Rendering in SketchUp

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Part 8: Anatomy of a Rendering
Fig. 38.2: 
The Shadows are turned on and adjusted. The Shadows are set to produce a good amount of con-
trast between the various building surfaces. Although the shadow direction is good for rendering, there is not 
enough contrast in the scene.
Fig. 38.3: 
A shadow box is created, placed on its own layer, and positioned in the model. Turning on the 
Shadows shows where the shadow box shade is directed into the model. The type of shadow that is cast is 
based on the camera view. In this instance, the shadow box is casting shadow onto a part of the building that 
is visible in the building scene.

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583
Chapter 38: Setting Light with Shadows
Fig. 38.4: 
With the shadow box in position and the Shadows turned on, the shadow cast becomes visible in 
the saved building scene. Keep a record of the settings in the Shadow menu. They will be used to update the 
detailed building scene when the layers are turned on.
Fig. 38.5: 
The detailed Building Scene tab is selected, turning on all the relevant details. The Shadow menu is 
manually adjusted to reflect the new shadow settings as determined in the previous steps. The scene is updated 
by right-clicking on the Scene tab and selecting Update, saving the new Shadow settings into the scene.

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Part 8: Anatomy of a Rendering
Fig. 38.6: 
To determine lighting, the detailed Site Scene tab is selected, causing SketchUp to move to the specific 
camera position and turn on all the site detail (1). Then, the Site No Veg scene is selected (2), turning off all the site 
vegetation and making it easier to turn on and play with the Shadow settings.
Fig. 38.7: 
The shadows are turned on but are adjusted using the Solar North tool (available only in SketchUp Pro). 
The sun angle is adjusted 180 degrees to optimize the light direction for the scene. (Note the specific Shadow set-
tings in the Shadow menu. They will be needed to manually adjust the shadows and update the site scene.)

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