Having knowledge of photo composition, if possible, is ideal. Photoshop is then used to refine and add the ultimate details to the model. SketchUp is the mold and V-Ray creates the model formed from the mold. To me, I relate using SketchUp, V-Ray and Photoshop to building a real model.

For me, Photoshop is probably the ultimate tool, but that’s only my opinion and personal experience with the software. It is only one of the tools in your toolbox. Please first understand that V-Ray is not a magic weapon that allows you to instantly create fantastic images. This tutorial will not discuss materials and how materials are made, only V-Ray option settings. As well as this, I will post up links to other useful reference websites for V-Ray. I will try to explain some of the common variables also. Instead, in this tutorial I will be posting up screenshots of the settings that I personally use (from lots and lots of trial and error, experience, questions and answers). To fully understand V-Ray would be very difficult to explain in one tutorial so I will not be doing that here. V-Ray for SketchUp is a rendering plug-in that can require a lot of time to learn properly.

Vray for sketchup trial version