Render Plus Software Case Study, RSD / Total Control

Tyrone Tucker from RSD / Total Control recently shared his experience with ArielVision, a Render Plus rendering extension for SketchUp. Tyrone incorporates completed renderings into a browser enabled interface for his customers.
In Tyrone's own words: I work for RSD / Total Control. We provide parts and smarts for the HVAC and Refrigeration industry. In the Total Control division we build 508 UL listed industrial control panels and provide control systems for Building Automation.
This includes controls for operating:

• Air Conditioning Units
• Fan Coils
• VAV’s
• Chillers
• Boilers
• Pumps
• Built Up Systems, and others

The information is networked back to a head end device called a Supervisory Controller. The end user can access the system locally or remotely over the Internet with any web browser. The interface enables a view of the graphic images that I rendered. For example, below is a stacked view of a building in Los Angeles, CA. I created the model with SketchUp and renderings with ArielVision.

Finding a Rendering Program

A few years ago I knew that I needed a rendering application to present drawings in our control systems. I searched the web and found lots of options. I wasn't completely sure about my requirements for renderings because I was also new to computer modeling. I reviewed most of the rendering software and found that a lot of them ran outside of SketchUp and required an export of the models. I knew I didn't want that complication if it could be avoided. Then I came across ArielVision. The software is fully integrated into SketchUp. A free 30 days trial is available and even in trial modeI can create renderings at any resolution. I just installed ArielVision and started rendering, that quick. I started by using preset options and WOW! the renderings I got were awesome! After a few weeks of rendering I purchased ArielVision and have be using it ever since.

Examples of the Renderings Used as Interactive Images

Basement - Modeled with SketchUp and Rendered with ArielVision

First Floor - Modeled with SketchUp and Rendered with ArielVision

Second Floor - Modeled with SketchUp and Rendered with ArielVision

Third Floor - Modeled with SketchUp and Rendered with ArielVision

SketchUp modeling - How to render a water feature

 

Fountains, ponds, pools, and other water features are easy to add to any SketchUp model.  Rendering these features can pose some very interesting challenges.

In this brief video I'll discuss an easy to learn and use technique that can be applied to a SketchUp surface to illustrate water with realism.  Additionally, I use a light balancing feature to post process my original rendering, providing me with a nice daylight image of the model and an evening image.  The benefit is that I am able to achieve a rendering with realistic water and I get two renderings after processing only one.

This model was created with Trimble SketchUp and I used IRender nXt to generate the renderings.

SketchUp Rendering - Indirect Lighting

Indirect Lighting Example - Cove Lighting

When indirect lighting such as cove lighting is included in a project, there are a variety of ways to add this artificial lighting to a SketchUp model.  When cove lighting is the only light source, as in the example above, the room is illuminated completely by light bouncing off of the ceiling and then to and from other surfaces in the model.  The result is a rendering with soft lighting and very realistic shadows.

SketchUp Rendering, Water Features

Rendering a Water Feature

Modern rendering programs that can be added to modeling applications have a variety of ways to render materials.  Arguably one of the more challenging surfaces to render with realism is water.  Water is clear, water reflects light, water refracts light, and the surface of the water can be smooth, rippled, or wavy.  Designers will spend considerable time and effort to render a water feature in their model that actually looks like it is filled with water.  Realistic renderings of water are impressive, adding to the overall quality of the rendered image.

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