Rendering in SketchUp

Fig. 28.1: 
The alley render
The topics discussed include the following:
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SketchUp Shadow Menu: The SketchUp Shadow menu is used to set light strength and 
direction. Part 4 reviews how to use this menu in detail.
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SketchUp Dark Slider: The SketchUp Shadow Menu Dark slider (see Part 4) affects 
lighting in Shaderlight. The Dark slider acts as a secondary exposure setting. If not prop-
erly set, the Dark slider can cause some improper results.
Shaderlight 
Exterior Lighting 
and Backdrops
ChaptEr
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Part 6: Shaderlight by ArtVPS
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Physical Sky/SketchUp Sky: These two options reference the SketchUp Shadow menu 
to establish light settings. In order to use the SketchUp Sky option, you must have 
SketchUp Shadows turned On when rendering. You should not use SketchUp Sky for 
lighting; focus on Physical Sky and HDRI options.
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Image-Based Lighting/HDRI: Shaderlight comes with preinstalled image-based 
lighting options. These options sample light for photographs and re-create the light in 
rendered scenes. See Chapter 25, for a general description of image-based lighting.
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Backgrounds: Shaderlight provides an easy-to-use option for inserting background 
images into the render. Once placed, they appear in the backdrop of the rendered 
image.
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Auto Exposure/Exposure: Never use the Auto Exposure setting in Shaderlight. You 
should always manually set the exposure when you generate renderings.
SketchUp Dark Slider
The Dark slider on the SketchUp menu affects all of the Shaderlight exterior lighting options. 
In order to generate consistent results, it’s imperative that it be set and then left alone. Otherwise, 
images will appear over- or underexposed. A good practice is to position the Dark slider at 35 
(as shown in the various figures) regardless of which lighting option is used (Fig. 28.2).
The only way that lighting brightness should be adjusted is by using the Exposure option in 
the Shaderlight Render settings under Lighting. In this chapter, the specific exposure settings 
are reviewed with each lighting type. The Light slider in the SketchUp Shadow Menu has no 
effect on rendering lighting or exposure.