Wednesday, October 13, 2010

IRender nXt Overview

IRender nXt for SketchUp is based on completely new technology developed by Robert McNeel and Associates.

IRender nXt is a delicate balance of exceptional image realism, easy setup, and quick results for designers that don't have time to be rendering geeks.

Realism

Exceptional realism is key to clear communication of your designs from concept through to the details.
IRender nXt's new technology brings a new level of realism to your design presentations and marketing materials.
See for yourself. Browse the gallery of user generated images.

Easy to use


You don't need to be a rendering geek to generate impressive images with IRender nXt.
IRender nXt includes everything you need to get started quickly; lighting scenarios, an extensive material library, and plant library.
We do a have few buttons for the more advanced users, but we recommend that you shouldn't touch them unless you are a very serious rendering geek.

Speed

There are two measures of speed, how long did it takes you and how long did it takes the computer. Since your computer doesn't care about what time it is, spending time with kids or grandkids, getting out to the beach or ski slopes, or maybe even drinking beer, our primary focus is on saving you time.
IRender nXt gives you an early image very quickly, so you can decide immediately if you need to make a change to the view, lighting or a material.

Once you are happy with the setup, then you get to decide how long you want the computer to spend refining the image. Often that is only a few minutes but in some cases you might want to let the computer work over night just to see if you can tell much difference in the morning.

You can even hand the processing off to the nXt render farm on other computers while you use your computer for other things.

Try it out

Download and install IRender nXt: Downloads
Load "IRender nXt" from the plugins menu to open the IRender nXt tool bar and press the Render icon.Image:Render24.PNG
Within a few seconds you will see the image, but nXt continues to refine the image until you ask it to stop. After a minute or two, stop and try some of the different materials and light setups. Have fun!


Integrated into SketchUp


IRender nXt is fully integrated into SketchUp 7 and SketchUp 8 for Windows.

The SketchUp model that you see on your screen is what will be rendered - with the same view, colors, materials, etc. You can render at the SketchUp image size, or at any other image size desired.
IRender nXt runs inside of SketchUp and uses SketchUp’s geometry, material, textures and sun-position to produce a photo-realistic image. In addition, you can add other rendering features - such as reflection, glow, plants and trees to make spectacular images.

The final, rendered image can be saved as a JPEG or PNG file. You can also use IRender nXt to produce high quality animations.

Versions
There are two versions of nXt in SketchUp: