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IntroductionSU Podium V2 is a photo-realistic rendering software program that is a plug-in to Google SketchUp 7 or 8. SU Podium employs ray tracing and global illumination 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 textures or faces. Global Illumination or GI is an algorithm that takes into account not only the light which comes directly from a light source like Sky Light or the Sun, but also subsequent cases in which light rays from the same source are reflected by other faces in the scene (indirect illumination). SU Podium V2's GI is far superior to previous versions of Podium. For more information about Ray tracing and GI, please read about it in Wikipedia.org. Are you still using SU Podium 1.x? Need a guide to help you compare SU Podium 1.x with V2? Click here for the V2 Migration guide. A. Operating SU Podium V2System Requirements for the Mac and for Windows requires SketchUp 7 or 8. Mac version will require OS-X 10.5 or above. The V2 engine is multi-threaded meaning it will take advantage of all your CPU core's. You also need a reasonable amount of RAM to hold 3d scene data. The more RAM you have, the more complex models you can render. However, currently SU Podium V2 is a 32 bit application. Therefore any RAM above 4 gigabytes will not be used. 1. InstallThe install process is straight forward and in most cases will require no input from the user. The main thing to be aware of is which version of SketchUp you are using. When you purchase SU Podium V2 from Cadalog, Inc's web store or from your reseller, you will be sent a download link either in the email receipt or from your reseller. You will also receive a 16 digit license code. If you need to reinstall SU Podium V2 for some reason, go to the Free Trial page and download the free evaluation version and activate the trial version with your license code. Alternative, click on this link to go to the Version 2 web page and download from here.
2. Render process and getting started
After installing SU Podium V2 for Google SketchUp 7 or 8, you can access SU Podium V2 from the SketchUp plug-ins pull down menu or from the SU Podium V2 tool bar. You can run both the older version SU Podium 1.x and SU Podium V2 during the same SketchUp session. If you are not familiar with V2 already, to get started, open a relatively small SketchUp model that you want to render. Alternatively, download and open this simple model which has already been setup with V2 reflection and light properties. Download pdmv2_sample.skp. To introduce V2's rendering process, do a quick render of your model. First click on the Options menu from the pull down or the tool bar. In the preset pull down list, pick Default.pps. In the Output tab, under Dimensions, pick a Fixed size or the default Viewport size for the rendered image size. Click the OK button. Then pick the Render menu from the pull-down or tool bar. The first thing Podium V2 does is Process Scene. Once that is complete, the Podium Render Manager or OOPR will launch. If you do not see see the Podium Render Manager dialog box pop-up, click on OOPR from the Task Bar in Windows or Dock in the Mac.
If you are using the full version and this is the first time rendering, before OOPR launches, you will asked to enter a 16 digit serial number.
Once the Podium Render Manager (OOPR) is launched, V2 will go through several rendering steps. The last two steps are Raytracing and Resampling Edges (anti-aliasing). You can click on the Preview menu in the Podium Render Manager to view the render progress dynamically. As a default, the rendered image will be saved to the folder that the SketchUp model is saved in unless you change the location for saved images to be saved in. 3. Download and test some ready made SketchUp models.Click on this link to go to the SU Podium V2 models page. You can do download five render ready SketchUp models to test results. 4. Where to get SupportThe following Help pages will guide you through Installation and using and applying SU Podium. Please take a moment and read through the Installation chapter if you are having difficulty with the install. If you are having trouble finding your serial number, please take a look at the FAQ section of this web site. There is a detailed description of how to find your serial number. In addition, you can get support from the following areas:
5. What version am I running?If you are using SU Podium V2.9 or above, click on the About menu item in the SU Podium V2 pull down menu. This will link to a web page which will display the version number. If you are using a version prior to V2.9, a quick way to see what version of SU Podium V2 you are running is to use the Information Bar that gets attached to a rendered image. You will need to turn on the information bar and render something to see the version number you are running.
6. Support Check listPlease look at this check list of items that will help in supporting your SU Podium installation. B. Apply Material PropertiesClick here to watch the material properties video tutorial.
