RPS SketchUp Plugins and Tools

Using Photorealistic Rendering for Marketing

2011-12-28T10:46:00.001-07:00

We would like to come up with a You Tube Video and web Article highlighting the 6 to 10 ways to use PhotoRealistic Renderings to enhance marketing.

I would appreciate if it you could start us out with any ideas you may have.

A good format would be a short bullet point and a sentence of clarification, e.g.

Design Visualization

Use a visual model for market testing or in-house research-and-development. This applies to things as small as food packaging to cars, or as large as popular theme parks and their rides.

Any help would be appreciated.

Place your ideas in this thread on our forum or email me at al.hart@renderplus.com

3D PDF combined with Rendered Images

2011-12-27T07:11:00.000-07:00

Using IRender nXt, you can now create a 3D PDF file that displays both the Rendered Image and an interactive 3D model, where the the viewer can rotate and zoom into the different scenes saved in the model.

Using Rendering to layout Painting Gallery

2011-12-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

One of our clients, Mike Hall, used SketchUp and IRender nXt to help a client design a layout of painting.

Mike says:

I modelled the gallery space and then modelled each individual picture as a group.
This gave my client the facility to move the pictures around the walls till he was happy with the layout - then I did final renders.
The client was delighted with the final result.
irenderNXT was brilliant for getting the lighting effects just right."

See: http://irendernxt.com/photo/render-b

Google SketchUp Silver C6 Z06 Chevy Corvette rendered with IRender NXT. Enjoy.

2011-12-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

A comment from an IRender user.

2011-12-08T15:07:00.003-07:00

I am an instructor at a community college and recently was searching out renderers that work with SketchUp. One thing that was very frustrating is that many sites explain how to use their renderer with just daylight. I needed a good renderer that could work with artificial lighting. It also had to be relatively easy to use right out of the box.

The renderer I finally chose was IRender nXt - http://www.renderplus.com. They have great tutorials and student pricing. Here is a link to my final render with your same settings (10 minutes): http://faculty.kirkwood.edu/jlopez/andre-house-irender-nxt.jpg

Rendering with IRender nXt - default settings

New Rendering with improved water and bump maps, etc.

Jorge Lopez

(See original post at: http://tideart.com/?id=4eb752ab)

How to Render in Google SketchUp

2011-12-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

Courtesy N. Norman

Modeled in SketchUp - Rendered with IRender nXt.

Courtesy Henry James-Allison of DFAL

Modeled in SketchUp - Rendered with IRender nXt.

Google SketchUp is a free 3-D modeling program that you can use to design models of anything you desire, such as a exterior and interior views of buildings.

When you design a model in SketchUp, it appears in a low quality rendering without special lighting and reflection.

To see your model as a high-resolution photo-realistic image, you will need to render it using a rendering add-on which you can download and install.

Instructions:

Download a rendering add-on - such as IRender nXt - See 30 Day Free Trial
For exteriors, select the High Dynamic Preset
For interiors - add lights as desired and select one of the Interior Presets.
Click the green render button.

Related Videos

Sample SketchUp Renderings

See also

IRender nXt

Gallery Images

2011-12-03T23:09:00.002-07:00

We created a YouTube video of some of the best Gallery Images showing scenes created by IRender nXt for SketchUp.

NprTools and RpTools combined

2011-11-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

he latest version of RpTools contains all the functions of NprTools.
If you have a license for NprTools, it will now work for all the features of RpTools as well.
Just download RpTools and enter your license number to use it (If you have purchased NprTools in the past 12 months).
We also added the ability to customize the RpTools Toolbar so you can display just the functions you want to have available.

Realistic Water Effects

2011-11-19T06:16:00.000-07:00

In this video Rich explains how to make water in pools, lakes and rivers look realistic.

Watch Video: Realistic Water Effects

See: Water Effects

Textbook for SketchUp and IRender nXt

2011-11-02T11:19:00.000-06:00

Andy Brody has included a chapter in his tetbook, Electronic Workflow for Interior Designers & Architects , on using SketchUp and IRender nXt for Rending.

Andy is a full-time assistant professor of Interior Design at Endicott College.

Water effects

2011-11-01T20:30:00.000-06:00

Rich is going to make a new video on how to create great water using Procedural Bump Maps.

We plan to use Richcat's great example as one of the samples.

Check it out: Roman Bath

New Video - Background Wizard

2011-10-06T16:06:00.005-06:00

New Video - Background Wizard

Position your Background Image
In this video Rich explains how to use the Background Wizard to align an image with a fence outside a window and adjust the perspective of the Image.

Watch Video
See: Background Wizard

New Dealer in India

2011-09-29T22:31:00.000-06:00

If you reside in India, and are interested in SketchUp add-on products - such as IRender nXt, check out our new dealer:

Samhita CADD & Graphics

Compatible, Affordable, Better.
Your IRender nXt dealer in India

www.samhitacg.com

Making our videos easier to use.

2011-09-10T23:29:00.002-06:00

We have reworked the interface to our videos to make them easier to use.

All the videos are displayed on the Video page in the proper order, and each video has an easy to find link right under the video to the next video in sequence.

Start with the first one, and just click the next one when you are ready to see then all.

Here is a good place to start: Getting Started with IRender nXt

Background Wizard in Daily CatchUp

2011-09-09T07:10:00.000-06:00

The SketchUcation guys gave us a nice writeup about the new background Wizard in Daily CatchUp

ProjectRender for Office Furniture Dealers

2011-09-08T15:19:00.002-06:00

We have been making a lot of improvements to ProjectRender.

