Architectural_Design_with_SketchUp

Chapter 5 Rendering in SketchUp
correctly, don’t panic! You can always save a scene for rendering using the exporter plugin
(as an XML file) and later open it from within Kerkythea.
Once you have the software environment set up correctly, you are ready to give rendering
a try. Create any 3D model you like—this tutorial uses an indoor scene where we can
test some materials and lights. Figure 5.14 shows the basic scene used for this example.
Figure 5.14: Room setup in SketchUp (box for walls and floor, sofa, window, and plant from the sample components,
custom-modeled mirror)
Next, we need to apply some materials. Use SketchUp’s built-in materials for this—add
a wood material to the floor and any color material to the walls. Make sure all surfaces have
a material applied and are not just painted with the default white color.
An important quirk to know about Kerkythea is the fact that the exporter groups geometry
by material. The implication of this is that once you are in Kerkythea’s environment
and you wish to edit a material, clicking a particular face selects all faces that have the
same material applied to them. Therefore, all faces that do not contain a material will be
grouped because they actually contain SketchUp’s default material.
As a good rule, make sure all faces in your model have some nondefault material applied.
TIP
Let’s also look at the scene with the sunlight on. Go to the Shadows window and make
sure shadows are enabled. Adjust object placement and sun position (i.e., modify time and
day) to your liking. (See Figure 5.15.)
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