Rendering in SketchUp

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Chapter 24: Simulated Lighting
Fig. 24.25: 
A light is inserted into one of the track light components. Each light now includes a point light.
placing point Lights
When you click the Point Light button, you will be prompted to place the light. In Shaderlight 
and SU Podium, the center of the light will be placed at the point where you left-click. Twilight 
requires two points of input: the general light location and the location of the actual light.
placing Spotlights
Spotlights require two points of input. The first input sets the light’s location, and the second 
input sets the light’s direction (Fig. 24.26). Spotlights can be tricky to place: be patient. 
Remember to move and zoom your camera and use the SketchUp inference system (snap-to-
points) to maneuver the spotlight in the right direction.
Fig. 24.26: 
The first point is the insertion 
point of the spotlight (1). The second point 
indicates the direction of the light (2). It’s best 
to snap onto an object or surface that the 
light will illuminate.

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398
Part 5: The Iterative Rendering Process
placing IeS Lights
Before you place any IES lights, you’ll need to download the IES light profile. When you have 
the profile you want, you can insert into the model (Fig. 24.27). The IRP Lighting menu will 
include a Browse button you can use to insert the light into the scene. Then the light must be 
placed similarly to the way you place point or spotlights, depending on the profile.
Fig. 24.27: 
IRPs that support IES profiles will provide an option to browse 
to the file location.
placing Light-emitting Materials
Select a texture just as you normally do to apply a texture render value. From the IRP 
Material menu, select LEM. For most IRPs, the strength of the LEM can be set as a 
secondary value.
render times
Having multiple simulated light sources in a model is common. Simulated lighting takes time 
to render, and rendering times for simulated light sources are relatively higher than they are 
for exterior lighting. In addition, rendering simulated lighting in large models requires robust 
computers with a lot of RAM to ensure the render completes (see Chapter 4). In general, the 
following rules of thumb apply when you’re working with simulated lighting:
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The greater the number of simulated lights, the longer the render times will be.
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Larger models (higher face counts) have longer render times. This is particularly true for 
models filled with 3D vegetation (Fig. 24.28).
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Simulated lighting renders require higher quality settings and presets. The higher the 
quality, the better the results will be. However, higher settings cause longer render 
times.

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