V-Ray is the best for realistic visualization. It is a plug-in that turns SketchUp, Revit, ArchiCAD and other 3D rendering software into a nice rendering. If your main aim is putting your clients in the spaces you are designing in convincing style, this 3D simulation software is going to be your best option.
This 3D simulation software extensive material library and resources provide a variety of options in lights, surfaces, and realistic textures to take your architecture design to the next level. V-Ray is a powerful and versatile software tool that helps engineers visualize and build physical models.
V-Ray is used to produce building design and construction plans for
- Buildings, and more. You can use this program to design, manipulate, and enhance projects.
Let’s take a look at how to use the V-Ray for SketchUp
The first step in using V-Ray for SketchUp is choosing the project type. This is a slider in the bottom left corner of SketchUp. A description of the project type is available through the program menu. From there, you can choose the project type you want to work with. SketchUp users will have a different experience compared to VS users because of V-Ray.
Next, you will need to select the light source. This is available in the right side panel on the toolbar. You will see three types of light sources, which include light on, shading and bounce. All of these types provide varying degrees of light to your scene. We recommend using bounce, as it is the best type of light. Light on, shading and bounce all have different degrees of depth and intensity.
In the light source option, SketchUp uses the model it finds during the sketching phase. If the model does not contain any structural detail, then V-Ray will automatically select a basic white colour. Otherwise, the model is used as-is. For each part that needs to be built, the V-Ray software constructs an animated model of the part that can be edited by the user.
The additional layers allow the V-Ray user to
- Resize, and
- Rotate the object
Users can then choose whether or not to light the object with a directional light source. If you do, the map on the left side panel for the object will turn blue. Directional lights that are off can be changed by the layers menu, under the light source option.
The next step in using V-Ray for SketchUp is setting up the diffuse, specular, and bump lighting for the light source. The diffuse and specular settings control the shininess and the colour of the light source. However, as discussed previously, V-Ray uses bounce instead of shading and bounce allows light to bounce off of solid surfaces instead of scattering.
V-Ray Collection combines the most powerful software to provide users with everything they need without worrying about many licenses
- V-Ray for 3D Max: Fast photoreal CPU & GPU rendering for artists and designers in architecture, games, VFX and VR.
- V-Ray for Sketchup: The quick, easy-to-use secret for bringing SketchUp projects to life with exceptional realism.
- V-Ray for Maya: Blockbuster CPU & GPU rendering for first-class animation and VFX in film, TV, VR and more.
- V-Ray for Rhino: The essential rendering software for architecture, automotive and product design workflows.
- V-Ray for Revit: Professional rendering for architects, seamlessly integrated with the world’s top BIM application.
- V-Ray for Unreal: The fastest way to bring V-Ray scenes into real-time and render ray-traced images directly from Unreal.
- V-Ray for Cinema 4D: Powerful rendering for artists and designers.
- V-Ray for Modo: Powerful rendering for artists and designers.
- V-Ray for Render Node: Render single images faster using the combined computing power of multiple machines.
- V-Ray for Katana: Powerful production rendering for Katana, Foundry’s high-end lighting and look development application
- V-Ray for Houdini: Powerful CPU and GPU rendering for procedural workflows.
- V-Ray for Nuke: Powerful ray-traced rendering for the VFX industry’s #1 compositing application.
- V-Ray for App SDK: High-level software development kit designed to integrate V-Ray into any application.
- V-Ray for Blender: Advanced ray-traced rendering plugin for the Blender community. And many more
V-Ray uses a higher quality shadow map than standard graphics software
These shadow maps change depending on where the light source is, and how far the light source is from the camera. The diffuse and specular map is used to “sunlight” the light source, which helps to soften the edges of the shadow. The general rule of thumb is to use more diffuse and less specular in a simple sketch.
The contrast can be increased later. The first layer of the three is the light source. Here, the light source is made solid and then there is a shadow map for the light source. The light source is lit with the diffuse layer.
Now the second layer of the three is the actual light itself. On the left side of the sketch, click on the Light icon. There are two modes: direct and indirect. Direct mode uses the diffuse map and direct lighting on the part. On the other hand, indirect mode uses both the diffuse and specular layers to light the object.
Once the layer is created, set the light source as well as the distance of the object from the camera. Then click on the layer and go to the properties menu to change the mode.
The light source should already be lit by the diffuse layer. Set the ambient and the exposure to the maximum possible value. The exposure setting determines how much the object is affected by the light, but it will also affect the level of detail of the texture.
Next, click on the object to highlight it and go to the attributes menu. You will see an object selector at the top of the toolbar. Just click on the object and you will find the light source and the diffuse layers that are required for the UV map.
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