ProjectRender is an AutoCAD based rendering package for users of ProjectSymbols, Giza or 20-20 Office.

Take a look at: ProjectRender

Background Wizard for IRender nXt

2011-09-06T08:32:00.003-06:00

We have been testing, improving and simplifying the use of background images with IRender nXt.

We decided that what was needed was a good wizard to let you scale and position the background without having to re-render each time to see if it is working the way you want.

So we created a new Background Wizard to make this easier.

The Background Wizard makes it easy to scale and position a background image behind your rendering.
How to use it

Download the latest version of IRender nXt
Select Position/Preview from the Background Setup Tab.
See: Background Wizard for examples and advice on settings.

New iPad App for forms, audits and photo inspection

2011-08-19T22:46:00.001-06:00

If you want to use an iPad to take pictures and/or fill out forms, mark up the pictures with highlights and arrows, and put the whole things together for PDF files and reports, than our new App, Cirrus, is perfect for you.

Try the free version in the Apple App store, and let us know how we can make it work for your needs.

Check it out! Cirrus

or visit Cirrus in the iTunes App store.

IRender nXt Version 4.0 officially released

2011-08-17T11:29:00.001-06:00

We have uploaded Version 4.0 of IRender nXt and nXtRender. You can download them from: Downloads

Here is a summary of the New Features in 4.0

Stage Lighting Video

2011-08-15T07:30:00.000-06:00

From Museum Maker on his Blog. He used lugthing channels to adjust the intensities of the lights and created a movie of the process.

"Pulling together a few concepts to see if this will work convincingly.
This is a very low res version, looks great on my computer.
Rendered in Nxt. Seven light channels, two frames, then blended in Windows Movie Maker."

Featured Gallery Images

2011-08-13T21:13:00.001-06:00

We have gone through the rendered images in our Gallery and selected some of the best images to be featured at the top of the gallery and as the slide show on the front page.

Here are a couple of recent image uploads which we have selected to be featured:

Putnam Evening by Paul Davis

satbovenp by fjodortillemans

Single Room by Dwayne Wilson View Image

Client Video using IRender nXt.

2011-07-27T12:54:00.002-06:00

One of our clients, Henry James-Allison of DFAL, has shared a video he made using IRender nXt on our forum. Take a look here or on You Tube

Why should use choose IRender nXt?

2011-07-17T08:29:00.003-06:00

We make it easy for you to create top quality renderings.

Create professionally rendered drawings your clients will love.
You use SketchUp to make great models. Photorealistic renderings from IRender nXt will show them at their best.
Easy to use, so you can spend less time rendering and more time modeling.
By saving all your settings in SketchUp, it is easy to render the first time, and re-render quickly if you change your model.
Add more to your profit margins with our easy to use, professional rendering tool.
Showing your rendered designs to clients will bring you more business more quickly.
You can make great renderings right out of the box.
If you can draw it in SketchUp, we will render it. (Many rendering add-ons can't handle special items like section planes, images, faces with materials on both sides, Photo-Match materials, etc.

Our default lighting scheme creates subtle shadows and top notch renderings - even before you add lights, reflective materials and other special features.
We are there for you with help and support.
If you have questions or problems, just let us know. We, and other IRender nXt users are very quick to respond to the forum, and can usually solve your problems and get you on your way.

You probably won't get everything perfect the first time, but we make it easy to start with a good rendering ant then make changes to make it better.

Roman bath image courtesy of Richcat

Why did we create IRender nXt?

2011-07-17T07:36:00.000-06:00

Why did we create IRender nXt?

We saw a way to enhance SketchUp with PhotoRealistic Rendering

When we first tried SketchUp, we saw how easy it was to create 3D models, and saw how easy it was to visualize 3D models. We felt that by adding PhotoRealistic Rendering to SketchUp - with lights, shadows, reflections, skies, and other rendering features - we could make SketchUp even better.

So we contacted McNeel and Associates who had the top renderer for AutoCAD, Revit and Rhino - AccuRender -, and they agreed that we could integrate AccuRender into SketchUp.

The rest is history - We have fully integrated AccuRender nXt into SketchUp as IRender nXt. You can now use the latest version of this rendering engine, IRender nXt, to enhance your SketchUp models with PhotoRealistic Renderings.

CatchUp Interview

2011-06-30T10:11:00.000-06:00

SketchUcation had an interview with Render Plus in their latest CatchUp Magazine, take a look: CatchUp Edition 3

Stained glass in a hazy room

2011-05-19T20:02:00.000-06:00

This is the new Volumetric Fog feature with an interior lit with Stained Glass

New Blog for our compendium

2011-05-18T21:42:00.001-06:00

We added a new Blog to our page for All SketchUp Blogs.

SketchUp for Landscapes

If you have a blog you want add, drop a note to support@renderplus.com

Adding Rendered Images to a 3D PDF file

2011-05-17T11:33:00.000-06:00

We had a lot of positive responses to this rendered image/3D Model in the same PDF file from IRender nXt users. (See: New 3D PDF interface for IRender nXt)

So we have added the same feature to RPS 3D PDF. The new version of RPS 3D PDF adds a rendering from the SketchUp Window to the PDF file to flip/flop with the 3D model. Using the new interface, you can easily replace the SketchUp rendering with any other image - including renderings from other rendering packages - achieve the same image/3D effect using any rendering package.

