Hi all, my first time posting in this community. I have just built a house on SketchUp, and would like to start learning how to render. I would like to create a highly detailed site context to my model, taken from reality.
In order to achieve something of the sort, do I need to model everything, for the perfect result? Are there any extensions or processes you recommend?
Thanks
Hi @Josef1, thanks for the post! There are a number of different rendering programs and extensions out there and it will depend on you, your workflow and your computer to find what works for you. I suppose. the first step is to decide on what kind of rendering solution you are looking for and to deicide on how much you want to spend. Some rendering solutions are built as extensions on top of SketchUp and others are their own programs. Some are cheap and others are expensive.
As I work for SketchUp I can not offer a endorsement of a particular solution but I can mention that some rendering programs offer free trials or free versions for hobby use.
Lately, I have been playing around with the free trial version of Lumion and the hobby version of Twinmotion and have gotten some decent results with both. I should also mention that Blender offers rendering too although I am less familiar with it so I can not speak as to if it will meet your needs and I personally find it a bit difficult to use.
At the end of the day, only you will be able to know if a particular rendering solution is right for you.
For professional realtime rendering I love using Enscape.
I don’t think they offer a hobbyist price plan though.
If you want something that works inside SketchUp Pro and is free, you can try the Kerkythea plugin.
Of course exporting to Blender 3D is also a great option for rendering and the rest of it’s amazing capabilities, but I have to admit that I have never been able to get a handle on Blender’s user interface and workflow.
As for modeling every detail, the level you need is up to you. One way to capture everything is to rent a point cloud scanner such as the Trimble X7.
From there you can upgrade SketchUp Pro with Scan Essentials to import the point cloud into SU.
Once imported, you can then model to the point cloud you have. There is an automated Ground Mesh feature that helps with creating a mesh of the topogrphy.
Hope that helps.