Rendering in SketchUp

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Part 5: The Iterative Rendering Process
HDRI images are inserted into a model with the IRP’s Lighting menu. Simply browse to 
locate the image and insert it into the rendering. Once it is inserted, the IRP will use the HDRI 
for lighting.
IBLs/HDRIs are images. When inserted, the associated image will appear in the image back-
ground. Shaderlight has the option to hide the image content while still referencing the light-
ing metrics of the HDRI.
Unlike when you’re using 
SketchUp Shadows, HDRI light-
ing is not visible in a SketchUp 
model. You will need to assess and 
maybe adjust HDRI lighting by 
running draft renders. You can 
use them to adjust the direction 
of the HDRI lighting if necessary.
You can adjust
 the direction 
of light coming from an HDRI 
image. IRPs with IBL options 
include a slider that ranges from 0 
to 360 degrees (Fig. 23.8). Adjust-
ing the slider rotates the image 
and its direction of light in the 
model (Fig. 23.9). This method is identical to how light 
is rotated around a model, as outlined in Chapter 17.
A quick Internet search of HDRI images will yield 
many results. Check the IRP website forums and review 
their resource pages to see if they have available images. 
One such site is 
www.moofe.com
, which provides preset 
HDRI images to Shaderlight. Moofe offers commercial 
and free HDRI images useful with any IRP that allows 
IBL inserts for rendering.
Shaderlight includes several preset HDRI images 
under its Lighting options (Fig. 23.10). Instead of 
inserting the HDRI image into the IRP and model, 
you can select them under the Lighting options (see 
Chapter 28).
Fig. 23.8: 
HDRI light sources can be rotated around the model to pro-
vide the best result. The light direction can be rotated 360 degrees.