Rendering in SketchUp

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Part 6: Shaderlight by ArtVPS
Fig. 29.8: 
Use the Move 
tool’s Rotate option to 
rotate the Skylight portal 
into the correct position 
facing into the scene 
after it’s placed.
Fig. 29.9: 
The 
Shaderlight area light is 
placed inside the fixture.

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Chapter 29: Shaderlight Simulated Lighting
Fig. 29.10: 
Shaderlight area light rendering
Light Skylight Portals, area lights have an emitting side that needs to be placed facing the 
right direction. Placing area lights can be tricky because they need reference geometry (see 
Chapter 24) to be accurately placed.
Shaderlight does provide the option to use LEMs. However, they do not actually give off 
light but act as glowing surfaces. Use area lights instead.

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Part 6: Shaderlight by ArtVPS
Light editor
The Shaderlight Light Editor is activated from the Shaderlight main menu (Fig. 29.11). You 
can select the various lighting options from the Type pull-down menu. Once you’ve picked 
a lighting option, the SketchUp cursor turns into a lightbulb, allowing you place the light 
emitter.
Fig. 29.11: 
The Shaderlight main menu and Lighting menu
The Light Editor has three functions:
3
3
To select and place a lighting option
3
3
To set light strength
3
3
To set light color
Light Strength
The strength of an emitter is measured by Shaderlight in candelas (Fig. 29.12). Candelas 
represent units of luminous intensity. For example, a single Shaderlight candle is equal to one 
real-world candela (hence the name). One candela is equivalent to 1.2 watts. In Shaderlight, the 
default Candela setting for lights is 125. This is equivalent to a 100-watt lightbulb. However, 
exposure plays a big part in lighting up a scene, working in tandem with the Candela setting. 
Some specific candela strengths and Exposure settings are provided in the following sections 
to help you get started with lighting.