tecton3d Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hey all, A colleague and myself are considering recommending the purchase of Vray for our firm to use in-house use but we have question: 1. is there a material converter for Vray materials to be used in sketchup? 2. what experiences (good, bad, or other) does anyone have with the workflow from Sketchup to VRay. we will be doing mostly stills but possibly animations should the client request thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Have you tried browsing the forums on the AGS web site? There are a lot more Vray for Sketchup users there than here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecton3d Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 ha ~ actually no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bytor Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 tecton3d, I have two designers here that use it and love it. Mostly because it sit's right inside of Sketchup and the workflow is pretty straight forward. There is a 30 trial period - I would suggest trying to see if the workflow is an issue for your firm or not. The only thing that we have discussed here in the past is that once Vray materials are assigned - they are not always (such as glass) represented well in the sketchup window - so it might require extra effort if you want just plain su output on the same model. There are tons of materials available, and I do remember there being a thread on the AGS forums regarding a converter for vray materials into the SU variant. hth...Bytor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecton3d Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 thanks for the reply and i'm happy to say that we are acquiring at least one copy of Vray for Sketchup. i anticipated quite a bit of resistance from the 'high-ups' but it went through with no questioning whatsoever. We have tried the demo and it is what really hooked us to the software in the first place. Like you say and has been said, materials are a bit of a fuss but aside from that (and with some practice) we'll be able to get our workflow figured out in no time. prost! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramy Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 There are two ways you can do materials with v-ray for sketch-up: 1. You can just use the sketch-up materials and it will render them as is. 2. You can use the v-ray materials and inherit the textures from the sketch-up material editor. I would recommend the second method if you want nice glossy reflections. For materials, pay attention to what direction your faces are with the default material. The materials need to go on the white side. Otherwise you'll get strange results. Also, if you are doing animations, you are limited to what sketch-up animates (clunky camera pans). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornkn Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 But is it possible to combine with other (instanced?) objects, like high-poly trees and bushes, which are not easy to import into SU and still be able to work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecton3d Posted March 18, 2008 Author Share Posted March 18, 2008 i expect the modeling interface itself will not be any different than it is currently so ultra high-poly stuff will be a headache also, with the plug in - it doesn't look like the much acclaimed v-ray proxy is provided... definite bummer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramy Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 There is no v-ray proxy, but you can import any 3d model you use in other programs as a dwg or 3ds file, and smooth out the faces. Just know that your file will get very slow and large if there are alot of polys in your scene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emliam Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Wonder if vray plugin for sketch up will work for 3ds max! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecton3d Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 Wonder if vray plugin for sketch up will work for 3ds max! no ~ that's an entirely different software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecton3d Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 Just know that your file will get very slow and large if there are alot of polys in your scene. ... a sample of proof that skp isn't a serious and/or advanced modeling and visualization tool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornkn Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 ... a sample of proof that skp isn't a serious and/or advanced modeling and visualization tool What a strange conclusion? If any conclusion could be drawn it would rather be that Vray for SketchUp isn't a serious tool? IMO SketchUp is a great, professional and serious tool for modelling architecture, and for NPR renderings. But when the goal is photo realism with high-poly objects/trees, as well as GI and multi lights etc, SU won't do the job alone. I have no problems exporting my SU models into LW, along with trees and vegetation from Onyx and other sources. It saves me a lot of time. Many of my clients are perfectly happy with SU renderings though. Even without very high poly objects it often serves the purpose of illustrating a project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecton3d Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 What a strange conclusion? If any conclusion could be drawn it would rather be that Vray for SketchUp isn't a serious tool? IMO SketchUp is a great, professional and serious tool for modelling architecture, and for NPR renderings. But when the goal is photo realism with high-poly objects/trees, as well as GI and multi lights etc, SU won't do the job alone. I have no problems exporting my SU models into LW, along with trees and vegetation from Onyx and other sources. It saves me a lot of time. Many of my clients are perfectly happy with SU renderings though. Even without very high poly objects it often serves the purpose of illustrating a project. not really strange... i guess it's a relative statement. I thought my last statement would get me into trouble... I'm not flaming, just expressing and opinion and probably venting a little anger that my office doesn't have a copy of max for me to work with;) my impression of a (and as quoted) "serious/advanced" tool can produce complex modeling, create photo real images and animations while handling huge amounts of data... i.e. a very detailed architectural model. I didn't say skp didn't have a place in a toolset, it's just not an 800lb gorilla in the 3d world. You are totally right in thinking it CAN suffice to communicate ideas and you don't need millions of poly's to do this... which is obviously why skp has worked a place into so many workflows and has made such an impact in so many offices. it really just comes down to the fact that I just don't like the "quick and dirty" feel of the software... but does it have a place in the 3d world - of course. