Rayscaper New Releases

pixelcruncher

@Alattab Wow, very impressive result. Well done!

pixelcruncher

@Alattab I will add it to the feature list.

Krass

Nasty Jingle

pixelcruncher

Hey folks,

A new Mac beta is up: Rayscaper 0.9.106. Same link as before: Rayscaper for Mac

What's new since 0.9.105:

No more crash next to other extensions: starting a render could crash SketchUp when an extension such as Unreal Datasmith was installed. Such an extension loads its own copies of libraries that Rayscaper uses too, and macOS handed those to Rayscaper. Rayscaper now ships its libraries under names of its own, so they can't get mixed up. Thanks to the tester who sent their logs!
A calmer, more polished interface: clearer text hierarchy, quieter controls with their values lined up, dropdowns with readable lists, and a status bar that shows what Rayscaper is doing and, when a render fails, why.
Faster value editing: drag a label to change its value, double-click a slider to type one, and type values with units (35 %, 2 ft, 90°). Right-click a setting in Post Processing or Render to reset it to its default.
Feedback when you save: saving a render, preset or material shows a notification with Show in Folder, and errors tell you what to do next.
Scene tabs set the sun: selecting a SketchUp scene tab now also sets the sky to that scene's time and date. Before, it kept the sun of the previous scene.

If you installed an earlier beta: install this one over it with the Extension Manager, then restart SketchUp.

Thanks to everyone testing, keep the feedback coming!

Cheers, Thomas

Alattab

What about the Windows operating system community?

Alattab

When I place a static image in front of the glass, its reflection does not appear. I imported the image using the "import image" function.

Krass

Hello,
yes, reflections in rayscaper are very low...
You need to increase IQR level in the advanced tab of your glass

Krass

pixelcruncher

This is how real glass behaves, not a bug. Clear glass reflects only a small part of the light.

Your imported image is reflected; it's just faint. To make reflections stronger:

Put something darker behind the glass, or view it at more of an angle.
Raise the IOR in the glass's Advanced section a little, as @krass suggests. Very high values (above 2) make the glass bend whatever is behind it much more, so use them with care (like looking through a diamond).

Cheers,
Thomas

Alattab

In the materials name list, how can I select multiple materials at once so that I can apply the same type of settings to them?

pixelcruncher

Hey, Rayscaper users!

Rayscaper 0.9.106 Beta is available. You can get it via:

Direct download: Rayscaper_Win_0.9.106_Beta.rbz.
The SketchUcation store. It still lists 0.9.105 for now and will get 0.9.106 shortly.

I recommend upgrading to the latest version.

Grass That Grows in the Render

Paint a face with the new Grass material and Rayscaper grows real grass blades on it in the render. Your SketchUp model stays light, since the blades only exist in the render. Pick a Mowed Lawn, Garden Lawn, Meadow, Dry Grass or Artificial Turf, add mowing stripes, or let the blades take their color from the texture of the material. The grass stays off paths and the edges of the lawn, and grows on across a lawn that is split into groups. See Grass Material.

Presets for Post Processing, Environment and Render

The Post Processing, Environment and Render tabs now have a preset list: looks such as Crisp Daylight and Cinematic, skies such as Golden Hour and Sunset, and render qualities. Save your own, choose the ones a new model starts with, and go back to your previous settings if you don't like a preset. See Post Processing Presets and Environment Presets.

Two-Point Perspective

SketchUp's Two-Point Perspective keeps your walls upright. Rayscaper now renders that view exactly as SketchUp frames it, instead of a tilted camera with leaning walls. See Two-Point Perspective.

Your Own Keyboard Shortcuts

Change the shortcuts of the render window in the new Keyboard Shortcuts tab of the settings. See Changing keyboard shortcuts.

What Changed?

Add the Grass material: paint a face with it and Rayscaper grows real grass blades on it in the render, with presets for a mowed lawn, a garden lawn, a meadow, dry grass and artificial turf, mowing stripes, and blades that take the color of the material's texture where they grow. The grass stays off paths and the edges of the lawn, and grows on across lawns split into groups.
Add presets to the Post Processing, Environment and Render tabs: looks such as Crisp Daylight and Cinematic, skies such as Golden Hour, Sunset and Blue Hour, and render qualities. Save your own presets, pick the ones a new model starts with, and go back to your previous settings.
Change the keyboard shortcuts in the new Keyboard Shortcuts tab of the settings.
Offer a license where the free version stops you: the 1280 px notice, Render Scenes and the About dialog.
Redraw the light tool icons, sharp at every display scale on Windows.
Make the render follow the camera faster and more smoothly while you navigate or change the model, and show what the renderer does while a render starts (loading textures, preparing the scene, ...).
Render SketchUp's Two-Point Perspective views as SketchUp frames them.
Give the user interface a calmer, clearer look: a type hierarchy, quieter controls with aligned values, readable dropdowns and a calmer status bar.
Keep the render fitted to the viewport until you zoom or pan.
Update scenes with many emissive instances faster.
Keep Rayscaper's settings of a model when SketchUp's Undo is used after saving or after closing the render window, which could bring back older settings or none.
Fix a crash when another extension loaded its own copy of a library that Rayscaper uses.
Fix SketchUp quitting on some undo and redo of groups and components, and on a normal map whose texture isn't an image.
Follow the shadow time of a SketchUp scene when its tab is selected.
Fix auto exposure flashing white while the render starts or the camera moves.
Move SketchUp's camera along when an AI agent changes the camera through the MCP server.

Full release notes: rayscaper.com/manual/release-notes

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 X.

Happy Rendering!
Thomas

Krass

That looks excellent to me! But I don’t understand how to remove or delete a scatter from the list?

pixelcruncher

@Krass Ugh, you found a bug. The buttons are falling off the scatter editor. You can make it wider for now to work around it. I will fix it for the next release.

BTW, how are the French translation? It's AI, I kinda spot checked it but I don't know enough French to see if they actually make sense. And I don't use French software so for sure I don't know the specific terms.

Cheers,
Thomas

pixelcruncher

@Alattab said:

In the materials name list, how can I select multiple materials at once so that I can apply the same type of settings to them?

Good suggestion, will add it to the feature list.

Krass

Thanks,
The translation is pretty good. I did consider switching it back to English, as technical terms and software-related language can often lead to misunderstandings, but I’ll leave it in French for now.
I’ll keep an eye out and let you know if I spot any incorrect or ambiguous translations.
Your grass material is truly excellent—it’s a significant milestone for this version. And the customizable shortcuts are a big deal for me, so I’m really happy about that. Well done!

Krass

The grass settings are absolutely perfect. I'm now going to try to repurpose this function to generate carpets. The presets are good; the hue is very natural, whereas in many other programs you get an unrealistic, vivid green.