Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1. Diving
Straight
into
Photographic Rendering
What should the first chapter of a topic looking at photographic rendering in V-Ray 2.0
for SketchUp be all about? That was the question I had to ponder as I started devel-
oping the material that would be included in this topic.
Should we spend time looking at the current state of the art regarding photographic
and photoreal rendering in the CG industry? Should we delve into a technical explan-
ation of exactly what it is that people are referring to when they make use of the terms
photographic and photoreal rendering?
What this chapter is all about
Well, after quite a bit of deliberation, much of which was shaped and brought into fo-
cus by the hands-on approach to learning that Packt Publishing themselves advocate,
I decided to follow the advice of a well-worn axiom:
dive right in at the deep end
. In
other words, develop an introductory exercise chapter that might typically be found at
the end of a publication such as this one, often in the form of a "putting it all together"
type exercise.
My reasons for opting to take this somewhat turned-around approach were three fold:
• Firstly, as already noted, this approach suits the philosophy promoted by the
publishers themselves, which is that learning ought to be as much of a hands-
on experience as possible; one that engages and involves the student rather
than one that is passive and possibly even tedious.
• Secondly, it gives users, who are brand new to photographic rendering of any
kind, the opportunity to see just how easy it can be once they have figured
out how to work with the tools of the trade—in this case, SketchUp and V-Ray
Version 2.0. My hope is that this chapter can help strip away the mysticism,
the trepidation, and maybe even some of the frustration that can result from
not understanding how something works.
• And finally, for users who may already be familiar with the general principles
of photographic rendering but who are new to V-Ray in SketchUp, this topic
