Architectural_Design_with_SketchUp

Chapter 5 Rendering in SketchUp
Figure 5.90: Finished face-me tree component in SketchUp
Rendering Tips
NN
Keep your scene simple, well modeled, and organized! These are three important
principles to reduce the chance that rendering your SketchUp scene will give you a headache.
Here’s what I mean:
NN
NN
NN
Keep your scene simple. Model only what you absolutely need for your rendering.
Often, there is no need to model geometry that is out of view or inside an object. If
your model is complex, it might be a good idea to make a copy of the file and then
prepare the copy for rendering (by deleting and cleaning items) rather than using
the original.
Delete any face that does not contribute to the rendering. Make sure there is no leftover
geometry (e.g., from a previous intersection operations).
Craft your model well. You will run into trouble if you have small holes between
surfaces, overlapping surfaces, or “crooked” planes.
Any gaps in your model increase the chance of light leaks—bright spots where there
should be none, as, for example, in a corner. If your scene has overlapping surfaces,
intersect them and trim excess geometry. And if you have planes that should be flat
but aren’t because one vertex is out of plane, this surface will be triangulated during
rendering, and you might see edges appear in your images.
Keep your model organized. If you use many copies of the same object, make
sure they are components rather than groups. Many rendering software packages
nowadays are able to handle object instancing just as SketchUp does. This means
that instead of exporting lots of faces per copy, these tools use the more efficient
method of component definitions and instance locations.
223