Architectural_Design_with_SketchUp

Architectural Design with SketchUp
in many creative ways. This often comes at the cost of convenience, though, and getting it
right might involve more practice. On the other hand, the main benefit of having rendering
software that gives you only the most important parameters is that the results are automatically
of good quality. You might not have the option to tweak them, however.
Figure 5.66: Various rendered materials
When you shop around for rendering software, take a close look at the material editor
and the options and check that the process and the quality work for you.
For each material that you use in your scene, evaluate the need for any of the following
properties and use them as needed.
Texture or Color (Diffuse Texture)
The texture of a material is provided either by a color or by an image that is applied (mapped)
to the surface of an object. By itself, the texture has no glossiness or translucency. Note,
however, that in a global illumination (GI) rendering environment, the color of a texture can
affect colors of surrounding materials by reflecting indirect light onto them—a good example
of this can be seen in Figure 5.28.
You can apply a color to an object by simply painting it with one of SketchUp’s color
materials. Most rendering software uses SketchUp’s materials as a foundation for adding
features such as glossiness.
TIP
To apply a material to all connected faces in SketchUp, hold the Control key down when
you apply the material to a face.
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