See: RPS 3D PDF Wizard - Image Tab

May 2011 Newsletter

2011-05-08T23:50:00.000-06:00

Realistic Fog Effects

Volumetric Fog for Special Effects
The new Volumetric Fog feature in IRender nXt can add realism to nighttime scenes, daytime exteriors, and theater lighting.
Create a really unique Presentation from your model using Fog, Smoke or Haze.
For more information see: Volumetric Fog
Nighttime Fog

Sun Streaks on Hazy Day

Spot Lights in a Smoky Room

New 3D PDF Interface

RPS 3D PDF was the first add-on we created for SketchUp more than 5 years ago, and its User Interface has just gotten more and more complicated as we added more features and found places to stick them.
Rich has created a new multi-tab wizard which should make it easier to create your 3D PDF files. The first release of this is for the new 3D PDF for IRender nXt. Check it out, 3D PDF Setup Wizard, in the latest release of IRender nXt.
The new Wizard for 3D PDF makes it even easier to create 3D PDF Presentations.
See: 3D PDF Setup Wizard

Rainy Night in Ypsilanti

2011-05-01T10:20:00.004-06:00

MuseumMaker has a nice rendering of a SketchUp model of the Chick Inn in Ypsilanti on his blog: Sketching Ypsi

We asked him if we could use his model to make samples for our new Volumetric Fog feature in IRender nXt. Here are the results:

(They obviously turned on more
lights because it was such a foggy night. )

One of the other nice features for a nighttime scene like this was the use of Lighting Channels. I was able to assign separate channels to groups of lights, and then balance them while rendering and after the rendering was complete. This is much easier than having to change the intensity of the lights and re-render to see the effect.

Here is a photo of the actual Drive Inn: (See: Michigan Exposures)

SketchUp UR Space

2011-04-29T07:26:00.001-06:00

SketchUp UR Space included an article about our products in the latest edition.

Take a look: SketchUp UR Space

April 2011 Newsletter

2011-04-20T09:17:00.002-06:00

Interactive 3D PDF Presentations

3D PDF and rendered image in a single PDF file
A new feature in IRender nXt lets you quickly create a PDF file with the rendered image of your model, and the 3D model itself combined into a single 3D PDF file.
Create a really unique Presentation from your model and rendered image.
View Sample Online: 3D PDF Sample

PDF file with rendered image visible

3D PDF Model - zoomed in to show model detail

For more information see: IRender_nXt_Create_PDF

New SpaceDesign Release

KD13 - April 13, 2011

Added a project folder to hole attributes and setting, and to automatically load them when needed. See: SpaceDesign Project.

Fixed to save report fonts and globals to a defaults file in the Project.

Fixed to work better with Umlauts and accent marks

Added 'on_instance' attributes which are stored on a Component Instance.
See: Set on Instance

You can now apply attributes to groups, and/or use groups as containers which contain other components.

Added substitutions for lengths and volumes in metric and other units.
See Substitution Codes

Added additional, custom lines to report after total.

Use SketchUp 8 Volumes for %v% volume calculations

See: SpaceDesign

RpTreeMaker - New Version

2011-04-20T08:46:00.000-06:00

We put out a new version of RpTreeMaker.

This one has a lot of new sliders for adjusting tree parameters, and has flower images as well as bark and leaves.

Check it out at: RpTreeMaker

RpTreeMaker Free is a free integrated plug-in for Google SketchUp that creates realistic trees for SketchUp.

What RpTreeMaker Free means to you...

* A new way to add depth and realism to your SketchUp model.
* Quickly and easily add a large variety of trees to your SketchUp model.
* Create custom trees to match any setting.
* It’s Free!

New for Version 2.0

* New Version contains a library of premade trees. See: Load from Library
* Toolbar for easy access to functions
* Flowers and additional Tree types
* Library of trees

New Reseller

2011-04-18T09:01:00.001-06:00

We are pleased to add a new reseller in Poland - sketchup.com.pl

If you want to purchase our products in Poland, check them out. Resellers in Europe

Looking for a reseller in your country - See: Resellers

Want to become a reseller? See: Reseller Informaiton

New SpaceDesign Upgrade released

2011-04-14T10:30:00.000-06:00

KD13 - April 13, 2011

Fixed to save report fonts and globals to a defaults file in the Project.

Fixed to work better with Umlauts and accent marks

Added additional, custom lines to report after total.

Use SketchUp 8 Volumes for %v% volume calculations

See: SpaceDesign

3D PDF and IRender nXt combined into a PDF file

2011-04-12T17:28:00.003-06:00

A new feature in IRender nXt lets you quickly create a PDF file with the rendered image of your model, and the 3D model itself combined into a single 3D PDF file.

View Sample Online: 3D PDF Sample

PDF file with original image

PDF file zoomed in on 3D model

For more information and samples, see: Create PDF

New Save Image Wizard in IRender nXt

2011-04-12T16:36:00.001-06:00

We added a new Save Image Wizard to IRender nXt which should make it easier to save your rendered images:

It also includes our new 3D PDF feature - which you can use to create a PDF Presentation for clients which has both the rendered image and an interactive 3D PDF in the same file. See: 3D PDF

Embedding SketchUp models in HTML pages

2011-03-27T10:53:00.001-06:00

RPS 3D PDF files can be embedded into HTML pages to let you include 3D interactive versions of your SketchUp models on youw web pages. You can see a sample here: Embedded 3D PDF Sample

(This is what the sample looks like, but you

need to use the link above to see it in action)

RPS 3D PDF also has an option to create a HTML file with the PDF already embedded into it. This makes it easy to see what code you need to add to your own pages to embed the 3D PDF.

See: Embedding 3D PDF files for more information.

New iPad App - pFoto Shopper

2011-03-23T11:05:00.002-06:00

We, together with one of our partners, Archon Apps, have just released our first iPad App - pFoto Shopper.

