Lighting an Interior Daytime Scene - Photographic Rendering with V-Ray for SketchUp - page 42

Defining our goals
Now, although we have already demonstrated in our first chapter that we can pretty
much jump straight in and start creating renders using the default lighting setup when
using V-Ray in SketchUp, I feel the need to state quite emphatically that such an ap-
proach is in reality a long way short of ideal when it comes down to the work of creat-
ing photographic renders. Our first order of business when getting started on a project
should always be to thoroughly develop the goals and aims of the project itself.
Time spent in breaking down the goals and then working out how to match our stated
goals with the tools that we have available will not only save us a lot of unnecessary
trial and error throughout the course of the project, but can actually lead us toward
artistic choices, technical options, and even final results that may otherwise have
been completely bypassed in pursuit of a quick turnaround.
Note
Of course, at times the urgency of a project may force us to simply dive straight
into V-Ray and use the default setups to produce the best results possible in the
time frame allowed. This, however, should be the exception and not the rule. So if
we find ourselves doing this on even a somewhat regular basis, we may need to
reassess the way we evaluate the timescales required for the projects that we are
undertaking.
To this end then, the first thing we have to do here is define our goals for this section
of the project by creating an artistic definition that outlines exactly what we want to
achieve as we work to set up the daytime lighting for our interior display room.
Once we have done that, our next task will be to break down the lighting process
itself, making decisions regarding which approach will be best suited to help us reach
our stated goals. Of course, we know ultimately that we are going to want to produce
a photographic render, but breaking this overall goal down into smaller steps that will
lead us to that end result can be very useful indeed.
Next, we will need to consider which of the lighting tools that we have available are
capable of producing the desired end result. With V-Ray, there is usually more than