Sometimes you want to be able to create several rendering of the same model all at once, for instance overnight.

One "trick" to do this is to set up several scenes in SketchUp and start an animation which creates just one rendering image per scene.

Here are some sample steps

For this sample I wanted to take the same simple scene and render it with 6 different SketchUp Wood materials.

I wanted to render the same basic objects for each scene with the same view, but the same idea can be used to render different scenes, different layers, etc. of the same model.

Note: Currently you cannot change the rendering settings between scenes - only certain things like view and layers. Let us know what other things you would like to able to change.

Create the geometry for each scene

For my example, I wanted to make 6 copied of the same geometry so I could make changes to it for each rendering.

Create SketchUp Layers for each scene

I created 6 SketchUp layers - one for each rendering scene.

I left all 6 layers turned on for now.

Place Geometry to duplicate into the SketchUp Clipboard

I placed the geometry I wanted into a group in Layer0 and then copied that group into the SketchUp clipboard.

Place each copy of the geometry into a different layer

• I placed the existing geometry into a layer, and turned the layer off.

The geometry now disappears, which makes it easier not to lose track of what I am doing.

• I used "paste in place" to place the geometry in the clipboard back into the model

5. After pasting the geometry, I placed it into a different layer and turned of that layer

Make changes to the geometry in each scene/layer

After all layers were working properly, I changed the geometry in each layer.

I placed a different wood material on the floor, and made it reflective.

• Note: You only need to place the geometry you want to change in the group, and layers. For the renderings below I paced the bankers lamp in a different layer which was on for all animations scenes.

Set up the animation

Create one image per scene

Then I set up the animation wizard to create just one frame (image) per scene.

• Turn off page transitions - images created when transitioning from one scene to the next
• Make the delay at the start of each new scene 1 second
• Tell the animation to create just one frame per second.

Save individual files for each rendering

I told the animation to save individual .PNG files, instead of creating an actual animation

A separate .PNG file is created and saved for each scene.

Use the Browse button to:

• Select a folder to place the images in, and
• set the save file type and name.

The default is .avi - use the file type in the browser window to select .JPG or .PNG

Start Animation

Click the button at the bottom of the animation wizard

Note each scene is rendered separately and save as an image (Here we on scene 1 of 6)

When the animation is done, go to the image folder and check out the images.

See also

• Animation