V-Ray 3 for SketchUp is interactive and significantly faster, taking full advantage of CPU or GPU acceleration. From quick design models to fully detailed and photorealistic scenes, V-Ray 3 is designed to be SketchUp’s most powerful rendering solution.

What's New in V-Ray 3 for SketchUp

V-Ray 3 for SketchUp includes a full suite of tools for lighting, materials and rendering. Now, any natural or artificial lighting scenario can be created with built-in light types, a physical sun and sky system, and HDR environments. For realistic interior scenes, these tools can be paired with V-Ray’s unique global illumination methods, resulting in the most accurate representation of light possible.

This new version also includes a drag-and-drop library of over 200 physically accurate materials, perfect for adding realism to any project. Real-world camera controls let designers work like a photographer, with settings for exposure, perspective correction and depth of field. V-Ray 3 for SketchUp includes everything users need to render anything they want.

What do Industry Leaders think anout V-Ray 3?

“SketchUp users tend to have a eye for detail. They know their models in and out, and exactly what they want to convey in an illustration. So it's no surprise to us that so many of them choose V-Ray to bring their projects to life,” said Chris Keating, General Manager of Architecture and Design at Trimble. “Now, with V-Ray 3, these designers can pair SketchUp 2017's vastly improved graphics pipeline with the high-touch visualization tools they need to compose jaw-dropping illustrations faster than ever.”

museum of glass in vray 3 for sketchup

“Gensler has used V-Ray for years, not only for its quality and speed, but for the way it works with all our design applications,” said Scott DeWoody, Firmwide Creative Media Manager at Gensler. “With all the new features, including VR Rendering, this new version of V-Ray for SketchUp is a substantial addition to our design toolset.”

New features in V-Ray 3 for SketchUp

New tools and feature highlights include:

  • Virtual reality – Render VR-ready content for the most popular virtual reality headsets (Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift).
  • V-Ray Swarm – Introducing a powerful, scalable distributed rendering system that's simple and fast.
  • Section cuts – Easily create quick cutaways and section renders with V-Ray Clipper.
  • Aerial perspective – Quickly add realistic atmospheric depth and haze.
  • Denoiser – Automatically remove noise and cut render times by up to 50%.
  • Grass – Create realistic grass, fabrics and carpet with V-Ray Fur.
  • Proxy objects – Bring more detail to your project with memory-efficient proxy models of complex objects like grass, trees, cars and more.
  • Render elements – Render as separate layers for more artistic control in your image-editing software.
  • Frame buffer – Track render history and fine-tune color, exposure, and more directly in V-Ray’s frame buffer.
  • V-Ray Scene export – Share complete, ready-to-render V-Ray 3 for SketchUp files with any V-Ray 3.4 or higher application.

Pricing/Availability

V-Ray 3 for SketchUp is available now for Windows & Mac OS. Workstation licenses are $695 and are fully compatible with SketchUp version 8, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. Upgrades are also available; please contact your local reseller for more information.

 

About the Author

rich O'Brien

This article was written by 

Rich is SketchUcation's Managing Director and Certified SketchUp Trainer. He has a background in aviation technical training and is also the editor of CatchUp WebMag