Rendering with images

[ashscott]

Can anyone tell me if its possible to render with images, for example: import a jpeg sunset as a background in a house model and have it show up in the render.

Cheers

[Whaat]

The quick answer is 'yes'!

However, the method you want to use depends on whether you just want the image to show up in the render or if you want the image to help illuminate the scene. Either way, once you import the image into your SketchUp model, make sure it is 'exploded' (i.e. the image should be a Material and applied to a face - let me know if you are confused...)

This is all you need to do to make the image appear in the render.

If you want the image to illuminate the scene, you need to change the 'Emitter Attributes' of the material. Change the layer so it is no longer 'off'. This will make the material emit light.

Then, change the Emission map to 'SketchUp'. This tells SkIndigo to use the map that is applied to the SketchUp material to control the emitted color of the material.

(I'm thinking this would make a useful subject for a tutorial....)

hope this helps!
Whaat

[Pibuz]

..Thank you whaat for the reply.
It is also useful to specify that (correct me if I'm wrong) a background set as a watermark isn't currently working. So try to use one of the methods Whaat suggested.

I'm currently writing the SkIndigo FAQ partII, but I think that may be quite obsolete, since the 2.0 version is out...

[ashscott]

great, thanks for that whaat