Although this has nothing to do with SketchUp or other Render Plus products, it is pretty exciting to get an iPad/iPhone app completed and approved by Apple!

Check it out online - pFoto Shopper

New SketchUp Magazine - CatchUp

2011-03-15T21:30:00.000-06:00

SketchUcation has launched a new magazine for SketchUp users - CatchUp.

We weren't able to get an ad in the magazine, but we will make edition #2. And we weren't mentioned in any of the articles, but we will try harder next time.

Download a copy here.

RpImageFilters in The Daily CatchUp

2011-03-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

Csaba was kind enough to mention our new, free Plugin in the Daily CatchUp.

Take a Look: Daily CatchUp

How to make Transparent Trees

2011-03-05T08:02:00.001-07:00

A recent thread on the Render Plus Forum investigated how to make transparent trees for a rendering.

See: How to make transparent trees.

There were two simple methods.

1. Render the trees and place them in front of the rendering as a Foreground Image.

2. Freeze the tree images in SketchUp and make the images transparent.

This second method was used in the rendering above - which allows placement of solid objects (bench and fence) in front of the trees.

Filter,s Filters, Filters

2011-02-25T12:07:00.002-07:00

Rich has created a set of Image Filters for IRender nXt which allow you to sharpen up your images after rendering.

The Sharpen filter, especially is a quick way to improve the rendered image.

See the previous Blog Post: Sharpness and Other Filters

Rich's filters worked so well with rendered images that we decided to use them create a new Free Add-on for SketchUp - RpImageFilters. This lets you use the same filters on images from SketchUp.

Of course, you can already do this with many Paint Programs. But it is handy to do it directly from SketchUp. Also, you can apply several filters - such as Brightness, Contrast and Sharpen to the SketchUp image, then modify your model or view and automatically apply the same three filters to the new image.

Check out the Free App at: RpImageFilters

To download a copy and try it out, visit: Render Plus Downloads]Render Plus Downloads

This Embossed Sample is strange, but shows
what an extreme filter will do to a SketchUp Image:

Sharpness and other Image Filters

2011-02-15T15:17:00.001-07:00

One of our users mentioned that he often took rendered images from IRender nXt and ran them through a Sharpness Filter in a Paint Program to add more detail to the image.

So we added a set of image filters, including Sharpness, to IRender nXt. These can be used to polish up your images while rendering.

Original Rendered Image

Sharpened Image

For more information see: Image Filters

Render Plus Newsletter - Febuary 2011

2011-02-14T23:13:00.000-07:00

News from Render Plus

Combined Post Processing Functions for IRender nXt
After rendering your SketchUp model you can make easy improvements using our special Post Processing tools. We have combined all of our Post Processing Functions into one wizard. Use the FX Icon to bring it up.

The Tone Operator, Material Channels, Lighting Channels, Depth Blur, Haze and other features are all together in one place now.

If you haven't tried these Post Processing techniques yet - check them out.

The Brightness Control - this has always been there and is your most powerful tool.

The new Contrast Control - quickly adjust the contrast of the image.

Material Channels - these are new just this week, and let you change the colors of

materials on the fly without having to re-render your model.

- Check out the Material Channels Video

Lighting Channels - these were new in Version 3.0, but now they are much easier to use.

- Check out the Lighting Channels Video

Check out all these features : Post Processing

Try it out : Download and install IRender nXt: Downloads

New Reporting Features for SpaceDesign
We have added some great new features to SpaceDesign to make reporting on SketchUp models even better:

Custom Rows after the totals to calculate taxes, discounts, etc.

Calculation of Volumes using the SketchUp 8 Volume Calculator.

Containers which contain other components and are used for counting properly.

See what's new: SpaceDesign

Try it out : Download and install SpaceDesign: Downloads

Waterfront Rendering - Gambøt havnefront

2011-02-14T16:52:00.001-07:00

Here's a nice Rendering from our Forum: Take a look

Gambøt havnefront

Added by nannahjorslev

Material Channels Video

2010-12-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

Material Channels are used to adjust the color of materials without having to re-render your model.

This video shows you how to quickly adjust material colors while rendering your SketchUp model with IRender nXt.

For more information visit: http://irendernxt.com

Creating HDRi Backgrounds

2010-12-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

The latest version of IRender nXt includes a button on the Background Setup Tab to create a HDRi image from a normal, "tone mapped", image.

You can use a, (non panoramic), HDRi image as a background.

Settings for Inverse Tone Mapping
Tone mapping, (converting from HDRi to normal images), takes luminance and creates RGB colors for display or saving in an image. Inverse tone mapping reverses that equation. nXt's tone operator requires two other pieces of information in order to invert it properly-- the average luminance and the maximum luminance of a scene. The way it works at the moment is that you select Daylight, Nighttime to get default values, and then adjust the custom settings for Average and Maximum illumination in the image.

Lumens and Default Values
After selecting a normal, ("Tone Mapped"), image, you can set the Average Lumens and maximum Lumens which control how bright the image will appear.

Daylight 5,000 and 20,000
Nighttime 1 and 500

Load this image as a Planar HDRi Background
After converting your image, you can load it as a HDRi background for rendering.

Image Adjustments
If you use a Planar HDRi background with the [[[Path Tracer]], you can adjust its brightness as an additonal lighting channel after rendering. (This is not working with the standard renderer yet)

Article in Daily CatchUp

2010-12-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

Check the article on IRender nXt in the Daily CatchUp at SketchUcation:

IRender nXt 3.5 for SketchUp 8

Posted by Rich O'Brien Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

IRender nXt 3.5 for SketchUp 8 from RenderPlus http://irendernxt.com/ is now available. Based on our nXt technology, IRender nXt is the premier, easy to use rendering tool for Google SketchUp.

