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昨天在网上看到sket有了自己的渲染插件马上down了下来试用，结果令我很激动，有兴趣的可以看一下这个英文介绍，没兴趣的就看我的介绍好了：）
Installation and loading SU Podium To Install
Double click on SURPodium_Setup.exe file. This begins the installation process. Proceed through the installation process and finish.
Note: SU Podium is installed in the /Program Files/@Last/Plugins/SURPodium folder. One ruby script is also installed in the Plugins folder.
Restart SketchUp. You can access Podium from the SketchUp Plug pull down menu. Pick the Show option from the Podium menu to display the Podium interface.
Uninstall
To uninstall SU Podium, use the Add or Remove Programs icon in the Windows Control Panel and Pick SU Podium.
Brief description SU PodiumSU Podium is a photo-realistic rendering software program that works entirely as a plug-in to SketchUp Pro 5 or Google SketchUp. We will be referring to SU Podium as “Podium” in this help file.
Podium works entirely inside SketchUp and uses SketchUp’s surfaces, textures, views, background color and shadows to produce a photo-realistic image. It also works with SketchUp groups. If you are already familiar with SketchUp you will notice that Podium does not require you to learn a lot of complicated rendering techniques to create photo-realistic renderings.
The SketchUp model that you see on your screen will be what is rendered in the final image. What you see on your screen will be referred to as the render scene. If you want to change the angle of a scene or get a closer “shot” of your model, use SketchUp’s zoom, pan or rotate commands to change the render scene.
You can apply the standard SketchUp textures and colors to surfaces and get an effective rendered image. Cadalog, Inc. will be providing additional high resolution texture images in the final Podium release to use in SketchUp. But for now, use SketchUp’s standard textures.
You can also apply SketchUp’s background colors, sky colors and shadows to get effective renderings.
The final image that is created by Podium is a bitmap JPEG or PNG file. (The beta version only supports JPEG). The file is saved to the /SketchUp5/Plugins/Podium folder automatically. The beta version does not allow you to name the image files but assigns a number.
Getting Started To display Podium’s user interface, pick Podium from the SketchUp Plug-in menu and pick Show. This will display the Podium user interface. The two main options that are displayed are the amount of lighting (applied to each surface) and the amount of reflection applied to each surface.
How it works
1. Select any surface or face in your SketchUp model by clicking on it
2. While the surface is highlighted, pick a value for reflection by moving the Reflect slide bar in the Podium UI.
3. Paint a texture or color to the surface you previously selected
4. Render it and examine the Preview image (Beta version only includes two resolutions. Full release version will have many more).
Podium will create renderings of your SketchUp scene by simulating the reflection of light on each SketchUp surface. By default, Podium applies Sky Light light source to the scene. You can create an effective rendering by applying an amount of Podium’s reflection on SketchUp surfaces. In addition, by painting surfaces with colors or texture, the rendered image will look realistic.
You can also change the lighting and reflection effect by changing SketchUp’s background color or shadows. For example, you can create an evening like image by choosing a dark background color in SketchUp. You can also create different effects by using or not using SketchUp shadows. For interior designs, Podium also provides omni lights which will further provide realism to your image.
Another important feature to Podium is self-illumination or the Light feature. (Sometime referred to as Light Emitting Material or LEM). This feature is shown in the user interface as Light. When applied to a surface, Light creates an independent light source. For example, you may want to create the effect of a fluorescent light or a TV screen illuminating a room. The amount of lighting applied to a surface will simulate an independent light source. This light will be reflected from surfaces that have reflection properties.
To get an understanding of how Podium works, we have provided two simple models. Podium-Exterior is a SketchUp model of a simple structure. Podium-Interior is also a SketchUp model of a simple room design. The sample models are available \SketchUp5\Plugins\Podium folder.
Note: Podium employs Global Illumination (GI) and Ray tracing to create photo-realistic images. Ray tracing simulates the path of a ray of light as it would be absorbed or reflected by various SketchUp surfaces. GI is an algorithm that takes into account not only the light which comes directly from a light source like Sky Light (direct illumination), but also subsequent cases in which light rays from the same source are reflected by other surfaces in the scene (indirect illumination).For more information about Ray tracing and GI, please read about it in Wikipedia.org.
Sample Tutorial- Exterior Model Open Podim-Exterior.skp
Then pick SURPodium from the PlugIns menu. Click on Show from the SURPodium menu.
The Podium user interface will appear. From the Podium interface, pick Size. This will display an option of render sizes for the final image. For now, leave the default render size on Preview. (230X120 pixels).
Hint: The smaller the render image size, the faster the scene is rendered. It is a good idea to first use a small render image size to experiment with reflection, background colors, shadows and Light settings to get speedy results. When you are happy with the settings, choose a larger render size for your final image.
For this example, we will first apply standard SketchUp textures to selected surface. Then we will apply reflections and and experiment with SketchUp background colors to obtain a rendering.