Reflections, refractions, bump maps, LEM lights and other properties are applied to a specific texture globally in the model. This is one major difference from Podium 1.X where reflections and lights are applied to a SketchUp face. Select a SketchUp texture you want to apply Podium properties too. You can select the texture by selecting the face that the texture is on or you can select the texture directly from the SketchUp Material browser. When you make a texture selection, its name will appear at the top of the Podium Material Property dialog box. (Please Note: Textures that are assigned to curved surfaces or back side of faces, should be selected from the SketchUp Material browser or with the i-dropper icon. These textures will not automatically appear in the V2 material editor. Please see known issues below. ) Once a selection is made, apply the various Podium properties to the texture by using the appropriate slider. This will turn the texture into a Podium material. Please Note: You must click on the Apply button for the properties to be applied to the material.
Diffuse, Transparency and Reflections are connected to each other. The combined value of the three sliders should equal 100% when applied to a texture. The default setting for non-transparent materials is 100% diffuse. However, if you want to see direct reflections on that texture, move the Reflection slider to the right. The Diffuse slider will automatically move left. Diffuse is reflection that does not bounce directly back to the camera but reflects at an angle. An example of the difference between Diffuse and direct reflection might be the reflection of a paved road. When it is dry, it has more diffuse reflection. When it is wet, it has more direct reflections. You can not have 100% Reflection (direct) and 100% Diffuse. Otherwise the material will render strangely. Confused about Diffuse? Click Here Transparency is the SketchUp transparency/ opacity property conveniently located here. It is not wise to have a high transparency and a high reflection value. That is not real world and you renderings will look odd. The rule of thumb is to combine the 3 sliders to make 100%. Refraction is where light waves "bend" when passing through a material with a refractive index. A good example of this is a straw placed at an angle in a glass of water. The water has a refractive index of 1.33. The straw looks bent at the surface of the water. Although there is no such material as air in Podium, if there was it would have a refractive index of 1. Version 2 has a list of preset refractive indexes for certain materials. To use Refraction on a texture, select the texture and enter a refractive index. Check out a good explanation of refraction here - Wikipedia Both Reflections and Refractions have a blur option. The render speed will slow down if you choose the blur option but the reflections will look very realistic. Bump Depth slider will allow you to apply bump maps to textures. Bump values are different to V1.x, and a value of 1 produces an extremely subtle effect suitable for water.
The Light slider in the material properties will apply LEM (Light Emitting Material) to the texture you have selected. LEM lights are one type of artificial light source in SU Podium V2 and will create lights that emit light in one direction away from the face of the texture. LEM lights are easy to create and are quick to render. Light slider is the LEM light slider. Pick a texture and apply the light slider. This will turn that texture into a LEM Light. You can pick a value from 1 to 100. The values must be whole numbers. High Intensity check box is applied to the LEM Light. When High Intensity is on, single digit power values should be used. Otherwise the LEM light will be extremely bright. In most cases, you will not need the High Intensity option. Hidden LEM is a feature that will hide the material and SketchUp face that the material is on in the rendered image. The LEM light will be displayed but the SketchUp geometry and material will not be displayed in the final image. See more about artificial and natural lights below in section C. More about how to make great materials. Check out the collection of Render Ready Podium Materials tutorials page C. Lights1. Sky Light, Sun Light - Natural LightsClick here to watch the natural light tutorial video Also read information and tutorials on:
SU Podium V2 has two types of natural lights. Sky and Sun. These are both "exterior" lights but can have great influence on interior renderings if your models have openings to the exterior such as windows and doors. Sky light is an ambient, exterior and uniform light source being emitted from the "sky". It is analogues to an overcast day where the sunlight is hidden. Sky light is always on. However, if you have interior designs with no openings to the exterior, sky light will be shut out. Sky light brightness is controlled by a variety of variables. One is the preset you choose from the Preset list in the Options menu. Another is whether you use SketchUp Sky or Podium's Physical Sky, also selected from the Options menu in the Environment section. If you have selected SketchUp Sky, SketchUp's background colors will control the sky light's brightness. If you have selected Podium's Sky or Physical Sky, SketchUp background colors will be ignored. Rather the time of day will be an important factor in sky light color and brightness. Sun light is another source of natural light. Sun light is only on when SketchUp Shadows are on. The sun's brightness and exposure are controlled by a number of variables:
But don't be intimidated by these variables. Simply try rendering with Shadows on and look at the effect. Then make adjustments. 2. Artificial Lights - LEM, Omni's and spot lights.Click here to watch the artificial light tutorial video. Click Here to watch the spot lights and SU Podium Light System video
a. LEM LightThe Light slider in the material properties menu will apply LEM (Light Emitting Material) to the specific texture you have selected. LEM lights are one type of artificial light source in SU Podium V2 and will create lights that emit light in one direction away from the face of the texture. LEM lights are easy to create and are quick to render. Light slider is the LEM light slider. Pick a texture and apply the light slider. This will turn that texture into a LEM Light. You can pick a value from 1 to 100. The values must be whole numbers.