Read more...

Material Channels

2010-12-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

You can take a look at a hot new feature of IRender nXt - Material Channels.

Material Channels let you alter the color of materials, after rendering, without having to re-render the entire scene.

Take a look at the latest: Beta Test Version

SketchUp-Ur-Space articles

2010-11-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

We helped write two articles for the new on-line SketchUp Magazine - SketchUp-Ur-Space

See the latest edition: SketchUp-Ur-Space

3D Warehouse Trees and Plants

2010-10-28T22:35:00.000-06:00

We are uploading a number of trees from our RpTreeMaker library to the 3D Warehouse.

These plants look good in SketchUp and will re-render as fractal plants using IRender nXt.

Check them out: IRender nXt Plants

New Video - Intregrated Lighting Channels in IRender nXt

2010-10-20T21:04:00.000-06:00

The latest version of IRender nXt has integrated the Lighting Channels adjustments directly into the rendering window. That, plus the ability to give names to each of the channels, has made this a much more powerful feature.

Take a look: On irendernxt.com web site, or on YouTube

The SketchUp model for this, if you want to try it your self, is available here: Lighting Channels Model
(Model courtesy of Boothy)

Lighting Channels:



Rendering with Balanced Channels:

IRender nXt Overview

2010-10-13T06:33:00.001-06:00

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.
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:

nXtRender, which supports materials, lights and reflections; and
IRender nXt which adds additional features. (Comparison Chart)

Using the Path Tracer - Render this Kitchen

2010-10-07T21:49:00.000-06:00

Richcat decided to try our new Path Tracer engine for a rendering challenge at sketchUcation - check out "Render This Kitchen"

I'm sure we'll see more good results as users get a chance to try out the Path Tracer engine.

Purchase Page Problems

2010-10-05T11:36:00.003-06:00

We just discovered than an HTML error was keeping our purchase page from working.

If you have tried to purchase something in the past few days and have had problems, please try again.

Purchase Page

IRender nXt Version 3.0

2010-09-15T06:55:00.000-06:00

Although we had announced our rendering contest in The Daily CatchUp, we had never formally announced version 3.0

Check out the Release Announcement

Highlights

New Plant and Material libraries
Arroway Textures
New Material Wizard
nXt Image Editor
Panoramic Views
Lighting Channels
Visible Light Paths
Depth of Field and Depth Blur
Real Time Haze
Resume Rendering

Reprint of Interview in Daily SketchUp

2010-09-02T22:14:00.001-06:00

See the Original July 6, 2009

TDC: Al, you have been involved in 3D CAD for a long time. How did you get started.

Al Hart: Yes Coen. I guess I am one of the “Cad Pioneers” although I am not as famous as Pat Hanratty and the others. We founded Sigma Design in 1978 which wrote ARRIS – the first micro-processor based, 3D CAD System. ARRIS is still being used and we still make new versions for the dedicated customer base. In 1987 we spun off a new company – now called Render Plus – writing add-on applications for ARRIS.
We created more than 20 add-on applications for ARRIS CAD, and then in the 1990s we started creating stand-alone applications – which didn’t require a CAD system. The most popular of these were Site Designer by LANDCADD, Giza Office Furniture for Facet, and Planix Exterior Designer for Softdesk. We developed our own 3D CAD system to support these applications.

TDC: Interesting… But, how did you get involved with SketchUp

Al Hart: We wrote a SketchUp import/export routine for ARRIS CAD in 2003 after we discovered that about ½ of the architects using ARRIS also used SketchUp. SketchUp made a presentation at the ARRIS users group meetings in 2004 and 2005. We were quite impressed with SketchUp and decided to drop our own 3D Cad system, and write add-on applications for SketchUp instead.
The first was RPS 3D PDF which creates interactive, 3D, PDF files for use with Adobe Reader. Then we created a rendering interface, based on the McNeel and Associates rendering engine AccuRender. These proved to be quite popular add-ons for SketchUp.

TDC: What kind of applications are you writing?

Al Hart: We realized that SketchUp was a great system for creating 3D objects, massing studies, etc. But that it was weaker in some basic CAD capabilities – such as placing pre-made components into a space and manipulating them, or drawing 2D Construction documents. We decided to create some tools to enhance SketchUp in this area. The impression we get from the SketchUp team is that they would prefer to develop capabilities – such as Dynamic Components – but let the third party world create scripts for specific uses of these tools. So our primary business is to develop applications to enhance SketchUp.

Read More

TDC: Thank you for doing this interview with us Al.

Al Hart: Thanks for having us.

Sketch up ur Space

2010-09-01T23:15:00.000-06:00

Aug 24, 2010 – Kolkata, India, August 24, 2010 – Sketchup4architect.com proudly announces launching of an online magazine ‘Sketch up ur Space’, exclusively deals with the Google Sketchup on 6th September. This hi-tech E-magazine will surely create a wave among the Sketchup fans of all over the world by providing them necessary helps and sharing the knowledge on it.

A magazine is a store house of all kind of information. It will definitely become a piazza for the peer group for communicating. Sketchup4architect.com is a renowned web site exclusively deals with various fields of Sketchup and always keeps exploring its different new sides for betterment. Over 2 years of experience in this 3D designing field, Sketchup4architect.com lends its hand to the newbie designers and the expert of Sketchup by launching ‘Sketch up ur Space’.

