IRender nXt HDRi Sky Tutorial from Render Plus

March 6, 2012 Posted by Jason in Intermediate SketchUp Tutorials, RenderPlus

IRender nXt HDRi Sky Tutorial from Render Plus

This HDRi Sky Tutorial will guide you through a simple exterior rendering using an HDRi Sky for a background.

Download and Installation(If you have already downloaded and installed IRender nXt, ignore this step)

Download IRender nXt from the RenderPlus Downloads Page
After downloading the .ZIP file, click on the file name inside to install IRender nXt.
During installation, select the proper version of SketchUp if you have more than one version installed.

Start SketchUp (IRender nXt works with both the free and professional versions.) Start IRender nXt

Select IRender nXt Load from the SketchUp Plugins menu.

Exterior Scene with HDRi SkyHDRi Skies and backgrounds provide a full, 360 degree, image used for the visual background, as well as lighting and reflections.

Sample HDRi Panorama – contains full 360 degree image with sky and some landscape

Select a model

For your first rendering we suggest a simple exterior.We are going to render it, using default HDRi Sky settings, without making any changes to the model. This will let you see the effects of the default lighting of IRender nXt. For exteriors, this is easiest to see if the model has roof overhangs, porches, or other features which will benefit from subtle lighting effects.

Download this model from the 3D Warehouse: 3D Exterior Model of Plan 22169

3D Warehouse model you could use for the first rendering
SketchUp Model for HDRi Sky.jpg

Start Rendering

Click the Render icon:
After you click the start rendering icon, the Rendering Settings dialog will appear to help you with your settings.
Click the HDRi Sky Preset
Click Start Rendering to render your first image.