Thankyou to everyone for their input!
Even more research for me and hopefully an opportunity to use some of these packages.
Steve

@jason_maranto said:

Certainly true, but working in a large company having access to all of the Maxwell plugins can be useful -- with just one license you can have several people working in several different applications at the same time (via the plugins)... some doing scene setup (SketchUp, 3DSMax, etc.), others doing postwork (Photoshop, Nuke, After Effects). And with the 5 render nodes you could have as many as 6 scenes rendering at a time... as far as I can see the only thing the license is tied to is the computer(s) doing the actual rendering.

My point wasn't so much that Thea was a bad value, just that "value" is a subjective idea.

But yes, testing and research is the only way to know what might be your best fit.

Best,
Jason.

Forgive me, Render nodes?
Would I be correct in thinking these are seperate PC's linked together to render multiple scenes or a scene in a shorter time?

@unknownuser said:

Not great renders by any stretch of the imagination -didn't have the time. If I were to spend a few hours on these, I'm sure I could make them look rather good.

Vray was mentioned. Decent option, I'd say -though you wouldn't be able to add high poly trees, as you can in either Maxwell or Thea. Its speed/quality ratio is impressive, though. Of course, the learning curve is fairly steep. Lynda.com has a tutorial for VfSU.

Edit: I agree with Solo on Thea, btw. Great value for its price.

TomDC

Thankyou for taking the time to do that! Much appreciated.

Thankyou to everyone for their input. Lots of research to complete and even more learning!

Anymore suggestions / comments are welcome.
Steve

Thankyou Carloh

Another one for me to look into!
I suppose I should of asked about hardware also. What kind of RAM, graphics card, processor e.t.c would people reccomend that would perform renders comfortably?
Thanks

@macker said:

It depends if you want to keep within sketchup or export/file link into another render application. For example VRay for sketchup works within sketchup which means updating models and such is quite easy, however sketchup does struggle with heavy geometry such as high resolution trees and cars.

The alternative would be to export to something such as Thea render for example. This has a standalone "studio" application that works outside of Sketchup, which in turn will be able to handle far more complex scenes.

If your budget is large enough however, I'd go for 3ds max and VRay. I build all of my building models in Sketchup and take them into max for rendering - and there are a huge number of advantages in doing so, such as the number of free models available for max, the modelling tools within it and the number of tutorials/support groups for it. This however is by far the most expensive option, plus there would be a steep learning curve for users; but it's worth considering in the long term.

Macker
Thankyou for youir input.
I think 3ds Max is a out of the budget range and the training to produce something of quality would be too extensive.

I think prehaps keeping everything inside SketchUp would possibly be the favoured route. The scenes required would not be too complex and I think the workflow would benefit alot more.

Vray is something I would love to use personally as some of the work I've seen here is fantastic.

TomDC

Thankyou for your response!
I've attached a basic model of a building (nothing else) that hopefully you can demonstrate what podium can do.
I didn't create this model personally so apologise if it's a bit crude in its construction.

Any images would be greatly appreciated!
Steve

Example.skp

Hi Guys

Apologise if this is posted in the wrong section but I thought asking people who use different packages and regularly produce high quality photorealistic renders would be the best to ask for a bit of advice!

People within my company use SketchUp on a daily basis (each users level of skill varies greatly from person to person but there are plans to get everyone who currently uses SketchUp on an even playing field.) for creating small to mid-size apartment developments (costing up to £1 million a development I would estimate), to submit to planning departments. Currently any photorealistic renders that need to be created are outsourced to a 3rd party but we are looking to perhaps move this process in-house to one or two individuals (due to a cost cutting exercise).

Could anyone recommend any render plug-ins or stand alone software that can achieve a quality presentation which is relatively easy to pick up and use? (I’m sure this does not apply to most render programs) I have had very limited experience in render packages over the last few years (namely VRay, Raylectron, Kerkythea and Podium, all of which have never lasted more than the 30-day trial!) and I am aware a user cannot install, play with for an afternoon and produce a render by the end of the day and that there is a steep learning curve and alot of practise before something of the kind of quality I see in this gallery is produced.

Currently, exteriors are only needed to be rendered and there is no need for night time images. The use of Photoshop is possible to enhance images but time is a huge factor here. A good support base would be ideal for the user to view different techniques, methods e.t.c.

So, if anyone has any comments, suggestions, references or just to point me in a direction. I would love to hear them!