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornkn Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Are you just looking for arguments vs your boss to convince them to buy you a Max license then? There are lots of 3D tools out there, some of them can do it all (the gorillas?), and some are more speciallized on modelling or animation (the Cheetahs?). What makes SU, the Cheetah, so special, IMO is that it with its very limited, but well designed toolset allows you to do most architectural modelling tasks with high precision, ease and speed. As I am a freelancer I can choose exactly the tools I want to use, and I'm quite happy that I don't have/need to use Max/Vray. SU for modelling, Onyx for vegetation and LW (with FPrime) for rendering (and some modelling) works just fine for my needs BTW, I wouldn't regard Max as a non-advanced tool just because it apparently needs external programs/renderers like Vray to work at its best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Well, yeah, look at the name of the thing - Sketch Up. It's supposed to be inexpensive, quick and sometimes a bit dirty. Max is supposed to be industrial strength. When you try to get SketchUp to replace Max you're going to have trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornkn Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Exactly. SU was never intended to be a Max replacement, and hopefully will never try to become that in the future... As this is actually a Vray for SketchUp thread it would be interesing to hear more experiences from Vray users, and to view examples. I considered buying the Vray plugin, but have a feeling that it will not do enough, neither when making photo-real renderings nor for animations. To me it looks like that an external program, like LightWave or Max, gives you a lot more power and control? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvlive Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 was wondering if anybody noticed what bjornkn said "What makes SU, the Cheetah..." sketchup is not cheetah: http://www.cheetah3d.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvlive Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 On a serious note, does this vray plugin work on sketchup free? or only the pro version? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tambi Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Would love to see any examples of renderings of Sketch Up models using Vray. I currently work for a small practice using archicad and we are trying to determine the best software for us to produce renders as efficiently as possible, none of us have any rendering experience. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramy Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 (edited) These images were created by Luis Ayala. All done in sketch-up with the v-ray plug in. The people are images on planes. The only downside to the v-ray plug-in is the limitations in the lights. But for a down and dirty rendering it works pretty good. I still prefer bringing in the model into max, but if you need to make changes after rendering, v-ray for sketch-up is a great solution. I also noticed that the DMC image sampling type was faster in sketch-up than in max...not sure why. Edited June 14, 2008 by ramy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salf Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Guys......1 question: AT the office, some people are considering purchasing Vray for Sketchup, but they have never used it before, since Im used to Vray (for max) Ive been helping them out. Only 2 Pcs have for now the puggling (demo version I think), and Ive noticed 2 things workflow related: 1- It doesnt have presets for Irr.Map (low quality, medium, high, etc) this would make things easier for the new user. 2- It takes AGEEEEEEEEEEEEES to render!!!!!!!!!!!...which I dont understand!....Not for the light calculation, but for the actual rendering part...it takes about 10 minutes to render a 600 px image....no heavy modelling, just a few volumes for test.....are we doing something wrong?.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecton3d Posted April 16, 2008 Author Share Posted April 16, 2008 Guys......1 question: AT the office, some people are considering purchasing Vray for Sketchup, but they have never used it before, since Im used to Vray (for max) Ive been helping them out. Only 2 Pcs have for now the puggling (demo version I think), and Ive noticed 2 things workflow related: 1- It doesnt have presets for Irr.Map (low quality, medium, high, etc) this would make things easier for the new user. 2- It takes AGEEEEEEEEEEEEES to render!!!!!!!!!!!...which I dont understand!....Not for the light calculation, but for the actual rendering part...it takes about 10 minutes to render a 600 px image....no heavy modelling, just a few volumes for test.....are we doing something wrong?.... 1 - yeah, there are not presets 2 - you must be doing something wrong, ...though i'm definitely no v-ray expert. I haven't noticed it being exceptionally slow when playing around with large scenes (like 1million faces) so check your settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creasia Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 I have tested the plug in. I have been somewhat impressed. You can cut your render times by lowering the subdivisions in your reflections and increasing the glossiness number above 7. You can get good results on a high resolution image by rendering with a low detail irradiance map I am an avid Max-Vray user. I have been trying to replace Max with SU and have been testing Vray for my home contract work. This is better than no Vray at all, but the best solution is the Max-Vray combination. Also consider Cinema 4d with the Vray4cinema4d plugin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 I'm surprised - I like Sketchup for many tasks but I've never heard of an avid Max user wanting to replace Max with Sketchup. You can't really animate, and there are just a ton of limitations. If it's a cost thing, if your company has Max on subscription ask your sales rep about take home licensing (free with subscription) or look really hard at Cinema+Vray (not all that much more money and waaaaaaay more powerful). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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