On this magazine, there are articles, blog, video tutorial, tips and tricks and many more things on Sketchup. This informative magazine will have a stylish look in flash version. Sketchup4architect.com is very careful while choosing the proper and authentic information. Anyone looking for a career on 3D design will definitely get help from it. The experts on Sketchup from worldwide also share their knowledge and experience on ‘Sketch up ur Space’. With a committed and dedicated group of writers and editor, Sketchup4architect.com is ready to launch the first edition of this exclusive magazine.

For further information, Sketchup4architect.com may be contacted online www. Sketchup4architect.com

3D Basecamp 2010

2010-09-01T20:48:00.000-06:00

Rich and Al attended 3D Basecamp today and learned lots about the new release of SketchUp 8.

The SketchUp folks have done a great job of giving us a new release - top on the list of new things were:

Improved Geophysical capabilities for modeling buildings using Google Earth Images, Street View images and Building Mkaer
Great new 3D Solids capabilities for cutting and merging 3D shapes.
New Layout improvements to make it easier to create construction documents from SketchUp models.

It was great fun meeting the SketchUp crew, SketchUp users from all over the world and other SketchUp developers. Wish you could have been here with us.

SpaceDesign Version IH26 released

2010-08-26T16:46:00.001-06:00

New in Version IH26

Database data type for metric values - See: SpaceDesign Number Formatting‎
Default Values for attributes - See: Default Values
Drill into Components and Groups - See: Drill setting
Substitution strings - See: Substitutions
Calculations - See: SpaceDesign Calculations

Rendering Reviews for landscape

2010-08-20T12:02:00.000-06:00

John Pacyga of Verdant Design recently posted some samples of Landscape Rendering using SketchUp.

"I’ve been looking into realistic renderers (is there a better word for this?) for my landscape work with SketchUp..." Take a Look

SpaceDesign (Pro) Released

2010-08-18T23:26:00.000-06:00

The new version of SpaceDesign has been released.

Report on Dynamic Component Attributes
Add and edit your own attributes
Report, including SketchUp image, saved as a PDF file

Go to Downloads to try it out.

Go to SpaceDesign for more information on how to use it

Attribute Editing

Sample Report

Try it out and let us know what you think.

ProjectRender released

2010-08-11T11:45:00.000-06:00

ProjectRender, our new rendering project for Office Furniture layouts in AutoCAD is being released today.

See: ProjectRender for more information.

Providing customers a photo-quality rendering of their proposed furniture plan has always been a complicated endeavor. Rendering required CAD intensive experience and had a very high learning curve. Most dealers can produce a hidden line 3D or a shaded 3D drawing, but the vast majority of dealers had to pay contractors to produce the photo-quality renderings, costing hundreds of dollars.

ProjectMatrix introduces ProjectRender, the industry’s first affordable & easy to use high quality rendering tool. With ProjectRender, you can create photo-quality renderings in minutes, not hours or days. Simply select the desired 3D view in AutoCAD or ProjectWorkspace, apply the finishes & complete the render. It's really that easy! ProjectRender works with AutoCAD/ProjectSymbols & ProjectWorkspace; even our competitor's 3D drawings!

ProjectRender is packed with many powerful features. In addition to its ray-trace capabilities, you can create a room environment in seconds to show your proposed plan in an office setting. You can choose from several wall types, apply the colors or finishes & even add scenery through the windows. Choose from ProjectRender's great materials library or go online to download your favorite fabric, wallcovering, paint, carpet, or stone. You can also set the quality vs. speed of your renderings while setting up your render. While placing finishes, you can draft render for a quick view & select the highest level of ray trace for your final customer view. ProjectRender from ProjectMatrix... high quality rendering made easy!

New Digs for Render Plus

2010-07-26T22:22:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow, Tuesday July 27th, Render Plus will be moving into some new office space.

We are really excited because we think the new space will take better advantage of the BPI workstations we purchased years ago, and will let us work more productively.

Our new address is:

Render Plus Systems

6436 S. Quebec St. STE 260

Centennial, Co 80111

(303) 713-1401

(The phone, email, etc. are all the same)

However, we may be out of contact tomorrow while we are moving, setting up phones, setting up Internet, etc. Be patient. Post your questions on our forum, and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

SketchUp 3D Basecamp

2010-07-08T15:34:00.002-06:00

Rich and Al are planning on attending the SketchUp 3D Basecamp in Boulder CO, Sept 1-3rd, and we can invite a few of our friends to join us.

If you would like to go, let us know - either on the Forum, or at al.hart@renderplus.com and we will try to get you invited.

New Forum for IRender nXt

2010-06-30T11:24:00.003-06:00

We have set up a new forum for IRender nXt.

This new format is more informative and more friendly.

Check it out: IRender nXt Forum

ProjectRender at NeoCON

2010-06-16T08:44:00.002-06:00

ProjectMatrix introduced our new joint product, ProjectRender at the NeoCON conference for Office Furniture dealers and manufacturers in Chicago.

ProjectRender makes it extremely easy to render office furniture workstations in an office environment - adding a room, lights and background - and was the highlight of the software section of the exhibition.

See Video below: (ProjectRender was in the middle)

AIA Show

2010-06-16T08:27:00.002-06:00

Render Plus had a pod in the Rhino booth at the AIA show.

Although attendance at the show was a little low, we enjoyed meeting with some of our current users and some, hopefully, future users, and seeing what some other developers were up to.

