SketchUp Architectural Visualisation Software

In your world, as an architect, 3D architectural visualisation software can make all the difference between a project that’s approved quickly and ticks all the boxes and potentially expensive, time-consuming client rejections. In your context, the SketchUp architectural visualiser delivers all the functionality, tools and extras you could possibly need to create outstanding drawings… and more, thanks to a huge, constantly growing library of wonderful extensions and plugins. Here’s what you need to know about brilliant interior and exterior visualisation the SketchUp way.

What is Architectural Visualisation?

What is 3D architectural visualisation? This style of visualisation is vital for every successful interior designer 3d visualiser and everyone who wants to make a great job of property 3d visualisation. Architectural visualisation software involves the process of creating digital models of structures, buildings, and spaces clearly and accurately, with a creative edge, in a way that lets clients and colleagues instantly understand what’s going on. The resulting 3D renders are used for everything from virtual reality property tours to the extremely accurate verifiable views often used for planning applications. High quality architectural visualisation software tools allow all this to happen smoothly, quickly and simply, making it an essential tool in every architect’s box.

3D Architectural Visualisation

Building visualisation for architects demands top class 3D architectural design and visualisation capabilities, and that’s exactly what SketchUp is all about. It makes visualisation surprisingly easy, for a start, and that means you save time and money. It presents a reliably brilliant way to create engaging animations and beautiful, realistic walk-throughs. Whether it’s schematic design or construction documentation, the results are always inspiring.

This is 3d architectural visualisation software at its finest. You can draw anything you like quickly and efficiently, and the design-build process includes help every step of the way to support problem shooting, getting your project to the construction stage fast without issues. It creates fabulous 2D output as well as 3D output, and the output is always reliably accurate. And it helps you impress clients with AR, VR architectural visualisation, extremely high-quality images, and video content that reveals every single variation, every single fine detail.

Architectural Visualisation Process with SketchUp

You should find the entire architectural visualisation process intuitive, a pleasure to use from end to end and endlessly flexible. SketchUp’s legendary architectural visualisation techniques let you factor in a wealth of detail from the start, including drawings, sketches, 3D models, the number of images needed, the delivery date and more. There are masses of useful plugins and extensions too, designed to make your life even easier and the creative process even more enjoyable.

You can pin down the point of view, fixing viewpoints with the client using a collection of low-resolution images. You can specify and confirm the materials, the lighting and even the atmosphere, using renders to quickly make decisions with previews included in the process. The final rendering, in high resolution, is perfect for clients, seamlessly representing everything they’ve specified and agreed in an easy-to-understand and extremely attractive way.

Building Visualisation with SketchUp

SketchUp’s 3D design and visualisation capabilities are invaluable when used to design buildings, supporting you from the idea stage right through to the build. You visualise quickly and intuitively. You communicate your vision in sophisticated ways that drive faster, better client buy-in, with fewer issues to iron out. The documents created are colourful, accessible, and wonderfully collaborative. No re-drawing of plans, just a beautiful 3D model that you can transform to 2D in seconds thanks to LayOut. Plans and elevations, sections and build details, it’s all there, all clear and easy to understand. And if your model changes, so do the construction documents.

SketchUp is a winner where interior design and visualisation is concerned too, an amazing way to bring your ideas to stunning life. There’s no need to model from scratch thanks to hundreds of thousands of 3D models of real products, free from the SketchUp 3D Warehouse, many from household-name manufacturers and brands. The software produces truly beautiful renderings and supports powerful sales and marketing. No wonder it’s used to 3D model absolutely anything that could possibly be needed for a great architectural design, from shapes and objects to building features, bowls, spheres, cones and polyhedrons, the list goes on. 

Exterior Visualisation with SketchUp

You can create photorealistic exterior visualisations from SketchUp as well. A model in SketchUp looks like a simple drawing revealing shadow, colour, and the textures of the materials used. But it doesn’t process reflections, lighting or shadows, the things that add true realism to a drawing. When you want your models to look photoreal, you need rendering software to make amazing 3D designs to include realistic lighting, shadows and reflections.

SketchUp, in combination with popular extensions like VRay and Lumion, provides remarkable exterior visualisations that are extremely powerful and attractive. You can create impressively realistic scenes using different lighting, materials and cameras, for example. It’s all about transforming spatial ideas into consumable visual content. Once you’ve learned the basics of rendering a SketchUp architectural model using an extension like V-Ray you’ll understand how to create brilliance by editing V-Ray materials, positioning the camera creatively to make scenes, and using exciting techniques to light your scenes artificially or naturally. 

Learn Architectural Visualisation with SketchUp

Do you want to learn architectural visualisation? It’s just as easy to learn SketchUp as it is to make stunningly real-looking models using it, thanks to a wealth of excellent online resources, architectural visualisation tutorials and free learning opportunities for architectural visualisation using Sketchup. They come from SketchUp itself as well as from other people and organisations who rate the software highly. The SketchUcation pages are a great place to start, as is the popular SketchUp tutorials resource. And don’t forget there’s a choice of SketchUp free and SketchUp Pro – you might like to explore the benefits of them both before making your decision. 

About Elmtec

Elmtec have been the UK distribution partner for SketchUp since 2010, and service a network of UK and Irish resellers. We have over 22 years’ experience within the digital design community.

Contact Us

T: 01844 263 750
E: sales@elmtec.co.uk
W: www.elmtec.co.uk/sketchup