- Hey, guys! Today, I'm gonna show you the
key steps you need to know when you're setting
out to render exteriors in VRay for SketchUp. These steps have helped
thousands of professionals learn what it takes to create polished photorealistic renderings and avoid the common
issues that cause people to struggle in V-Ray. I'm Alex Oliver, lead
instructor at SketchUp School, the place where professionals go when they're serious
about learning SketchUp. And in this video, I'll cover the seven key things you need to know before creating your
first exterior rendering in Vray for SketchUp. In our courses, we've taught
thousands of architects and design professionals
the tools they need to achieve stunning,
photo-realistic renderings with Vray for SketchUp. And we know when it comes
to selling your design, often times what you need most is that marquee shot of the exterior. Vray for SketchUp is a powerful tool that can help you create that. But, if you're like most
self-taught V-Ray users I talk to, you may be running into issues. Maybe you're in the same boat as Karen, who reached out to us after struggling with her renderings in Vray, saying, "While I am figuring some
things out on my own, "it's very inefficient, time
consuming, and frustrating, "and the results aren't
to the level I want." Karen is certainly not alone. There are a lot of tools
and concepts to master in order to get the best
results out of Vray. And exterior renderings can
present many unique challenges. What's worse, it's easy to get lost and waste a bunch of time, and sometimes you may
even get completely stuck. That's why I put together this list of seven key things you need to get right, specific to exterior renderings, that will set you up to
achieve better results, faster, in V-Ray for SketchUp. Now, everything in this video will assume you've already
taken the steps outlined in our "Watch This Before You Get Started" with Vray for SketchUp video to make your model render ready. If you haven't watched it yet, you should pause this video
and go watch that one first. I also recommend you watch our "Learn to How to Render in SketchUp" and "How to Render
Photorealistic Interiors "with Vray for SketchUp" videos because the tips in this
video will rely on concepts covered more thoroughly in those videos. You'll find links to
the videos in the cards. Just one more thing. We're going to cover a lot
of ground in this video. So I've put together some notes for you, to help you remember everything. Stick around to the end of the video and I'll let you know how
you can get a copy of them. Okay, we're ready to jump into our list of seven key things you need to know to create photorealistic
exterior renderings in Vray for SketchUp, starting with number
one, compose your shot. The quality of your final rendering depends a great deal on
how you compose your shot. Of course, there are an infinite
number of ways to do this, but for the purposes of this video, let's focus on one of
the most common views you may be after, a rendering
that makes your client feel like they're experiencing
your design firsthand. The mistake I see all too often with this is that users just take
the Orbit tool in SketchUp and position themselves
in front of the model, but actually end up with a view that's about 10 to 20 feet in the air. This makes the whole
composition feel unnatural. To truly help a client
feel what it would be like to experience the project firsthand, you need to position SketchUp's camera at a more natural eye height. To do this, just click
the Look Around tool, type in an eye height, and hit enter. I usually go with 5 1/2
feet or 1.67 meters. Now, a common practice in
architectural photography is using a technique called
two point perspective. This makes vertical lines look vertical rather than tilted due to perspective. If this is the look you're going for with your exterior rendering, you can turn on two point perspective by clicking the option
under your camera menu. Just know that once you set
up two point perspective, you can only adjust your view
with the Pan and Zoom tools. If you use the Orbit or Look Around tools, it will jump you back into the
camera's default perspective. Finally, I recommend
using the Rule of Thirds to guide the composition of your shot. To do that, imagine dividing
your SketchUp drawing window into a grid of nine rectangles. Then, as a rule of thumb, try putting points of interest either at the intersections in
the grid or along the lines. You can even overlay a visual grid on your SketchUp drawing window. I've already created one for you and put a link to it in the notes. To use it, in your Styles
window, under Watermark settings, set it up as an Overlay, stretch it to fit the entire window and unlock the aspect ratio. Using the Rule of Thirds, for human level exterior
shots like this one, I recommend you start by lining up your SketchUp model's horizon along the bottom line in the grid. If you're using a template like mine where you can't see the horizon, just turn on the Sky in your
