Powerful engine combined with the simplicity of Trimble SketchUp®. Unbiased and Interactive Render modes with the joy of rendering inside SketchUp view. Enrich your models with highly detailed content, with no limitations.
Key features
Viewport interactive rendering
Run interactive rendering either inside Thea window or directly inside the SketchUp view. Additionally, with the use of interactive region rendering, you can select and render a region of the SketchUp view, providing ultra-fast feedback for complex scenery. With the addition of the NVIDIA and Intel AI denoisers, it is also possible to make use of denoising while in interactive mode.
Proxy models
Adding Thea models in the scene is a very simple task. Editing them in the viewport is even easier and fun to use. With a click of a button, you get access to all of the proxy’s materials and modify them interactively. Proxy material editing has the option to revert back to the default materials.
Relight editor
Relight creates infinite images from a single render. When Relight is enabled, every light in the scene can be modified (intensity, color and status) and create different lighting setups in post production. Every Relight setup can be saved in the Relight Editor panel as a snapshot and then loaded back to the rendering window for further editing or exported as an image file.
Fog presets
With Thea for SketchUp you can adjust the Global Medium of your scene, via the settings at the Environment tab. The Fog preset allows you to control the fog density, the bottom and top positions, and create unique photo realistic renderings. Additionally, there is also a Cloud material preset for adding volumetric effects on defined solid groups or components.
Scene provided by: Jean Thiriet
Point lights
Thea for SketchUp has its own point lights that can be added and modified in the scene. Several parameters can be modified interactively. The available point lights are: spot light, omni, IES and projector.
Image credits: Alejandro Soriano
Point light editing
The light editing tool not only allows precise light positioning, but it can also give live feedback while rendering interactively in the main window.
Powerful material editor
The advanced Thea material editor brings all the advanced and unique features of Thea materials. The user interface has been designed, following SketchUp’s simplicity and ease of use. Start from a preset or switch to the advanced layer-based editor.
Content browser
The integrated content browser provides access to local and online Thea Render assets such as: materials, models and environments. The online repository gives access to thousands of Thea materials submitted by the community.
Section cuts
Section cuts are supported in SketchUp. Section cuts allow you to cut through buildings and rooms maintaining the same interior lighting as if the external walls were still in place.
Lindalë Skatter™
Thea for SketchUp provides support for the powerful scattering extension.
Engine features
Random color
Random color is a procedural texture that can be used to add variation to your instanced models and create unique effects such as grass, bushes, trees, wooden floor and more.
Adaptive tracing
Adaptive tracing is a technique that solves difficult lighting scenarios, such as caustics from point lights, sun pool caustics and diffuse interreflections. This results in images with a higher dynamic range and lighting effects that were previously impossible.
AI denoising
Thea for SketchUp supports both NVIDIA and Intel AI Denoisers, offering GPU and CPU accelerated denoising for both interactive and production renderings. They dramatically reduce the render time, creating high-quality and noise-free images.
Shadow catcher
Integrate your models into a scene with a background image, introducing realistic shadows produced by IBL, sun and Thea point lights. It can also produce real reflections on the ground-plane.
Photoshop PSB/PSD Support
Thea for SketchUp supports Photoshop PSB/PSD files (8, 16 and 32bit). This makes it possible to save multi-layer images in large formats.
Resume rendering
Any rendered image can be saved as an .img.thea file. This file can be reloaded inside Thea Rendering Window at any time allowing the user to resume a rendering.
Spectral Renderer | Online repository | Automatic exposure | Stereoscopic rendering | Out-of-core rendering
Learning course
Getting started with Thea for SketchUp
Part One: Introduction
In the first part of the course we will be learning about the User Interface and the Thea Render workflow.
Part Two: Exterior
In the second part of the course you will be rendering an exterior scene and learn about: Materials, Content Browser, Random Color, Environment, Tonemapping & Exposure, Denoising, Beveled Edges, Clay Render and Production Rendering.
Part One: Interior
In the third and last part of the course we will be rendering an interior scene and learning about: exposure, converting 3D models, using Relight, Depth of Field and finally Scene Settings & Batch Rendering.
Download SketchUp Scene
You can follow up with the course by downloading the scene from here.
SketchUp® is a registered trademark of Trimble Inc.
System Requirements
Windows
Windows 8.1 / 10 /11 64-bit, Intel SSE3 CPU (or compatible)
for Presto GPU
Nvidia CUDA Graphics Card (Compute Capability 3.x / 5.x / 6.x / 7.x / 8.0 / 8.6 ) with latest graphics driver or
AMD Graphics Card (Beta support for select GPUs) with latest OpenCL and graphics drivers.
Note: for OpenCL rendering, render-on-the-fly displacement is supported only for UV bitmap textures.
Nvidia OptiX Denoiser
Nvidia 5.0 min compute capability required for Nvidia OptiX denoising in interactive rendering.
Nvidia 3.0 min compute capability card required for Nvidia OptiX denoising in production rendering.
Intel Open Image Denoiser
Intel SSE4.1 CPU (or compatible) required for Intel Open Image Denoiser.
Supported SketchUp Versions: 2017 – 2023
macOS
macOS 11/12/13
Intel SSE3 CPU (or compatible),
Apple Silicon
Intel Open Image Denoiser
Intel SSE4.1 CPU (or compatible) required for Intel Open Image Denoiser
Supported SketchUp Versions: 2017 – 2023