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InteriorDesignofaLivingRoomSketchUpandVRay

MarioGoleisaverytalentedinteriordesigner
and3Darchitecturalvisualizer,currentlyworkingandbasedinZagreb,Croatia.Hehaskindlyofferedtosharethisdetailedworkflowin
theproductionofaninteriorlivingroomdesign,inwhichheusesSketchUpforthemodelandVRayfortherender.Thereisalotof
goodsolidinformationherewithmanytipstosuitalllevelsofexperience.ThistutorialcanonlybedescribedastheHowandWhyof
goodrendering.SomeworkingknowledgeofSketchUpandVRayisneededtofollowandunderstandthistutorial.

Inthistutorial,Iwillexplainmyworkflowina
projectIcalledInteriorDesignofaLivingRoom.Asyouallknow,makingsuchaprojectrequiresacertainamountofknowledge
andexperienceintheCGindustry,aswellasininteriordesign,soIwillcoveronlywhatIbelievepeoplecommonlyhavemosttrouble
with.Thiswillincludetexturing,lightingandtherenderingprocesses.First,Iwantyoutonoticethatthisprojecthavebeencreatedin
SketchUp.TherenderingengineIusedforthefinalvisualizationwasVRay.Ialsousingpredefinedmaterials(.vismatfiles)Ioften
usetheseinmyprojects,downloadedfromChaosGroup,VisualDynamicsandFlyingArchitecturewebsites.Iamsurewitha
littlepatienceyoucouldfindsomemorewebsites,fromwhereyoucandownload.vismatfiles.Ihavealsousedseveral3Dmodels
downloadedfromthe3DWarehouse.TheothersIjustmodeledbymyself.Forlightingtechniques,IusedHDRIimagesthatyoucan
alsofindontheInternet.Someofthemarefreetodownloadbutifyoureneedsareofamoreprofessionalnature(yourprofessional
work),Isuggestyouinvestinbuyingqualitytextureimagesandeven3Dmodels.BeforeIexplainmyworkflow,Ijustwanttomention
afewimportantpointsthatIbelievearecrucialinachievingagood3Drender,andarefarmoreimportantthanjustfollowinga
workflowexplanation.
1. ManypeopleaskmeaboutVRayoptions(.visoptfile),andhowIsetuptherenderingparameters,expectingthatiftheydothe
sametheywillgetarealisticimage.Youhavetounderstandthatanyrenderingengine,includingVRay,doesnothingelsebut
whatisbasedonyourparameterssetup.Itcalculateshowlighttravelsthroughyoursceneanditbouncesfromdifferentsurfaces,
inordertopotentiallygetarealisticimage.Duetothis,almostallitsparametersareaboutsettingdifferentlightcalculation
methods.Therefore,ifyousetitsparameterscorrectlyyouwillgetnothingelsebutnicelighting.Toachieverealisminyour
visualizations,youwillhavetotakecareaboutseveralotherthings,whicharenomorelessimportantthanpropersettingofyour
renderingoptions.
2. Trytohaveyourobjectgeometryascleanaspossible.Cleanunnecessaryedges(lines),weldthosethatareinthesamedirection,
havesurfacesproperlyoriented(alwaysfacingacamera),etc.Haveyourobjectsinproperscaleaccordingtoeachotheraswell
asaccordingtotherealworld.
3. Whenusing3Dmodelsdownloadedfromthe3DWarehouseoranyothersimilarwebsite,trytousethosethatlookrealisticand
correctlymodeled.Giveyourselftimetolookforgoodones.Ifyoucannotfindit,trytomodelitbyyourself,insteadofhaving
abadoneinyouproject.Nonrealisticmodels(notinscale,thewaytheyaremodeledorbadtextures,etc.)willcertainlynot
leadyoutotheresultyouarelookingfor.
4. Oneofthemostimportantpartsofachievingrealisminyourvisualizationsistexturing.Ifyouapplytexturesproperlytoyour
objectsanduserealistictextureimages,withspecialcaretoitssize,youwillbehalfwaytheretoyourdesiredresult.Youcan
findmanywebsitesfromwhichyoucandownloadnicetextureimages.IoftenuseArrowayTexturesortexturesdownloaded
fromSketchUpTextureWarehousewebsite.Mostimportantlyisthesizeofyourtextureimages,thatitisproperlyscaledto
therealworld.Thiscanofcourseresultinhavinghugeimagetexturesforsomeobjects,butyoucanstillcompensatewiththe
otherones.Forexample,ifyouhavelargesurfacelikeparquetfloor,whereyoudonotwantrepeatingtilestoberecognized,you
willhavetousealargetextureimage.However,ifyouwantceramictilesofacertaincoloronyourfloor,youcouldusemuch
smallertextureimage,whichcoversonlyonetile.Anyway,youshouldmakesurethatthesizeofyourtextureimageisinproper
(realistic)scaletotherealworld.
Note:Ifyouapplymaterialsthathavetextureimagesproperlyscaledtoyourobjects,veryoftenonlydefaultrenderingoptionswillbe
enoughtogetaniceimage.Ifyoufollowtheabovementionedfacts,aswellasyouadditionallyorganizingyourprojectsproperly(e.g.
inlayers,groups,components,etc.),youwillfindyourworkinSketchUpeasyandyouwillachievethedesiredresultswithno
problems,nottomentionthattherenderingprocesswillbemucheasierandfasterwitharealisticresult.WORKFLOW1.
TexturingAsexplainedbefore,itisnecessarytouserealworldscaledtexturesinordertoachieverealism.Italsorequiresthatsuch
materialsareproperlyassignedtodifferentsurfacesofanyobjectinyourscene.Whatquiteoftenhappensisthat3Dmodelsthatweuse
fromwebsiteshaveincorrecttexturemappingorwewanttochangetheirdefaultmaterials.Inthiscase,weoftenfindourselveshaving
nonrealisticmaterialsapplied.Toavoidthisproblemwewilluseprojectedtextures.Thefollowingexampleshowshowtoapply
projectedmaterialstotheloungesofa.

