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With V-Ray for SketchUp, it’s easy to
match your designs to a backplate

and create realistic architectural
renderings. V-Ray expert Han Shilin
shows you how.
There’s something about a scale model that makes it easy to communicate an
architectural concept. And the trick is: it can be a real-world physical model, a
3D rendering, or a combination of both.
In this tutorial, I will show you how to use photo compositing in V-Ray for
SketchUp to seamlessly integrate your SketchUp model with a photo of a real-
life site study model. The resulting image looks just as good as the real thing,
with the advantage that you can quickly tweak and re-render the shot if you
need to make changes.
You can also use these techniques elsewhere: For instance, to add a full-
scale architectural model to an on-site photograph or to integrate an object
with a real-world setting.
About Han Shilin
Han is a long-time user of V-Ray for SketchUp and a blog writer based in
Tianjin, China. He has been sharing his experiences along with best-practice
tips and tricks for V-Ray for SketchUp since 2012. He regularly updates his
Bilibili channel with video tutorials and has over 60,000 subscribers following
his lessons. Han joined Chaos Group in 2019 where he continues to share his
knowledge and information about V-Ray with Chinese users.
1) Take a backplate photo and match the camera
Take a picture of your handmade site study model. Make sure you note the
color and direction of the on-site light source.
Han's original photo
Create a new file in SketchUp. In the Camera menu, choose “Match new
photo...” then select the backplate photo.
Drag the origin point (yellow square) to one corner of the site model. The red
and green parallel lines control the direction of the perspective line. Just
remember that the red, green, and blue axes are perpendicular to one other.
Click the “Done” button after photo matching.
Do not forget to set the output aspect ratio to match the backplate photo (This
example is 4:3):
2) Match the light

First, we need to draw a large plane surface to form the ground. To do this,
we can simply put an infinite plane at the origin point of the scene. Make sure
the normal direction of the infinite plane (the blue arrow) is facing upwards.
The next step is important. Try to recreate the digital light to match the
direction, color and brightness of the real light source.
Don’t forget to turn off the default sunlight and the sky texture:
In this scene, the key light is obviously coming from the upper right corner —
you can tell this by observing the shadow of the tree or the buildings around
the site.
So just draw a block for reference, then put a V-Ray light on top right of the
block.
Go back to the render camera and test. Adjust the Camera EV and light color:
The result should look like the image below:

We can fine-tune the V-Ray light in the next step.
3) Shadow catcher
In the Material Library > Diagrammatic, we can find a "Matte Shadow
Receiver". Apply this material to the infinite plane.
In the V-Ray frame buffer, choose Color correction> Background, check

“Background image” and load the backplate photo. Now you can see the final
composition and fine-tune the light and exposure values. You can even add
more fill lights to match the backplate, depending on your scene:
Note: If using the GPU engine, make sure the shadows are based on a Dome Light or other direct
light sources instead of the Environment illumination.
4) Discover the preset Material library
Now, we can delete the reference block and replace it with our designed
model.
If the size does not match the background, click the gear icon and drag the
axis to match the photo:
V-Ray Next for SketchUp has a very user-friendly Material Library.
In the Diagrammatic and Plastic categories you can find many material
presets that are suitable for physical model renders.
Applying a sub-surface scattering material to the wall and putting a light
source behind can achieve particularly good-looking effects:
5) Depth of field and Lens effects
These two effects are critical in conveying the look of a physical model.
Depth of field gives the correct sense of scale. Turn on the depth of field
switch then pick a focal point on the model. Now, set the Defocus amount
depending on your scene.
Similarly, Lens Effects will increase the realism of the picture.
Click the lens effect icon at the bottom of the VFB and enable the Bloom/Glare
effect.
I use a threshold to control which pixel can produce the glare effect. In this
example, it is the highlight on the tree.
Then I boost up the intensity to make this effect more prominent.
If you are satisfied with the result, do not forget to check the “Save in image”
in the Background panel and save the image.
Here is an A/B comparison of the final render with/without the DOF and Lens
effect:

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With V-Ray for SketchUp, it’s easy to

match your designs to a backplate

2) Match the light

The result should look like the image below:

In the V-Ray frame buffer, choose Color correction> Background, check

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