IRender nXt Advanced Features

2010-06-05T06:15:00.000-06:00

Dennis created a new video on the Advanced Features of IRender nXt.
(Features added in the past year and released as Version 3.0)

Check it out

IRender nXt Features Video

2010-05-12T16:37:00.002-06:00

In this video Dennis explains the value of each of these features and shows you how to use them

Reflections, Placing Lights, Lighting Presets, Bump Maps, Section Planes and Edge Lines.

Rendering Roundup for 3DWorld Magazine

2010-05-11T17:25:00.000-06:00

IRender nXt was asked to render some models for inclusion in a Rendering Roundup article for 3DWorld Magazine. We were provided with a SketchUp model created by Tim Danaher, and we added lights, trees, and reflective materials and rendered it with IRender nXt. You can see the full size images on our Gallery.

2010-04-22T14:50:00.001-06:00

gianni munaretto has posted an animation created with IRender nXt on YouTube.

Take a look:

2010-04-22T14:42:00.000-06:00

Boothy has posted a new Panorama - using lighting channels to change from day to dusk.

Take a look

Hi All
To echo Dennis`s video tutorial on lighting channels I have recently completed a night\day panorama for a client (see links below)

All completeley rendered in NXT via NXT Editer (except for a little photoshop lens flare indulgance in the daytime scene.)

day: http://www.keystage.com/2009/projects/earrow/earrow1.html
night: http://www.keystage.com/2009/projects/earrownight/earrownight1.html

Render Plus in Australia.

2010-04-21T07:40:00.000-06:00

I see that an Australian firm has borrowed our name "Render Plus", and our Domain name - www.renderplus.com - by adding a .au to the end.

If we were a big company, like Google, we could probably try to stop them. But as it is, lets just hope they don't confuse anyone.

Hdri on Sketching Ypsi

2010-04-18T19:59:00.001-06:00

museummaker posted a nice IRender nXt image on his blog:

"I'm still learning how to use the latest version of Nxt rendering software for SketchUp. After a bunch of false start I finally figured out how to use HDRI images correctly. They are a great way to add subtle lighting cues to a scene."

See full Post: Sketching Ypsi

New Lighting Channels Videio

2010-04-18T19:53:00.003-06:00

By assigning channels to sun, sky, and groups of lights, you can quickly adjust the intensity of each channel with a slidebar and immediately see the effect on the final rendering. See: Lighting Channels

Dennis has made a new YouTube video to show how this works: Lighting Channels Video

Using Lighting Channels to adjust a spotlight after rendering.

Rendering Contest Winners

2010-04-14T09:05:00.001-06:00

We are posting and contacting the winners this A.M. See: Contest Winners

First Place Winner - Private booth at Day - Elijah Bell - Murray Associates Architects, P.C. www.murrayassoc.com

Second Place Winner - Misty Fountain - richcat

Third Place Winner - Inspired by the art of Lebbeus Woods - Nico Stegemann

People's choice - Honorable mention - New Helm - sgabbott

Thanks to all the contestants, judges, and Blog readers(who helped in the voting) for making this a successful contest!

IRender nXt Rendering Contest Finalists Announced

2010-04-02T11:30:00.001-06:00

The finalists for the IRender nXt Rendering Contest have been announced. Thanks to all who have participated in this contest.

In addition to the official judges, 2 votes are being given to the SketchUp community. Check out the full-size images and vote for your favorites, using this link: View Finalists and cast your vote

AIA 2010 in Miami

2010-03-22T22:18:00.000-06:00

We will be demonstrating our SketchUp and Revit products - including IRender nXt in the McNeel and Associates booth - booth 2485 - at AIA in Miami June 10th to 12th, 2010.

Stop by and talk to Rich, or Al on your way over to, or returning from the SketchUp booth.

Castle Howard

2010-03-14T00:02:00.001-07:00

MartinPh uploaded some renderings of his model of Castle Howard near York in the UK onto the SketchUcation Forum. Take a look.

He used IRender for the renderings. Here is what he has to say.

So here it is. Renders were done in iRender NXT and are as yet basic. Texturing is a problem, bitmaps simply won't do in a model this size, you get patterning, it looks ugly. But at least iRender is able to handle this 81MB beast, which is more than can be said of Vray... exporting 2D images from SU itself is rather more of a problem too...

I did these renders in the trial version of iRender, which runs out in 6 days, so I'm now considering buying it. It does have good RPC plant options that I'd love to experiment with!

Here's another render. I love this feature of iRender, it actually does true orthogonal renders.

McNeel Newsletter

2010-03-10T01:16:00.001-07:00

Robert McNeel and Associates gave us a nice mention in their March 2010 Newsletter.

Take a look: Newsletter

AccuRender nXt for Revit - Educational Version

2010-03-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

We have created an educational version of AccuRender nXt for Revit for $49.00

If you are a student or teacher using Revit and want to use the nXt Engine for your renderings, then check out our Educational Purchase page.

Piranesi Support

2010-02-16T00:18:00.000-07:00

The latest version of IRender nXt (3.0) can export rendered images directly to Piranesi . This allows you to use the full spectrum of Piranesi Image Enhancements with IRender Images.

Lighting Channels

2010-02-16T00:14:00.000-07:00

Lighting Channels is a new feature of IRender nXt. It allows you to adjust the intensity individual lights (or groups of lights) after the rendering process is complete. These and other changes can be made in the nXt Image Editor.

New Panorama

2010-02-16T00:11:00.002-07:00

Boothy Created a new Panorama and placed it on his web site.

It was produced with the latest IRender nXT with post editing in Photoshop CS4 (light effects\lens flare\plants\backgrounds) - you can view it at the following link: Longfield Reception

IRender nXt - Version 3.0 released

2010-02-11T23:22:00.002-07:00

IRender nXt Version 3.0 has been released.