Paint textures on selected surfaces Select the Material Browser from the SketchUp Tools menu. Select the Stacco from the Assorted Materials library and “paint” this texture to the exterior surfaces of the building (everything except the ground, windows and door).
Select Blue Glass from the Glass + Transparent library for the window surfaces. Edit the Blue Glass texture and change the opacity of the texture to 18 or lower.
Select Wood-cherry from the Wood library for the two doors. Select Concrete from the Concrete library for the ground surface.
Your model should look something like below:
Apply reflection on selected surfaces. 
Applying Podium reflections to SketchUp surfaces is an important part of getting a good rendering. You will find yourself experimenting with levels of reflection to get the best effect.
To apply Reflection to this model, click on a SketchUp surface and while this surface is highlighted, go to the Podium interface and use the Reflect slide bar to applying a value of reflection. The higher the value, the more reflection that surface will have. Podium will remember the value you assigned to a particular surface.
Note: With groups of components, you can double click on the group and use SketchUp’s Select All command to select all surfaces in a group. While the group’s surfaces are highlighted applying a reflection value to the surfaces.
For this model do the following:
a. For the exterior surfaces or the surfaces with Stacco texture, click on the surface while the surface is highlighted, go to Podium and apply a reflection level of about 20. Podium will remember this setting. Rotate your model and select all Stacco surfaces and apply a reflection level of about 20.
b. For the window surfaces with Blue Glass texture, click on the surface or surfaces, go to Podium and apply a reflection level of about 5.
c. For the ground surface, click on the ground surface and apply a reflections value of about 30. We are making the ground highly reflective.
d. For the doors, do not applying any reflection.
Shadow settingsFor this example, turn shadow settings off in SketchUp.
Render the scene Zoom, pan and rotate in SketchUp so that the model takes up most of your computer screen. This is your render scene.
Then click the Render button in the Podium interface. (Make sure the preview button is checked).
Podium goes through several iterations and you will notice messages on the Podium interface like Exporting Geometry, Shooting Photons, Building Mesh, Ray tracing, Anti-aliasing.
When the messages have stopped and you have clear image, what you should see is a preview size of your rendered image. Save this file. For the beta version it will be saved as a number to the C:/Program Files/@Last Software/SketchUp 5/Plugins/SURPodium folder.
Your preview image should look like this:
Notice how the roof of the building is almost white. This is because the roof surface has reflection but is only reflecting the sky light. You can correct this by selecting the roof surface and changing the reflection value of this surface in the Podium UI. Change it to 0 or no reflection. Then try rendering the scene.
Adding Background color and shadows
To get more realism to the rendered image, lets make the SketchUp background color darker and also turn on the Shadow setting in SketchUp.
Select Model Info from the Windows pull down menu in SketchUp. From the Model Info dialog box, select Colors and pick Background colors. Then change the Background darkness level so that it is a dark gray. Click OK. Now turn SketchUp’s shadow settings to Display Shadows and use the default shadow settings.
Render the scene with Podium. Your new image should look something like this:
Are you happy with this image? If not, continue to experiment with – surface reflections, background colors and shadow settings.
When you are ready, change the render size by clicking the >button in the Podium UI. Pick 640 X 480. Try rendering the scene. Notice how much slower the render speed is when the image size increases. Also the preview area within the Podium UI displays only a portion of your image. (Many more image sizes will be supported in the full release version.)
Click on the preview image if you want to display the entire 640 X 480 image in SketchUp.
Save the image.
Sample Tutorial Interior Model Open Podium-Interior.skp.
Podium-Interior model is a simple model of a room. The goal of this exercise is to experiment with Light effect to create a new source of direct light and use reflection to simulate a mirror. Outside Sky Light will also influence the interior lighting.
Texture has already been applied to this model. SketchUp’s background color has also been changed to a darker grew. Shadow settings are turned off. You can examine what materials are being used in the model by going to the SketchUp material browser and selecting the InModel tab.
Also, notice that two components are being used. One is a face-me type people component. The other is of a 3D bench. If you Zoom out of the current view you can see that the model is of a room with three walls, a roof and a floor. Outside the structure there is a surface with Ashlar Stone texture to represent the ground.
The facing wall has a white surface that will represent a mirror.
Display Podium’s UI by picking Show from the Podium pull down menu.Let’s use the Render size of of 230 X 150 for the Preview.
Add Reflection and Light to surfaces
For this example, let’s add reflection to the following surfaces – a. the mirror (this is the rectangular surface on the facing wall that has Ghost White texture), b. the floor
Apply Podium reflections as follows:
a. Mirror – Select the mirror surface and while it is highlighted, use the Reflect slide bar in Podium’s UI to add a reflection value of 100 for the mirror. This is the maximum reflection value.
b. Floor – Select the floor surface and while it is highlighted, use the Reflect slide bar in Podium’s UI to add a reflection value of 20 for the floor.
