Using the latest version of Vray for Sketchup how would you approach doing an ambient occlusion render to achieve something along the lines of the linked render from cCrisan http://www.ccrisan.be/3D/maq/maq01.jpg

I have tried using a virtual plane but it gives a horizon.
I have turned off GI and/or BG in Environment but still get a horizon.
I have tried boosting GI over BG and reverse.

I have turned GI and BG to white which helped a little.
Also can't seem to get the grey tone range as shown, I thought that maybe in the linked image that they actually toned certain parts rather than a pure ambient occclusion / dirt render.

And simply turing off materials and using a near white for the render does not seem to give anything close.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

I'm looking for a way to ensure my working screen within sketchup has the same dimensions so that when I use the model across different computers that have different screen dimensions I can ensure that what is visible in the scene will be the same.

I am aware that you can dictate the dimensions of required output via Vray for sketchup when rendering but the working screen when not the same does not ensure the same feel for preparing the screen as consistency does.

Recently I worked on one file across several computers and i was not able to achieve consistant results.

Is there a way of locking the screen to a certain dimension?

Just interested in doing two balsa wood style architectural models in sketchup with Vray and wanted to keep the poly count low but add some trees for scale and shaddows.

Second one was of a past work, that used raw logs as posts, and that also has been hard to mimic without using something that looks more like a steel pole than a natural form.

I have checked google warehouse and not been able to find anything similar, nor from the wealth of architectural model pics online to show anything similar.

Wanted something between the following images.
http://weburbanist.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/tree-branch-divider.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/4317958465_1fd201890d.jpg

Any pointers to links or techniques would be appreciated.

http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab12/halceon2007/?action=view&current=sectionalrendertest01.jpg

Hope this works, didn't have any success with the uploading.

Attached was a 2 min model constructed for testing, giving in principal the results wanted.

Would need to be toned for a real project.

If an alternative it was probably because I didn't ready your solution well enough.

But if it is different then cool as there is more than one way to do it!

I often ask questions but thought it only fair to post an answer.

So, I tried what was suggested over numerous trials until I got a successful result ready for later use.

Key points I found for a successful cut section render were as follows:

Omni light (not rectangular light) with high intensity setting set as a virtual sun.
Sufficient apetures
Good position of the Omni light to optimize shadow lenght and depth and interation in the space

All sunlight and daylight turned off

But found this to be a bit dull and many dark spaces on the plan so to compliment:

Rectangular light set as a ceiling at a very low setting to give an ambient background/backup illumination.

And the technique works a treat, thanks.

Thanks, I will try this out. Funny how what appear to be very difficult techical issues are often solved by very simple solutions.

When rending an interior as a sectional plan in for example an axon-metric format, how do you do the lighting for rendering such that the light enters only via doors and windows and not just over the top of the cut wall?

I would probably attempt it in vray.

I saw some nice illustrations recently but am clueless how to achieve it.

Any input most appreciated.

Just a quick question, I have done some good quality renders with VRAY but would like to integrate them with some wireframe models.

Either together or as an overlay in photoshop after.

Is it possible to generate a quality render with vray or am I stuck with the low resolution / different field of view from the standalone sketchup?

Any assistance most appreciated.