Need some advice
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Hi Guys Im Dave and new here in SketchUcation
Im not sure if u guys introduced yourself before starting posting here etc. but I will do it quick
Im 18 and originally from Germany and moved to canada about 2 and a half years ago please excuse my language Im still learning
My goal is to find here the perfect programm that Im looking for to make my sketch up projects look more realistic and nice.
I would be glad if someone would give me some tipps or introduce me some programms that are not too expensive even free would be fine
Thank you in anticipation
Dave -
Hi,
Welcome to SCF!
For free there's Kerkythea, a rendering studio that needs a plugin to export your files.
For money, there's literally tons to choose from and nearly all allow trials. But in terms of quick and easy to use I'd suggest try Twilight, Podium, ShaderLight or Renditioner.
All of these have great support forums and many members here use them so you'll get advice here too!
I'm sure others will mention those I've omitted as the choice is wide
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Some additional info here: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=37621&p=332840&hilit=render+advice#p332840
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Thanks for your replay
I looked up Kerkythea and it seems really nice to me. I will try that first and see if I will need something more powerfull. I got a couple questions for Kerkythea tho.
is it possible to create animations with it like small videos etc. ? How long does it usually take to render a project ?
is it possible to share files here in that forum for example a sketch up file ?mfg. Dave
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I got a new question
I heard from some people about v-ray rendering
is that a good plugin/programm or would you guys recommend it ?regards
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VRay is very powerful and gives stunning results. But is very advanced for some. Why not give the Twilight demo a whirl. It's very popular and has a great support forum.
ShaderLight is also easy to get to grips with.
I suppose the best thing to try a few and decide what's giving you good results. Then pour all your attention into that. You can always move to more powerful render engines with time!
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hey Rich
I followed your advice and got the trial for ShaderLight
so far it seems really good and easy to use for me.. I created some nice looking pics of one of my designed models. but Im not sure if that is good enough. maybe I do something wrong or maybe its just the limited options I have in the trial version. but I cant do much with light and backgrounds.
I guess I will be able to do more as soon as I purchased the full version.
here are some examples what I tried so far.regards
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@davedesign said:
Thanks for your replay
I looked up Kerkythea and it seems really nice to me. I will try that first and see if I will need something more powerfull. I got a couple questions for Kerkythea tho.
is it possible to create animations with it like small videos etc. ? How long does it usually take to render a project ?
is it possible to share files here in that forum for example a sketch up file ?mfg. Dave
Kerkythea can render image sequences, that you need to compile to a video. Step by step guide to SU/Kerkythea animation. Estimating a time for animation is a bit hard, it's really up to your scene and desired quality, but certainly it will take few hours maybe even days. Maybe if you watch some results, you have a better idea http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Kerkythea&aq=f
Even as Kerkythea is free, it's actually rather powerful. But to get most out of it, means that you need to invest some time for learning it. Fortunately Kerkythea community is really helpful... please join the forum at http://www.kerkythea.net/forum/
Our friends at Twilight render have a easy to lear renderer, based on Kerkythea render engine, interface works fully inside SU. And naturally if you want to use all Kerkythea features, you can export the scene.
Developers of Kerkythea, have also created a brand new renderer: Thea Render. It's likely the most versatile render solution available featuring multiple state-of-the-art biased and unbiased engines.
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Hi notareal,
I didnt know it would be that complicated to create videos within kerkythea
are there some other rendering programms that could for example even render a whole SU animation ?
I looked up some results and the videos look great. if there wont be any other solution for me I will try to learn everything about kerkythea.I tried shaderlight so far and I like that I can make my texture changes and everything within sketchup. is twilight similar to that ?
I was on the twilight website and I realized there is no Mac version of twilight ? -
hi notareal,
thanks for all the information it was very helpful.
I just bought a license for shaderlight cuz I find it easy and its all I need so far to get
the results I was looking for. in the future I will try out Thea render it seems very interesting and powerful to me.
I will also try LuxRender and see how that works.
what I really like about shaderlight is that it has limited options which makes it automaticaly very simple to use. If I will keep working with it I will for sure get more out of it.I was wondering does anyone know a good website where I can get nice background pictures of any kind of landscape etc. ?
regards
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Well... it's a step by step guide. In practice it's not that complicated. Thea Render does have a mac version and I think it's easier to use than Kerkythea, but it does cost more.
SU2Thea exports SU camera animation path and you can see it as a camera following a path in Thea. There some overview tutorials, specially SketchUp Plugin Quick Start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSx6MAihocg&hd=1For my understanding a mac version for Twilight is planned, but no release date available. Twilight render works fully inside SU, no external studio, so I believe it's more like shader light.
If you still looking for a free software, have you looked on LuxRender. It also can produce quality results, but unfortunately I have no deeper experience, but it does have mac support.
note: Kerkythea may not work well with OS X Lion, but there will be update in some point.
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@davedesign said:
hi notareal,
I was wondering does anyone know a good website where I can get nice background pictures of any kind of landscape etc. ?
regards
Hi Dave
As a Shaderlight customer you can access all of the background images on our website http://www.artvps.com/index.php/tutorials/lighting-images/
It would be great to see some of your renders!
Kate
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hi kate
thanks for your replay these background images are awesome.
I will try them out in my next project.
Im working on a masterbedroom for a friend right now. She wanted me to design it for her
and Im happy with shaderlight it gives my designs a very nice realstic look.
I would like to show you some pf my work and also ask for some advice how to get more out of my light and shadow effects. I played around tried different things. but I have the feeling Im still doing something wrong.here are some examples of my masterbedroom
regards
Dave
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I have actually a question about the small dots or points on my glas
is that because of too much light or not enough light ?
I tried different things and Im still not sure what might cause that light noise in my model.regards
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