We are also going to add a new light source in the room to the rectangle on the ceiling to simulate a fluorescent light.
a. Fluorescent Light. Select the rectangular surface on the ceiling and while it is highlighted, use the Light slide bar in Podium’s UI to add a Light value of 25 for the “fluorescent” light.
Render the Scene
Zoom, pan and rotate in SketchUp so that the room, mirror, portion of the light and a portion of the outside is visible on your computer screen. This will be the render scene.
Then click the Render button in the Podium interface. (Make sure the preview button is checked).
Podium goes through several iterations and you will notice messages on the Podium interface like Exporting Geometry, Shooting Photons, Building Mesh, Ray tracing, Anti-aliasing.
When the messages have stopped and you have clear image, what you see is a preview size of your rendered image. Save this file. For the beta version it will be saved as a number to the C:\Program Files\@Last Software\SketchUp 5\Plugins\SURPodium folder.
Your preview image should look like this:
Want more light in the room?
Increase the Light value for the “fluorescent” light by select the surface and moving the Light slider bar to the left.
You can also increase light by changing SketchUp’s background color to a lighter color or by changing the color and opacity of the window texture.
Notice how the mirror is reflecting the face-me component’s front view (as you would expect a face me component to behave).
You have now been exposed to almost all of SU Podium’s features. The only other major feature that is expected in version 1 is Spot Light components so that you can create a spot light effect easily.
Omni Light Omni Light is a feature that allows you to create an independent light source from SketchUp groups. Omni Light acts like a light bulb and emits light in all directions. Omni Light is a different from applying Light value to one surface as we did in Tutorial 2. Omni Light allows you to assign a Light value to an entire group. That group becomes a source of light that emits light in all directions. When you render the scene the Omni Light group will disappear and only the light it is creating will appear in your image.
You can use Omni Light to create the effect of a light bulb that lights up the entire room or use it to be a spot light that shines on a small area.
Omni Light Tutorial
Open Podium-omin_light.skp. You will notice a red square in the middle of the model. This square has been turned into a group. The group was then assigned a Light value by Podium and has become an Omni Light object.
Render the scene using the Render button in Podium's UI.
Notice how the red light spill out from the circular wall only at the gaps of the wall. Also, notice how the Omni Light object has disappeared from the rendered image. If you rotate the angle of your view and expose the bottom of the ceiling of the roof object and then render, you will see that the omni light is reflected up to the ceiling and to the opposite wall.
As an experiment lets change the color of this Omni Light. Select the cube (do not edit the group but just select the whole group by clicking once anywhere on the cube). The cube group is highlighted. Go the Material Browser and pick green from the Colors option. Drag the paint bucket to the cube and drop the green color on the group. Now render the scene. You should have a green light glowing.
How to create an Omni Light 1. Create a SketchUp group from a shape.
2. Add a color to the group. Add color to the whole group. Do not add colors to individual faces in the group.
3. Add a light value to the group. Make sure you have selected the group. Then go to Podium's UI and add a Light value to the selected group.
4. Render the scene.
Creating a Spot Light effect.
You can create a spot light effect with Omni light by completely enclosing an omni light group with geometry and then opening one portion of the enclosure so light can escape out in one direction.
For a simple example, create an omni light cube as described above. Make sure you assign a LIght value to the omni light. Then create a tube shape. Place the omni light group within the cube so that it is completely enclosed. Then open one end of the tube so that the omni light is completely enclosed except for one end. Render the scene and experiment with colors.
Helpful tips/ Known issuesWe appreciate you taking time to evaluate the beta version of SU Podium. We expect the final version of Podium’s help file to have more detail documentation. But here are some note worthy items that may help in your evaluation:
1. Back side of faces.
The back side of a face in SketchUp is blue. The “normal” side is light gray. Podium only recognizes the normal side of a SketchUp surface or face. If you are wondering why some faces will not show up in your render, it could be the “back side” of the face is exposed. Use Reverse Face command in SketchUp to expose the normal side.
2. Groups and LEM
LEM or Light Emitting Materials refers to the SketchUp faces that have Light value assigned to them. If LEM is in a SketchUp group, it may be ignored by Podium and the light will not appear in the rendered image. If this happens, you should explode the group, if you want to the Light to appear in the rendered image. An alternative to exploding the group is to Edit the group and do not close the group during the render process. If you do this, the light will appear in the rendered image.
4. DPI issue in Windows XP
Thanks to some reporting by beta testers, it has been discovered that you need to set your Windows XP DPI setting to 96 DPI. If you do not, the SU Podium dialog box may not display properly.
If you are having problems with the SU Podium dialog box, go to your Windows XP Control Panel, pick Display. Then from the Settings tab pick Advanced and make sure your DPI setting is set to Normal Size 96 DPI.
5. Bugs.
We would greatly appreciate your help in reporting bugs or SketchUp crashes when you use Podium. Please report your bugs or crashes to the web forum in
[ 本帖最后由 notfish 于 2006-11-7 13:40 编辑 ] |
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