Rendering in SketchUp: From Modeling to Presentation for Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design

ReplaceMe

The ReplaceMe feature allows you to perform proxy rendering, which uses the render engine to swap a version of a component in the model with an external component file. For example, a 2D tree, copied and placed in the model, could be linked to a 3D detail tree component located on the computer hard drive. When the render is started, Shaderlight will swap the 2D tree and render the linked 3D tree in its place. It won’t swap out the objects in the model, only in the generated graphic.

This feature is useful for vegetation models. You can populate your model with simple, low-face-count components that won’t impede SketchUp’s performance when visible. For example, you could place a swath of 2D plants in a model with all of them linked to 3D detailed counterparts. SketchUp computer performance would be maintained and the rendering would contain high-quality vegetation models.

Any type of component can be linked to another. You just need to know the location of component models to be linked. Once a component in the model is linked to an external component, all versions of that component in the model will be linked and replaced.

The linking process is as follows (Fig. 30.9):

1. In the mode, select the component to be replaced.

2. Go to Plugins and select Shaderlight for SketchUp ⇒ ReplaceMe Creator (Fig. 30.10).

3. The Replace Me Creator menu will appear. The name of the selected component will be listed (Fig. 30.11).

Fig. 30.9: The 2D trees and shrubs (SketchUp)