High Intensity check box is applied to the LEM Light. When High Intensity is on, single digit power values should be used. Otherwise the LEM light will be extremely bright. In most cases, you will not need the High Intensity option. Note: Unlike Podium 1.X, V2 will apply Podium properties globally to textures. If you select a certain texture to have light, every surface in the entire model with that texture applied will emit light. b. Hidden LEM optionWhen Hidden LEM option is checked on, the LEM light will be rendered but the SketchUp face and material that the LEM is applied to will not be rendered. This is a very useful feature if you want to hide the LEM light source and keep the light. Below is a simple example.
c. Omni Lights/ Point lightsClick here to watch the artificial light tutorial video. Omni light or Point light (name is used interchangeably in this document) is an artificial light source which emits light uniformly in all directions, similar to a light bulb. To insert an omni light or point light, click on the
There are some things to consider before creating an omni light. Power. The light power value for omni lights ranges from 1 to 100. Because light power is relative the the amount of ambient and natural light in the image and to the angle of your camera, you will need to experiment with power levels. Color. Color is self explanatory. Just as in the Light Properties menu, there is a color picker which allows you to apply various colors to the spot light. Default color is white. Placement. Once you have made Power and Color selection, click on Create. The omni lights have an intuitive inference method of placement based on a temporary XYZ axis with green, red and blue lines coming out from the center of the axis. Beam Angles. This option is reserved for Spot Lights only. Read more about the Podium Light System here. d. Editing your omni lightIt's easy to adjust light power and color for omni/ point lights. Select the the light point component in SketchUp. You can do this by picking the component or finding it in SketchUp's outliner. The point light will have a name that starts as light-point. Once the light point component is selected, pick the PLS icon from the SU Podium V2 tool bar or menu. Adjust the light power from this dialog box. You can use decimal values for omni/ point lights. To change color, pick the Browse button from this dialog box and then pick the color you want from the color user interface. For LEMs lights, select the material with the SketchUp texture i-dropper and adjust the slider in the Podium Material Properties dialog box. LEM lights only accept whole numbers. LEM light is a material property so different from a omni/ point light. e. Soft omni lights optionAs a default, omni lights/ point lights have "hard" shadows meaning the edge of the shadow cast by the omni light is hard. There is a soft shadow option that makes the omni lights look more natural. This option is accessed from the Options menu in the Environment tab. There is a significant render speed cost when using this option.
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In SU Podium before V2.8 |
Same model with SU Podium V2.8 + |
To turn on support for color in translucent material, go to the SU Podium V2 options dialog and choose Environment. Turn on the Translucent Color check box. By default it is turned off.
j. Automatic Materials SU Podium Version 2.9 and above has a feature called Automatic Materials. When this is on (default), Podium will recognize SketchUp standard material names in your model and assign pre-defined, photo-realistic material properties to these specific SketchUp materials, automatically. This will greatly reduce the amount of time you may spend setting up your model for photo-realistic renderings, IF you are using SketchUp standard materials. Automatic Materials will have no effect on imported textures/ materials. Please read or watch the video regarding Automatic Materials here.
Before rendering, you may want to check the Options menu, to see where the rendered image will be saved and to look at other settings. As a default, the rendered image will be saved to the same folder that your SketchUp model is in. However, the rendered image can be saved in a folder of your choice. There is no browse button to find the folder of your choice. You must key in the address to save the images.
To start the rendering process, click on the Render icon from the Tool bar..
Once the rendering process is invoked, you can preview the rendering progress by picking the Preview menu in the Podium Render Manager UI (OOPR).