Thanks for reading!
Steve

Hi
Just finished my first NPR and thought I'd share it to hopefully get some comments / criticisms / suggestions so I can improve!

The model was created from photo I'd taken and built in Sketchup with photomatch (with a bit of artistic licence!)

I used photoshop to try and use the "Dennis Technique" that caught my eye whilst looking at all the amazing work here.

I'm more of a part-time Sketchup user but would love to use it more...

Like I said, any comments or suggestions would be welcome!
Thanks

Hi Guys

I'm new to using vray, I'm currently using 1.48.89 and would like to try to master internal rendering. I'm having trouble with the fact that as soon as a roof goes on top of any structure, the render is of a dark gloomy room.

Can anyone help with some tips, advice, or know any tutorials online to help with the lighting.

I've created a very crude model, not for any purpose other than to play around and try to get internal lighting right.

The crude spotlights are V-Ray rectangle lights inserted.

They don't seem to give out much light given the scalar setting is at 500. Anyone advise on how they can produce more light?

Is it advisable to put large V-Ray rectangle outside the windows and add light to the inside?

Or is it a case of playing with the settings? If so, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys.
Love the work on here, I would love to create something of the same standard some day!!

Thats excellent.
Thankyou!

Hi guys

I'm new to the forum and using sketchUp so sorry if this is is the wrong place.

I need some help with creating materials. I can't seem to create anything that doesn't look like a image repeated over and over again.

I have photoshop but am not sure what tools to use to make a material more convincing.

I'm trying to make a stone floor at the moment but am really struggling.

I'm getting the majority of my images from CG Textures but would really like some tips or a tutorial if anyone knows of one to explain step-by-step what I should do.

Thanks for your help!

Thats great. Thanks for the help.

@thomthom said:

[attachment=0:3kvbjlq8]<!-- ia0 -->environment.png<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:3kvbjlq8]

Oh yeah!
Sorry!!
Thanks

@thomthom said:

Turn up the multiplier for the HDRI map.

How do I do this?
Thanks

Hi guys.

I'm quite new to Vray and have just downloaded 1.48.89.

I'm having trouble inserting a sky bitmap.
I've downloaded a panoramic sky photo and am trying to insert and render but i'm having no luck.

I've attached the settings and the render if someone could tell me where i'm going wrong I would really appreciate it!

I've used the same settings in the BG color as the GI color.

@thomthom said:

Sharper? Not sure sure what you mean here.

It may be hard to tell from the posted pictures what I mean. It's ok. I think my main problem was the lack of light in the scene. I've added some more light and it's brightened that backwall up.

Thanks

@thomthom said:

When you apply textured material on groups/components, VfSU prior to 1.44 will render the textures as 1x1" in size. When you apply them to faces they will render in correct size.

Thanks. Thats something I will keep in mind.
Any tips to make the image appear alot sharper?

@thomthom said:

That is it - VfSU up until 1.48.xx did not render textures applied onto Groups/Components correctly.
When you use older versions you need to apply the materials onto the faces directly.

Also - the older versions experienced significant slowdown when you applied materials (even plain colour) onto groups/components.

OK
So the answer is to only apply materials to faces NOT in groups? Will that help with making the back wall show up in more detail?

Thanks

@thomthom said:

Have you applied the material to the faces or onto groups/components?

btw - what version number of VfSU do you use?

Sorry, I forgot to add the version - 01.05.30.

The toilet and washbasin are separate groups that I applied materials to. The wall at the back has just had the materials applied to the faces.

I downloaded a interior visopt I found in one of the forums and it looks slightly better, still not great. as you can see by the attachment.

Thanks

Hi guys

I'm new to the forum so please forgive me if this is in the wrong place!
I've been using Sketch up 6 along with VRAY since around January this year. I'm not using it professionally yet but would like to do so.

I'm having trouble rendering indoor scenes, namely dark areas. I've attached a prime example.
I've seen some of the work you guys have been posting and its all very impressive, something I would love to try and emulate!

As you can see by the picture, it's not that great. The dark back wall is supposed to be a tile wall, each tile staggered by 3 - 5mm. It has no material assigned, just the colour chosen in sketch up.

The render clearly doesn't show this and for the life of me, I have no idea how to remove that dappled / pixilated look.

If someone could help and give me pointers / basic settings info on how to improve this scene I'd really appreciate it!

Also, the wooden floor looks terrible. Any tips on creating a decent wood floor that doesn't repeat too many times!?
Thanks everyone for reading!