Rectanglewithprojectedleathermaterialatcorrectanglereadyforsampling

Sampleprojectedmaterialandpaintontoselectedseatcover

Rectanglewithprojectedleathermaterialatcorrectanglereadyforsampling

Selectallheadrestgeometryandpaintwithprojectedmaterial

Rectanglewithprojectedwoodmaterialatcorrectanglereadyforsampling

Selectseatgeometryandpaintwithprojectedmaterial

Chairtexturescompleted
Asshownintheaboveimagesyouwillcontinuetoapplyprojectedtexturestoallotherobjectsinyourproject,whichyouhave
downloadedfrom3Dwarehousewhichcontainwrongtexturemapping.Forobjectswithflatsurfaces,youapplymaterialsasyouare
usedtoinSketchUp,justtakegoodcareonthesizeoftexturesandbesuretheylookrealistic(e.g.realworldscale).Thefollowing
exampleshowsthecarpettexturesize,soitlooksrealisticandhasaproperscaleforourmodel.

Carpettexturesize

VRaymaterialeditorsettings
Noticethatthistextureimageis1808x1200pixels,eventhough,thesettingsintheSketchUpmaterialbrowsershowitssizeat63,50
cmx24,15cm.Itdoesntmatterwhatthescaleis,thatyousetupinthematerialbrowser,aslongasitisthecorrectaspectratiotothe
importedtextureimage.Youcanscaleanytexturetowhateversize,aslongasitlooksrealistictoyou.2.LightingAftermodeling,
texturingandsettingthePhysicalcameraStillCameratypeview,wewanttosetthedesiredlightingofourscene.Thebestwayof
doingthis,istooverwriteallmaterialswithlightgraycolor.Whitecoloristostrongandpurewhitedoesnotexistintherealworld.
Closesttopurewhiteiscrystalclearsnow,butstillitisnotperfectlywhite.WewilldothisbysettingVRayGlobalSwitches
OverridematerialsparametertoTRUE,andselectOverridecolortosomethinglikeRGBvalueof200.200.200.

Overridecolors
Bydoingthis,allthematerialsinourscenewillbeoverwrittenwiththiscolor,withexceptionofthoseonesthathavetheCanbe
OverriddenparametersettoFALSE.ThisparameteroptionwillbesetinVRaymaterialbrowser,foreachparticularmaterial.Usually
wehavetosetthisparametertoFALSEforallwindowglassobjects,ifwewanttouseadaylightsystemforlightingthescene.
Otherwise,thesunlightwillnotbeabletoenterourscenethroughthewindowsandourscenecouldbecomecompletelydark.

GlasssettingwithCanbeOverriddenunchecked
VRayusesitsdefaultsunfordaylightsystemlighting,butwecanalsouseHDRIimagesinstead.ByusingHDRIimages,wecanget
evenbetterresultsforachievingrealismofourrenders.Noticethatthiswillaffectonlyourscenelighting,asweexplainedbefore.You
willstillhavetohavepropermaterialssetupaswellasapplythemcorrectly.Inthisparticularproject,IhaveusedthefollowingHDRI
imagesetupforlightingmyscene.

