Materials and Textures

SketchUp has done a great job of letting you place colors and textured materials directly in your model.

With a Photorealistic Renderer you can add reflective properties and also higher quality materials.


Reflection
 

In this image, the reflections help to add realism to this model.

 

One of the best things that you can do to improve a rendering is to focus on the details. It’s the details that can increase realism of a rendering and one detail that many users over look is adding reflection to all the materials in a model that need it. Not only that, but you must also apply the correct kind and the correct intensity of a reflection to a material.

Users normally apply reflections to the noticeable objects in a rendered scene such as a mirror but often forget about the small objects like a table top, or a door knob or other accessories. Spending time on these details can make the difference between a boring, flat image and an engaging, realistic one.

See: Reflection


Arroway Textures
 

Sample of a rendering with Arroway Textures

Arroway Textures is a supplier of high-res textures, which are used in many areas of digital visualization, e.g. architecture, design and art.
Arroway textures include, in addition to high quality images of the texture, additional dummy images specify the reflection, 3d texture, and othe special effects to create very high quality renderings.

See: Arroway Textures

See: SketchUp Rendering Overview