After an introduction trial period with 2017 Pro I loved it so much I bought it today! Already thinking ahead towards presentation work I wondered if members had any advice on a suitable rendering package for afterwards. At this point my leanings are away from photo realistic rendering and in time I think I would like to learn and present a more hand coloured finish effect. Any feedback would be most welcome.
I like NPR renderings, too. One simple option might be to look at Fotosketcher which has several watercolor effects. There are other ways to do it with image editors and various filters, too.
This is a quickie I did with Fotosketcher. I generally export a Hidden Line image separate from an image without edges. Then I combine the output of Fotosketcher with the Hidden Line export. This prevents the edges being modified with the faces.
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In my view, photo-realistic rendering is an art-form! It takes a great degree of skill and effort to achieve a rendering in which nobody can find any glitches.
So, it comes down to where you get the most payback and satisfaction from your effort. If you are mainly interested in the model, a NPR rendering will take a lot less time and may convey the model very effectively. If you are mainly interested in the “wow factor”, you may regard the time as well spent.
I design mostly standalone furniture. I almost never use photo-realistic rendering because I haven’t yet encountered a customer who would decide to order or not based on that vs NPR. But I can easily see how an architect might land a job because the presentation of a concept didn’t look like a cartoon.
Yes. when I looked at some of your posted drawings the other day, this was exactly the sort of image I admired. I will look up Fotosketcher. Do you find it hard to work with it or is it reasonably easy? Thanks again for you advice and generous sharing of your knowledge.
Fotosketcher is quite easy to use. it may not give you as many options as you’d get with much more involved methods but you can experiment quickly. You might also find ways to combine images with different effects.
I agree with your comments. I will be using Sketchup for woodworking for my own personal projects as well as working and visualization for client building jobs. PRR is marvellous but not necessary for me to learn and spend time perfecting it. If I ever needed it I would be better off outsourcing it.
Had a look at their website and they have some attractive and interesting examples. I will have a play with it after Christmas and see what I can do with it.
You need to get SketchUp Pro then.
Although I do use a rendering application sometimes my images are never very photo-realistic. For several reason I don’t use those images for client jobs, though.
As I mentioned in the original post - I gave been learning on Sketchup Make and bought Pro yesterday as I am going to use it for clients when i am proficient enough. Right now I consider myself a newbie and very much a student.
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I was just looking at your profile which still indicates you have Make. I’d forgotten you’d mentioned Pro in your first post. Sorry about that.
Not to pile too much on but you’ll want to be learning about using LayOut, too. Some of the stuff you do in SketchUp will be driven by how you plan to use the model. If you are using it in LO for plans or proposals, you want to make sure you are setting it up correctly in SketchUp. That’ll make the whole work flow process much easier and more enjoyable.
Yes I am on it! I used to draw in 2D CAD years ago and haven’t drawn anything for about 10 years as had no need as had retired. Now been requested to do a few jobs and found Sketchup. It has taken me about 2 months to understand the basics ( I am obviously a slow learner) and was now ready for layout as for me an essential link to have presentable drawings. Along with my purchase of Pro also bought Matt Donley’s book and Video course so that will be how I will be spending the Christmas season.
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