HDRIimagesetup
Besideallothers,adjustingthefollowingVRayparametersshouldenoughtosetproperlightinginmostofyourscenes.Youwill
noticethattheseparametersworkexactlylikeonanydigitalphotocamera.Therefore,ifyouhaveanyexperiencewithdigital
photographyitwillbeeasierforyoutounderstandtheadjustmentsandthewaytheyaffectlightinginyourrender.a)Shutterspeed
(Valuerepresentsafractionsofasecond.Therefore,valueof50forexample,willrepresent1/50ofasecond.Thismeansthatyour
scenewillbebrighterthanifyousetthisvalueto100,asinthiscase,theshutteronyourcamerawillstayopenforalongerperiodand
thereforemorelightwillgetintoit.)b)FilmSpeed(ISO)(Oftenusedasaquickdialforexposurechangesinthescene.Highnumbers
willmakeyourscenebrighteraslowernumberswillmakeitdarker.Ifweincreaseitsvalueondigitalcameras,ourimagewillsuffer
fromsignificantamountofnoise.Luckily,thisisnotthecasewithVRayPhysicalcamera.c)FNumber(Thisparameter
handles/controlsthesizeofyourvirtualaperture.Smallnumbersrepresentsalargeraperture(largeropening)inyourcamera,whichin
turnallowsmorelightin,thatwillinturngiveusabrighterimages.Adjustingthesethreeparameters,youwillbeabletocontrolthe
brightnessofyourrenderedimage.RememberalsothatthesethreeoptionswillworkasexplainedonlyifthePhysicalCamera
ExposureparameterissettoTRUE.

Camerasetup
TheotheroptionthatwilltakeintoaccountisthesettingofColorMappingtype.Eachoftypethatyouselectwillhaveitsown
calculationmethodbehindit,andeachofthemhasitsownplusesandminuses,dependingonwhatyouwanttogetasaresult.Referto
otherVRaytutorialsinordertounderstandhoweachofferedcolormappingtypeaffectsyourrendering.Forthisparticularproject,I
usedReinhardtype.YouwillnoticethatbychoosingtheReinhardcolormappingtype,severalotherparametersbecomeavailablefor
adjusting.Thetwomostimportantones,whichyoumightwanttoadjust,aretheMultiplierandtheBurnvalue.Burnvaluewill
allowyoutoadjustthevalueofthebrightestareainyourscene,andwiththeMultiplieryouwillbeabletocontrolthedarkestarea.
Adjustingtheseoptionswillenableyoutocontrolhowbrightordarkthebrightestanddarkestpartsofyourimagewillbe.Logicallyif
youdecreaseBurnvalue,yourrenderwillresultwithlessburninbrightestareaaswellasifyouincreaseitsvalue,yourrenderwill
havemoreburninbrightestareaoftheimage.Oncewehavesetuplightingoptionsforourscene,wecantrytorendertheoverride
colorsimage.

Overridecolorsimagerender
Ifyouaresatisfiedwiththeresult,youcannowuncheckOverridematerialsoptioninVRayGlobalswitchesoptiongroupandtry
torenderyourimageagain.

Finalrender
3.RenderParametersSetupThefollowingVRayoptionshavebeenusedinthisparticularproject,inordertogetthefinalresult.

VRaysettings1

VRaysettings2

VRaysettings3

VRaysettings4
Thanksforreading,hopeyouguyslikedit,itsalwaysgoodtoshareknowledgewithyou.MarioGole

NeweBookSketchUptoLayout

MattDonley's'SketchUptoLayout'istheessentialguidetocreatingconstructiondocumentswithSketchUpPro&Layout.Now
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Styles

Styles
AcleverwaytoenhanceyourfinalpresentationsiswiththeuseofSketchUpStyles.Stylesarecollectionsofdisplaysettings.Youcan
alsouseStyleBuildertocreatecustomnonphotorealistic(NPR)StylesforSketchUp.NPRStylescanmakeyourmodelsappearhand
rendered,supertechnical,andeverythinginbetween......Read

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5ResponsestoInteriorDesignofaLivingRoomSketchUpandVRay
1. RFKonMay26th,20141:27pm
Txsirforniceinfo..^_^
2. HariesonMay28th,20143:41pm
Thisismasterclass Thanks
3. InteriorDesignofaLivingRoomSketchUp&VRaybyMarioGole::SketchUp3DRenderingTutorialsbySketchUpArtists
onJuly21st,20142:41pm
[]MarioGole[]
4. KyliekhoonOctober7th,20147:03am
Goodwork.Incrediblydone,thanks!
5. RainieronNovember13th,20147:32pm
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