better image from the get-go?

Regards,
Thomas

pixelcruncher

And there's still this problem with certain groups containing other groups and components that don't display unless everything inside is exploded. And I can't always explode everything, as I have variations to make in subsequent steps.

@Krass - Do you mind sending me a scene where this happens? I would like to investigate.

Krass

ok, I will send you the scene. Regarding the issue of geometry not displaying when enclosed in groups and subgroups, if I find an earlier version where I haven't broken everything down inside. As for exposure, there may be aspects I don't fully understand, but generally I have this problem: like in photography, if you take an interior shot focused on objects, your window will be white, with saturated light. If you focus on the window, the outside landscape, a digital camera will make the interior extremely dark so you can see the trees and the garden. Just like the human eye. Except our eyes are very fast and correct in microseconds, which allows us to see both the exterior and the interior so clearly. That's light sensitivity. If there's a way...

pixelcruncher

Hey, Rayscaper users!

Happy holidays, and all the best for 2026!

Rayscaper 0.9.82 Beta is available. You can get it via:

The SketchUcation store.
Direct download: link.

I recommend upgrading to the latest version.

What Changed?

Lighting Enhancements

Area Light Support: Create realistic soft lighting effects with area lights, perfect for architectural and product visualization
Multi-Selection for Lights: Select multiple lights at once using SHIFT or CTRL from SketchUp, the lights overlay, or the lights tab for easier management in complex scenes
Light Component Preview: See a preview of light components in the light tool for easier and more accurate placement
Light Grouping: Group Rayscaper light components within SketchUp groups and component definitions for better organization
Enhanced Light Icons: Improved visual feedback with new light icons throughout the interface

Material & Texture Improvements

Material Selection Context Menu: Right-click on materials in the asset manager for quick access to common operations
Export Selected Materials: Export materials from your current scene for reuse in other projects
Auto-Wire Alpha Textures: Textures with alpha channels in SketchUp automatically connect to the opacity channel in Rayscaper materials
Float Texture Multipliers: Adjust the strength of roughness and metallic textures with new multiplier controls
SketchUp 2025 PBR Support: Metallic and roughness factors from SketchUp 2025's PBR materials now properly apply as texture multipliers

Animation

SketchUp Scene Animation: Render animations based on SketchUp scenes, including sun and shadow positions - perfect for creating time-lapse renders showing how lighting changes throughout the day

Interface Improvements

Updated Color Scheme: Refreshed Rayscaper color scheme for better visual clarity
Improved Render Status Bar: Clearer visual indicators make it easier to monitor rendering progress
Better Tooltips: Rewritten tooltips throughout the interface for improved clarity and user-friendliness

Here's a nice XMas render by @rich-o-brien

Help Me Build the Community

If you like Rayscaper, please share your renders (final or work-in-progress, it doesn't matter)! This is motivating and helps me showcase its capabilities
to new users.

Follow me on https://x.com/rayscaper3d.

Happy Rendering!
Thomas

majid

Thanks for the update, though I have issues with it. Here is what I get:
Error: #<LoadError: 126: The specified module could not be found. - c:/users/magic/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2023/sketchup/plugins/rayscaper/installed/Windows/2023/0.9.82 Beta/resources/SUEX_Rayscaper_LoadLibs.so>
E:/Program Files/SketchUp/Sketchup 2023/Tools/RubyStdLib/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:83:in require' E:/Program Files/SketchUp/Sketchup 2023/Tools/RubyStdLib/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:83:in require'
c:/users/magic/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2023/sketchup/plugins/rayscaper/main.rbe:174:in <module:Rayscaper>' c:/users/magic/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2023/sketchup/plugins/rayscaper/main.rbe:8:in <main>'
E:/Program Files/SketchUp/Sketchup 2023/Tools/extensions.rb:197:in eval' E:/Program Files/SketchUp/Sketchup 2023/Tools/extensions.rb:197:in require'
E:/Program Files/SketchUp/Sketchup 2023/Tools/extensions.rb:197:in load' C:/Users/Magic/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2023/SketchUp/Plugins/rayscaper.rb:18:in register_extension'
C:/Users/Magic/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2023/SketchUp/Plugins/rayscaper.rb:18:in <module:Rayscaper>' C:/Users/Magic/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2023/SketchUp/Plugins/rayscaper.rb:6:in <top (required)>'

I uninstalled the previous version, then removed the entire plugin and its loader and reinstalled it, yet the issue persists.

pixelcruncher

@majid Sorry about that! Can you send me the log files as described here: https://rayscaper.com/getting-help/report-a-bug/#1-export-the-log-files

Krass

Hi Thomas, I can't believe I read that you can now do animation? I just installed it and it works perfectly on my computer. It's a Christmas present! But I'm eager to understand how to create an animation. A tutorial would be great...

Krass

I reinstalled Windows; I suppose that explains the license issue I'm having? Rayscaper is installed on two machines.