V-Ray - Lighting and Applying Materials to SketchUp Model

Extending SketchUp V-Ray for SketchUp
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I have been stumped for the past couple of days trying to figure out the lighting and materials using V-Ray for SketchUp. I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I have watched some great YouTube videos to help me but I am still not achieving the results I want. I have changed my settings and still not much progress considering the time spent.

Screenshot (4467)
Screenshot (4467)1919×1026 205 KB

Does anyone have any advice on how I can get my render to look better?

The quality I am aiming for is along the lines of this:
Gallery – Rendered with V-Ray® by Bendus Mihail | Chaos

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The scene in the link was done by a pro. There are many hours spent learning the software and also photography.

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+1 to what @RLGL says. You need to start slow and adjust your expectations. I’ve been using V-Ray for a few years now and probably can’t get that good of renders. Start by taking our free full-length course on SketchUp Campus. I know it’s for exteriors but it covers materials, lighting, and render settings which have a lot in common with Interiors (I’m working on a V-Ray for Interiors course as we speak!).

After you complete that course, try posting here again but with specific questions or issues so we can better help resolve. See this thread where someone was having trouble with realism and several of us on the forum helped them and their result looked much better afterwards.

Also, and don’t take this the wrong way, but really think about your design first before worrying too much about V-Ray settings. Specifically, you have quite a few really bold and contrasting colors and materials. Unless it’s someone else’s design and you’re just rendering it, there’s no amount of rendering knowledge that’ll will make that feel like an inviting space to want to be in.

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@eric-s Thank you for the detailed response. And I agree with adjusting my expectations. Twenty years ago, I learned Photoshop and HTML from endless hours and all-nighters of trial and error. It paid off. SketchUp and V-Ray are different beasts, but I found SketchUp easier to grasp overall. V-Ray is a high-patience-required extension/program, but I am up for the challenge.

Regarding the design—it is my own. And I see what you mean about the texture combinations. I have an eclectic style. Plus, combining different textures will help me learn V-Ray better since it’s a robust extension/program.

Also, thank you for sharing the link to that thread. I read through it, and you and some other users provided great, encouraging feedback and tips! I will try them out and take the SketchUp Campus course.

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