If you click Generate from the SU Podium V2 pull down menu, Podium will generate a .script file and save it to a folder of your choice. Generate will render using your current Options settings. The textures of the particular model will also be saved in the same folder as the .script file. You can later Add the .script file to the Podium Render Manager enabling you to render scripts whenever you choose. You can even stack scripts in the Podium Render Manager (OOPR) to render the scripts in sequence.
To run .scripts inside SketchUp, open Podium Render Manager (OOPR) by choosing Podium Render Manager from the SU Podium V2 pull down menu (you will need to install Version 2.8 or above). Then use Add File. Then Start if the rendering does not automatically commence.
Alternatively, you can open OOPR from outside of SketchUp and Add the script file without invoking the Render function.
Once you have the OOPR window open, click on Add File and add the .script file. Rendering will commence when you do that.
Using Generate is also one way to trouble shoot a model that hiccups in Podium.
Tools is accessed from the SU Podium V2 pull down menu. There is no tool bar icon for Tools. Tools is provided to help you analyse and reset the SketchUp model for Podium material and light properties.
Analyse Model - this feature will Analyse the SketchUp model and return a dialog box which will display information about Podium properties. The information includes: Podium V2 Light Sources and Materials properties in the model. Analyse will list how many point lights, LEM and reflective faces are in the model. It will also list the names of the materials that have Podium V2 properties on them. It will also display any materials that have that have a combination of LEM and reflection properties on them. Reflection and LEM properties on the same material will result in black rendered textures or crashes. Furthermore, Tools now detects textures that are .psd and .pdf files which do not render.
Analyse will not display properties that are created by Automatic Materials.
Toggle Point Lights - This tool will turn off (and back on) all the point lights (omni lights) in your model. As with Reset Materials, make a re-named copy of your model before using this tool.
Render Manager will invoke the OOPR user interface without you having to start a render process. This is handy if you want to render scripts that you created using Generate.
About will display a web page that will show the SU Podium V2 version number that you are using. There will be other pertinent information in this web page.
Podium Browser is a free web based plug-in that gives you access to hundreds of Podium V2 ready light fixtures, alpha transparent plants and trees and SketchUp high resolution textures. Podium Browser comes installed with SU Podium V2.4 and above. Click here for more detail on Podium Browser.
Omni Grid is a plug-in for SU Podium V2 that allows you to create a grid of point lights ( omni lights) above or below a planar surface (SketchUp face). By creating a grid of omni lights, Omni Grid creates a relatively even source of light over a wide space. It is best for interior rendering. An alternative to omni grid is LEM or Hidden LEM.
Omni Grid is a free plug-in. It does not come installed with SU Podium. You do need to install it separately. As with all SketchUp plug-ins, close SketchUp completely (quit SketchUp in the Mac) before installing. Make sure you install for the correct version of SketchUp. If installed correctly, when you open SketchUp, OmniGridV2 is a accessed through SketchUp's context sensitive menu. Select a face and right click.
A possibly better alternative to OmniGrid V2 is using LEM on a material. LEM lighting will give you a very even source of interior lighting. OmniGrid V2 is a grid of point lights therefore the lighting will have bright spots. Many V2 users that used OmniGrid in Podium 1.x, like OmniGrid and that is the primary reason why it has been retained in V2. Please read about LEM material property in the LEM light section here before using OmniGrid V2.
Check the download page for free SU Podium plug-ins Download page
A function that will invoke Podium's rendering from a Ruby script or from the Ruby Console is included in V2. The command is Podium::render( :filename => '' ) . Include the file name without extensions between ' and ' if you want the script to render to a specific file name. Podium will append the file name with 0000. If you want a unique file name do not use the ( :filename => '' ).
Render All Scenes is a feature that allows you to render all the SketchUp scenes in a model in sequence. When invoked, Render All, renders each scene and saves the image in the SU Podium image save folder. This enables you to batch render several scenes in sequence or even create photo-realistic animation especially if you have created the SketchUp scenes using SU Animate. Render All is still in beta for SU Podium V2. It is a Ruby Script that needs to be saved to your plugins folder. Please download RenderAll from the Download page.
icon in the tool bar. This will invoke the Podium Light System dialog box. 