There is a new 30-day trial period for the new version if you have already tried IRender nXt and would like to try it again.

See: Version 3.0 for more information, and to check out the more than 20 new features implemented since the release of Version 2.0 a year ago.

IRender nXt Review

2010-01-30T08:46:00.001-07:00

sketchuppluginreviews.com has posted a review of IRender nXt:

"The nXt Renderer by IRender is a rendering plugin that integrates really well with SketchUp. The learning curve on this plugin is very small and you can start rendering almost immediately after installing the plugin. The render quality is pretty good..."

Read more: Review

Rendering workshop - Whiskey Glass S

2010-01-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

We have a started a new Rendering workshop on SketchUcation to render a Whiskey Glass

Take a look and give it a try. Rendering workshop - Whiskey Glass

New Version - JA22 - New Plant and Material Libraries

2010-01-20T07:59:00.001-07:00

The new Version - JA22 - contains new libraries for Plants and Materials.
The Libraries contain:

AR3 materials converted to nXT .ArMaterial file format.
(Many of these materials have been completely recreated for nXt.)
New .ArMaterial files created for nXt.
AR3 Trees and Plants
(These still work well with nXt.)
New nXt Trees
(Created with RpTreeMaker)
Additional HDRi skies for use with IRender nXt.

To download the latest version, visit: Downloads

3D Artist - Featured Artist of the Week

2010-01-19T09:02:00.001-07:00

One of our IRender nXt users, Elijah Bell, Jr. - a Designer in Pennsylvania, was recently the featured artist of the week in issue #9 of the UK magazine “3dArtist”. He has been kind enough to post some of his images in the IRender nXt Gallery, and also to mention IRender nXt, and post several IRender nXt images on his 3D Artist Gallery Page.

Keep up the good work Elijah!

Take a look!

iPhone Rendering

2010-01-09T13:50:00.003-07:00

There have been a number of Rendering Challenges on SketchUcation lately, and recently Richcat entered one and created this nice rendering of an iPhone:

The concept of this challenge was to get the illumination from the iphone buttons to look good.

That and the ambience of the room lighting and countertop make this a good rendering.

iPhone Rendering Challenge

PixPlant

2010-01-04T11:17:00.003-07:00

I just gave PixPlant a try.

Here is a brick wall image I grabbed from the Web (at random)

I then loaded it into PixPlant which magically adds 3D effects.
(No work or settings by me)

Then I used PixPlant to generate Displacement and Specular maps for rendering.
(One click to load all maps into IRender nXt - ready to render)

Pretty Next - I think

New Plant and Material libraries for IRender nXt

2010-01-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

We have made a new library for IRender nXt users.

These new libraries contain all the older AccuRender 3 plants and materials, as well as new nXt plants and materials, and some HDRI skies (backgrounds) for use with IRender nXt.

Download the latest Beta Test version, IL31, and download the new material libraries from IRender nXt Libraries

Arroway Textures

2010-01-01T13:47:00.001-07:00

I have been spending time this week working with Arroway textures. Here is a simple room with 3 Arroway textures on the walls and floor.

Arroway provides diffuse (normal color), bump, specular and opacity images which can be combined while rendering. They provide medium-res, free, versions of each of their textures in the hopes that you will like them well enough to purchase the hi-res versions.

We have created a new Wizard in IRender nXt to make it easier to select all Image Maps in an Arroway group, and create an IRender nXt and SketchUp material from the Image Maps. See Texture Set

SketchUp [Plugins] Blog: SketchUp Custom Toolbars

2009-11-23T11:16:00.001-07:00

SketchUp [Plugins] Blog: SketchUp Custom Toolbars

I just learned about the custom toolbar plugin from Jim Foltz - Custom Toolbars

I used it to organize the commands I use into a couple of toolbars, which hopefully won't get messed up so often.

We also just added a similar feature to IRender nXt. (although it is RpTools which really needs it - I will put it there next)

Rendering Tip - Use Self Glow for backlit objects

2009-11-21T10:22:00.004-07:00

(Self glow applied to television screen)

Self Glow illuminates a surface as if it had light shining on it, without actually making it a light.

* Balance illumination in scene without adding additional lights.
* More realistic signs, monitors and projection devices.
* Faster rendering times.

* Read more
* See all Rendering Tips

Panoramic Images

2009-11-19T09:34:00.002-07:00

Boothy has posted a number of Panoramic images created with IRender nXt to his Web Site.

Click Here to view Panorama

New Textbook - SketchUp and IRender nXt

2009-11-19T08:16:00.003-07:00

Andy Brody, who introduced IRender into the Interior Design curriculum at Endicott College has published a new textbook which has a chapter on using SketchUp and IRender nXt. If you are planning a course using SketchUp and IRender, you should take a look at this new book. (I haven't seen the final product yet, but Amazon promises to have a copy in my hands on Friday.)

Rendering Tip published on SketchUpArtists Blog

2009-11-13T10:55:00.001-07:00

SketchUpArtists is including some of our rendering tips in the Tips and Tricks section of their new blog. Take a look: SketchUp Artists - Tips and Tricks

Here is what they say about their new blog:

"We have created this site to show the creative potential of SketchUp and it’s users. We demonstrate its various uses, portraying the best creative professionals who show how it is possible, with only a little additional effort by adopting clever and original styles and techniques, to achieve a predictable range of fascinating and astonishing results. We have included watercolor hand techniques to photo-real renderings, covering every phase of the presentation process."