Styles Background settings. Then play around with whether you can get another focal point to match up with the other lines or
intersections in the grid. Bonus tip, when you have
everything just about right and need to subtly zoom
in or out of the shot, don't use your mouse wheel to zoom. It will leap too far and
throw off your composition. Instead, click on the
Zoom tool to select it. Then click and hold down
on your left mouse button, and drag up or down to zoom in or out of the center of your frame. This feels like a real world camera zoom where you can push directly
into or out of your shot. Then make any other small
adjustments to the framing to get the composition looking right, and be sure to save it as a Scene. Okay, next up, number two,
choose the right lighting. Now that we have our shot all set-up, it's time to light it. Before we set up our light though, keep in mind the following three things. One, turn on Material Override, then set-up your glass so
it can't be overridden. Now you can focus on
getting the light correct without the distraction of the materials. Two, set-up draft render settings that render quickly as you
iterate through changes. And three, think like a photographer and balance your camera's
exposure to the available light. In the newest version of V-Ray, if you switch off interactive, you'll have the ability to
set your exposure to Auto, so you can do that to not have
to worry about it as much. Ok, to light a daytime exterior shot, you'll have to decide between two options. You can either use the default
Vray Sun or a Dome Light. So which is the right choice? While it depends on your unique situation, let me compare the two options to help you make the best choice. With the V-Ray Sun, it's easier to control
exactly where it is in the sky relative to the orientation of your model. So if accurate shadows
for time of day and year are important, this is your best choice. The downside of using the V-Ray Sun is that you'll have a
generic looking background that will require extra,
more advanced steps to replace later in a
program like Photoshop. And even if you do replace
the background later, it won't impact reflections
or environment lighting, so it's more likely to look unnatural. Your other option is
to set-up a Dome Light, which uses an HDR image
to light your rendering. Now, we don't have time in this video to go through everything about Dome Lights that we cover in our full
Vray for SketchUp course, but here are a few high
level things you should know. First, what is an HDR image? HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, which means that it contains extra data about the lighting
conditions of the environment it was taken in. It's also is a 360 degree image, which means that you'll be
able to look in any direction and see it in the background. The upside of using a Dome
Light over the default Sun is that you get more realistic lighting, a more realistic looking
sky and background, and reflections of the visible
elements of the HDR image on materials in your model, such as being able to see the clouds reflected on the glass of the windows. The downside of using a Dome Light is that you need to do a little work to get the light pointing
in the direction you want or to get the right
elements in the background. Plus, you often need to
adjust the brightness to match up with the
rest of your rendering. Overall though, for exterior renderings where perfectly accurate
shadows aren't necessary, I recommend you go with the Dome light. If you decide to give
the Dome Light a try, just know that out of the box, the Dome Light defaults
to using an HDR image that comes packaged with V-Ray. Of course, you can swap the
default for something else. Just know that finding the right
one can take a little time. And the best ones often cost money. For more info on finding
the right HDR image for your project, I've added
some tips to the notes. All right, once your lighting is all set, you're ready for the next tip. Number three, use realistic materials. If you've got Material Override enabled, now's the time to turn it off. But don't expect magic just yet. That's because basic SketchUp textures will always make renderings look amateur. For one, they tend to be
lower resolution images so they may look a little
blurry in the final rendering. More importantly, they lack reflectivity. The easiest way to get more
realistic looking materials is to swap the ones you've used for some of the pre-configured
ones that ship with Vray. In one fell swoop, you get higher resolution materials with their reflection
settings pre-configured. If you want to really dive into
how to work with materials, I recommend checking out our
Vray for SketchUp course. For now, here are a couple quick pointers. First, if you can't find
the exact material you want in the V-Ray library, you can either modify
