Thursday, November 29, 2012

Announcing the IRender nXt 5.0 Official Release

Render Plus systems announces the release of IRender nXt 5.0 for Trimble SketchUp


IRender nXt is a powerful plugin for rendering high-resolution images right inside SketchUp. IRender nXt is fully-integrated with Sketch Up materials, lighting, and components for complete control of interior, exterior, daytime or night-time scenes.

IRender nXt 5.0 makes it easier for designers to build render-ready SketchUp models and quickly fine-tune render settings. Version 5.0 is all about improving the rendering workflow and adding simple, powerful controls for important render settings. IRender nXt5.0 helps you make great renders, faster.

IRender nXt 5.0 - Feature Highlights

IRenderReady Lights, Mirrors, and Trees

A Trimble 3D Warehouse collection of objects, such as light fixtures, which have lights placed in them so they can be used directly with IRender. 

Background/ Layer Wizard


Makes it easy to position your rendered model in a background and retrieve the settings for futrue renderings. 







Lights Query and Edit Wizard

Making it easy to find, examine, and edit the artificial lights placed in your SketchUp Model for rendering with IRender nXt

Rotate View While Rendering

Let’s you change the view and zoom after rendering and re-render without having to change the view in SketchUp.

HDRiLighting Preset

Five lighting presets which make it easy to set lighting without having to set individual values.

Sample Models and Renderings

Downloadable models from our 3D Warehouse use to get started quickly with advanced lighting and rendering settings.

More Valuable Features 

IRender nXt 5.0 is loaded with another10 new features that include an improved slider bar for HDRi rotations and the ability to store Background images in the SketchUp model for portability. Each feature is easy to use, easy to find, and speeds up renderings to increase your productivity.


Download, Purchase or Renew.

The release is free if you have purchased IRender nXt within the past 12 months. Save time and speed up your work flow. Download NOW. If your license has expired, now is the time to PURCHASE or UPGRADE to IRender nXt 5.0.

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Have questions?
Contact us at sales@renderplus.com


Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Render Tip - Balancing Interior and Exterior Lighting in SketchUp


How do I balance interior and exterior lighting?

Balancing interior and exterior lighting in SketchUp is a challenge many 3D designers face. The question of how to do it recently popped up in our IRender nXt forum so we decided to cover it here.

In the real world, when we look at a structure that has interior lighting, the balance of outside and inside light is effected by numerous variables. Exterior lighting is effected by the time of day, cloud cover, angle of the sun, location to other structures, exterior light fixtures, etc. Interior lighting is effected by windows that let exterior light inside, interior lamps, lights and the wattages of their bulbs.



There are a number of ways you can adjust these 3D lighting variables to find the right interior/exterior balance. You could:

1. Make the interior lights brighter by increasing their bulb Wattage.

2. Make the sun and sky darker by changing their setting in the SketchUp Shadow menu.

Two IRender Tools offer an easier way to find the right balance, with greater control, as well.

3. Globally adjust the balance between artificial lights and the sun/sky using the Lighting Balance Settings. You will need to re-render the scene to see the effect.



4. Use Lighting Channels after rendering to balance groups of lights in channels that you have defined.  By assigning channels to sun, sky, interior and exterior artificial lights, you can quickly adjust the intensity of each with a dialog box slider and immediately see the effect on the final rendering.




Post-rendering adjustments in IRender nXt are a fast, powerful way to enhance your rendered image. There's no formula for getting the right lighting balance. Experiment with the Lighting Channel settings until you get the look you want. Once you do, you can save the channel settings for use on future designs.


Find more information on balancing interior and exterior lighting here.