Tutorial: Model in SketchUp, Realtime Render in Blender

chippwalters · 31 Dec 2018, 14:03

Hey guys,

You may remember awhile ago I did a video talking about the 20 reasons you might want to consider switching from SketchUp to Blender ( https://youtu.be/8MZkjXanO14 ).

Since then, I've been very busy. In particular, I've been working on workflows and pipelines to be able to quickly move your models from SketchUp to the Free Blender 2.8, which has realtime rendering. This means you can continue to model in SketchUp, but you can render and animate in Blender.

Blender 2.8 is a major update, and now is focused on ease-of-use for new users. It's very much like existing apps, with left button select, way fewer key commands and most everything in menus or buttons.

Consider this comparison:
On the left is the original reference picture. On the right is Blender 2.8's unbiased renderer, CYCLES. (ignore the glass material as I was using a metal). CYCLES is like Thea or other path tracing renderer. It renders faster with GPU cards but it's still minutes (if not hours) per render. Still, it gives fabulous results (and it's free). IIRC, this rendering took around 15 minutes and I have a pretty fast system with 2 GPU cards (1080 and 960Ti).

Now, let's look at Blender 2.8's other renderer: EEVEE. EEVEE is like a game engine, only optimized for modeling and animation and NOT realtime play. Here's the same comparison with EEVEE.

You can see, they are very similar-- and the EEVEE one took less than 4 seconds to render! In fact I can render at 4K resolution a single frame in under 10 seconds. This means creating animations is just ridiculously fast (check out some animations at the end of this video: https://youtu.be/AtjLhPtzL9M?t=54 )

So, why am I here? Well, I've created a course which goes into great detail how to use Blender 2.8 to render and animate your SketchUp models. I specifically want to enable SU users to be able to quickly move their designs into Blender, add materials and light the scene and render.

One of the really cool things, is you don't have to do ANY UV MAPPING! I've put together some shaders and materials, with clear instructions on how to do it all.

Here's what I'm calling it:

The tutorial style is video, with no video lasting more than 10 minutes. It's incredibly dense in that I've tried to remove any rambling, umms, errrs, and instead focused on getting TO THE POINT very quickly. It will also include a number of materials and objects you can use/reuse.

AND...here's where you come in. I'm looking for 10 users to help me test this course. Of course you will receive all the objects, materials and videos for free, and in return I'm asking your frank appraisal of what works and what doesn't. I'm only looking for serious users, experienced SketchUp designers and hopefully with some rendering history.

I've got 9 of 15 videos completed (the hard stuff) and I'm currently embarking on the SketchUp for Blenders part where I go over how to setup anbd use Blender 2.8. I've already completed the sections on creating your own materials, light leaks, reflection and irrandiance probes and overall lighting.

If you are interested, please contact me at chippATchipp.com and I'll let you know. I expect the finished series to be out sometime soon.

rv1974 · 31 Dec 2018, 14:34

What happens to Evee when it hits the glass ceiling of video card memory limit?
Currently my average RAM usage (in architectural exteriors) is about 25-40Gb of RAM. The average video card is only 6-12

chippwalters · 31 Dec 2018, 14:51

@rv1974 said:

What happens to Evee when it hits the glass ceiling of video card memory limit?
Currently my average RAM usage (in architectural exteriors) is about 25-40Gb of RAM. The average video card is only 6-12

In my video series, I go over how to optimize your video memory by using a custom streamlined shader which uses significantly less memory than the custom advanced shader.

Furthermore, Blender 2.8 can use both GPU and CPU to render a scene, so if you don't have enough video, you can automatically render in CPU mode, albeit a lot slower.

majid · 31 Dec 2018, 16:23

More than happy to be involved please and may Gosh bless you!

rv1974 · 31 Dec 2018, 16:24

My question was about Eevee. From what I understood it's a GPU only engine (not supporting multiple cards rig). So when the memory limit will be reached, will it crash/freeze or give an error pop-up?

solo · 31 Dec 2018, 16:33

Does EEVEE use multiple GPU's?

chippwalters · 31 Dec 2018, 16:49

@majid said:

More than happy to be involved please and may Gosh bless you!

Hi majid! Please email me at chippATchipp.com (replace AT with @). Look forward to working with you.

chippwalters · 31 Dec 2018, 17:49

@rv1974 said:

My question was about Eevee. From what I understood it's a GPU only engine (not supporting multiple cards rig). So when the memory limit will be reached, will it crash/freeze or give an error pop-up?

EEVEE will render with GPU and/or CPU. It uses OpenGL. I believe if you reach the texture memory limit of your GPU it will automatically render on the CPU (slower of course). My tutorial series covers this and I provide a efficient material shader and one that is more advanced as well.

majid · 31 Dec 2018, 19:55

I am reviving all I know on Blender with new UI, and let me say miles way easier to work with comparing to previous version ...

chippwalters · 31 Dec 2018, 20:26

@rv1974 said:

https://devtalk.blender.org/t/is-will-eevee-support-multi-gpu/625
[url]https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/110142/eevee-seem-not-to-benefit-from-multiple-gpus-for-rendering
[/url]
No multiple GPUs for Eevee. Are they wrong?

Wow. Really good catch! I just assumed that because cycles supported multiple gpus then Eevee did also. Thanks for the correction. Here's another link I found on the subject.

Just a moment...

(blender.stackexchange.com)

chippwalters · 31 Dec 2018, 20:29

@majid said:

I am reviving all I know on Blender with new UI, and let me say miles way easier to work with comparing to previous version ...
Yep, Blender 2.8 is a game changer.

rv1974 · 31 Dec 2018, 20:35

https://devtalk.blender.org/t/is-will-eevee-support-multi-gpu/625
https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/110142/eevee-seem-not-to-benefit-from-multiple-gpus-for-rendering
No multiple GPUs for Eevee. Are they wrong?

chippwalters · 31 Dec 2018, 20:39

@solo said:

Does EEVEE use multiple GPU's?

Absolutely. In fact, a GPU (or two) is highly recommended.

It can even use the new RTX series from Nvidia.

EDIT: Correction: While Cycles benefits from multiple GPUs, it appears EEVEE does not. Furthermore, it's not clear whether or not EEVEE takes advantage of the new RTX cards yet (Cyles does).

Glenn at home · 31 Dec 2018, 21:11

@majid said:

I am reviving all I know on Blender with new UI, and let me say miles way easier to work with comparing to previous version ...

Yes it is. It's like a breath of fresh air

Mike Amos · 1 Jan 2019, 11:17

When will Blender 2.8 be released? All I have found out so far is that release is delayed.

Bryan K · 1 Jan 2019, 17:56

Yes, I am interested in testing as well.

solo · 1 Jan 2019, 18:09

@mike amos said:

When will Blender 2.8 be released? All I have found out so far is that release is delayed.

Blender Builds - blender.org

Continuous build delivery with the latest features and fixes. Use at your own risk!

Blender Builds - blender.org (builder.blender.org)

chippwalters · 1 Jan 2019, 19:00

@mike amos said:

When will Blender 2.8 be released? All I have found out so far is that release is delayed.

I'm hearing sometime in Q2-2019..BUT there many people are now using it since it's been in BETA. Beta typically means all the features are locked down but there may still be bugs. I've been using it for a few months now and it's pretty darn robust. As Pete says, you can download it now.

Regarding DL'ing of Blender 2.8. You should consider updating your download every couple of weeks. I know this sounds silly, but it's pretty amazing how robust the daily builds are. I've yet to have to 'revert' to an older version, and I've been doing this for both 2.79 and 2.8 for quite some time now.