Check out our best SketchUp rendering tools page and try out some of the free trials. If you are very advanced user you may want to spend more and have a lot more options available to customize every detail of the rendering.

If you are a beginner or intermittent user you can get into a very good rendering solution which is easy to use and less than $500.

Many people only do a few renderings a month, so speed is not a critical issue.

Speed of rendering is something you need to determine if this is a priority.

There are free tools which will go an okay job to a great job, but may be difficult to learn and use. Some tools are very complex and take a lot of time to learn with many options and others are very easy to use, where even a beginner can create high quality pictures like the ones you see on this page with just a few clicks

How much time do I want to spend on learning the tool.

What to consider when selecting a SketchUp rendering solution These three attributes can be some of the simplest to implement with the right rendering solution. You will be amazed at your customer’s reactions when you show them a rendering of your 3D designs with lighting, shadows and reflections providing depth and realism. To render within SketchUp and see a model as a high-resolution photorealistic image you will need to download and install a SketchUp rendering extension. Many designers want their models to look photoreal, and rendering software is needed to do this. When you design a model in SketchUp, it appears as a simple drawing that can show shadows colors and material textures, but it does not process reflections, lighting from lights or the sun, etc. Creating Photorealistic Renderings with SketchUp Trimble purchased SketchUp from Google in 2012, and the software continues to evolve and be used by millions around the world. It was then acquired by Google in 2006 and renamed Google SketchUp. SketchUp was released in 2000 as a general 2D/3D modeling software. SketchUp is a free 3D modeling program which can be use to design 3D models of buildings, a new piece of furniture for your home, exhibit booth, stage, part or other objects.

Sketch up 2020