one of Vray's materials to fit your needs, or search online for the
exact material you need. I've included some of
my favorite resources for high quality materials in the notes. Next, keep in mind that
you don't necessarily have to swap each and
every SketchUp material for one in Vray's library. If you're in a hurry, only the materials that
make the biggest impact need to be addressed. That would include materials covering the largest areas
seen in the rendered image, such as the paint on the house, and materials with noticeable
reflections and refractions, like glazing on the windows. And remember, take the time to name your materials as you go, to make it easier to find
and adjust them later. Your future self will thank you! Ok, once your lighting
and materials are all set, you're ready for the next tip. Number four, fill in the environment. As you know from our "Watch This Before You Get
Started with Vray for SketchUp" video, any good rendering starts with a Render Ready SketchUp model. But even if you have a Render Ready model, when it comes to rendering an exterior, you'll often find you end up with a model sitting in blank 3D space. To fill it all in, you have
one big decision to make. Should you model it in 3D? Or should you add 2D elements in a program like Photoshop later? Again, it depends on
your unique situation, but let me compare the options to help you make the best choice. Modeling things in 3D is great because it will add more realistic depth and shadows to your rendering. Plus, you can render
from different angles. The downside is that it
adds to your polygon count and can slow down your
renders if you're not careful. Adding everything as 2D
elements in Photoshop later is the other option. If you know what you're doing, this can be faster in
a number of situations. But there's also a higher risk
of things looking unnatural. For those who are
comfortable using Photoshop, the most efficient strategy
may be a hybrid approach where you tackle some things in Vray and handle the rest in Photoshop. But for the purposes of what
we're covering in this video, let's stick to an approach
where everything is handled within SketchUp and VRay. To start off, you can model the terrain using the Sandbox tools
that come with SketchUp. Even in the case where
things are relatively flat, showing some subtle undulation in the site will go a long way. Next, you can use SketchUp's native tools to model things like the sidewalk, road and surrounding hardscape. Then, when you get to adding
things like grass, plants, trees, rocks and other elements, keep the following in mind. For grass, you can actually handle that using a feature inside
Vray called Vray Fur. Make sure the grass area is grouped, select it, and click on the Vray Fur tool. Then click on the Render button and, viola, you have 3D grass! For plants, trees, rocks
and other elements, your best bet is to
import Vray proxy models, which are low polygon representations you can add to your SketchUp model that will render in full
detail in Vray for SketchUp. One warning, be careful
if you try to use models from the 3D Warehouse. You can end up wasting a lot of time trying to get them to work. It's actually possible to
turn them into Vray proxies, but that's a more advanced
process we won't get into here. And of course, as you add
in all of these elements, you'll want to make sure they look natural by varying size, placement and rotation. You can handle this manually
using SketchUp's native Scale, Move, and Rotate tools. But when you have a lot of elements, I recommend you try the Scatter extension which not only allows you to randomize large amounts of objects, but it also plays nicely with
Vray by randomizing proxies that keep your SketchUp model light while still rendering
them beautifully in Vray. There are a ton of other useful resources for filling out your environment. I've included links to some
of my favorites in the notes. Ok, moving on to the next tip. Number five, add the smaller details. In SketchUp, it can be a good idea to use materials to
convey certain details, rather than trying to
model those things in 3D. But when it comes to a
rendering in Vray for SketchUp, it's those smaller details
that make a big difference. That's because most materials still look two dimensional
and flat in the rendering. Fortunately, there are a few smart options to handle the smaller details so you can get all of the
realistic nuance and texture without having to reinvent
the way you already work. For the minor stuff that really won't add
anything to the rendering, such as things further from the camera, too small to notice or
hidden in the shadows, save yourself time and
leave those things alone. For the few details that
will make a difference, you have two choices. First, certain details make
sense to model in SketchUp. For example, a simple relief
in the garage door panels will get them to look
good in the rendering. But for details that are too numerous or complex to model by hand, you can handle them using one of two Vray Material properties, Bump Map or Displacement Map. A Bump Map is a grayscale
version of the material that helps it appear to have some three dimensional texture in the render, even though it's still
rendering a 2D surface. It's kind of like a
visual trick or illusion. A Displacement Map on the other hand actually gives the material
three dimensional texture and can look a lot more realistic. The downside is it slows
down the render a lot, since it's more intensive
for Vray to process. Here's a rule of thumb. Use Bump Maps the majority of the time and for everything except for things that are really close to the camera. To do that, just enable
Bump/Normal Mapping, then load a grayscale
copy of your material into the texture slot. For those things that
are front and center, consider trying a Displacement Map. To do that, just enable Displacement, then load a grayscale
copy of your material into the texture slot. Again, just be warned that they can take a long time to render. Alright, let's move on to the next tip. Number six, set up your
final render settings. A lot of people have the misconception that just using the right render settings is like waving a magic wand and tada, you've got a magnificent rendering. But, as you've seen so far in this video, creating a great rendering
involves a lot more than just using the right settings. In fact, if you've setup your model, composition, lighting,
materials, environment, and details correctly, Vray's default render settings
should look pretty great. So all you really need to do is switch from draft settings
to higher quality ones. To do that, first, disable Interactive
and Progressive render modes to use Bucket rendering mode. Switch the quality to high. Very high is overkill. And make sure Denoise is enabled, which will remove some of the grainy areas in the final rendering. And of course, be sure to
enlarge your resolution to the desired size and enable V-Ray to save the image on your computer. When you're new to Vray, that's
about all you need to know. There is one exception. If you plan to enhance the
rendering in Photoshop later, you'll want to take the
time to add Render Elements. In addition to the final rendered image, V-Ray will save a file
for each of the elements, allowing you to composite
them later in Photoshop. As I mentioned before, we're not gonna dive into
Photoshop in this video. For now, we'll skip adding
Render Elements and click Render. So we're done, right? Ah, except just one more thing. Number seven, make
basic image adjustments. Nearly every rendering you've ever admired has had some amount of
post-production done to it. And while most of the time, that post production is done in Photoshop, it's worth knowing you can make some pretty powerful adjustments
in the Vray Frame Buffer. There are too many options to
cover them all in this video, but let me tell you how
to make one adjustment that's really important to getting your exterior
lighting just right. First, turn-on Force Color Clamping to show you any areas of your image where the light is getting too burned out. Then show your Corrections
Control panel and check Exposure. Finally adjust the Highlight burn until those areas are no longer being indicated as overexposed. Once you've done that and played around with any
of the other adjustments, just be sure to click to
save the adjusted image. And that's it! Congratulations! You've made it through the entire list! Did you learn something new in this video? Do me a quick favor and tell
us which tip you liked the most in the comments below right now. Or, just let us know you liked the video by giving it a like. Just by watching this video, you've already learned how to avoid a lot of frustration people experience when trying to create their
first exterior renderings and you're well on your way to creating beautiful photorealistic
renderings with V-Ray. From here, it's definitely possible to learn everything on your own. However, if you want to
invest your time wisely and avoid picking up bad habits, then I recommend checking
out our Video Course Library. It's filled with $8700
worth of SketchUp courses exclusively for professionals, including our comprehensive
V-Ray for SketchUp course. Head over to our SketchUp School website and try our courses for free. And if you're not ready to
try one our courses right now, make sure to at least
review what you learned in this video right away. As I mentioned earlier, I've put together some notes for you that make it easy to do that. They summarize everything
we covered in this video and include links to things
like extensions and resources for filling out your environment. I've put a link to the notes in the cards. Oh, and one last thing! If you don't want to miss our next video, make sure to subscribe to our
YouTube channel right now. Just click on the subscribe
button below this video. Until next time, happy sketching! (magical whirring)
