How SketchUp landscape design benefits from real-time rendering

SketchUp landscape designers benefit from real-time rendering of D5 Render

For a long time, we have believed that "slow and steady wins the race," which seems to imply a trade-off between speed and quality. However, as technology advances, we now have better options.

D.R. LANDSCAPE (hereafter referred to as D.R.), a team of only ten designers, completed more than 200 garden design projects in 2022. This young team earned widespread praise for its high-quality work.

D5 Render played a critical role in helping D.R. accelerate every step, from customer acquisition and design to the exhibition.

Credit: D.R. LANDSCAPE

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01 Perfect the design with real-time rendering

At the schematic design stage, designers have to consider not only the clients' preferences but also factors like budget, environment, and space size.

The designer has to be strict about materials and plants to build a harmonious and unique look of nature.

For a long time, the preview and optimization of plants and materials requires importing extra vegetation models since there are few available in SketchUp. But designers will face issues like lagging and crash at the modeling stage, seriously affecting work efficiency.  

Proxy models may relieve the overload problem, yet their results are not convincing enough to be the final design.

Besides, clients may find it hard to tell apart the materials of stone, wood, rockery, and stream which are not lifelike in SketchUp. Designers need a more straight way to better communicate with the clients.

Having known that many interior designers preview and revise their projects with D5 Render, D.R. attempts to integrate D5 with garden design.

The built-in D5 Asset Library is hosted on the cloud. Designers can drag and drop its plant models without having to import extra ones.

The handy asset tools like brush and path make it convenient to place plants and try more vegetation combos.

The plants in the D5 Asset Library are 1:1 scale models that can help designers decide which one fits the space.

As D5 is capable of handling large scenes, you can enjoy a smooth operation even when there are many high-poly models.

The 2,000 out-of-the-box materials in D5 Asset Library, powered by real-time raytracing, also displays the garden look to clients clearly and lively.

02 Get started with ease

Now D.R. has fully shifted to D5. The user-friendliness of D5 ensures new designers can quickly output high-quality results as well.

D.R. has high requirements on project visualization including "materials, light ans shadow, and atmosphere."

With offline renderers, high quality often demands proficiency of complex parameters, which posts a challenge to new designers lacking experience.

Yet the intuitive UI of D5 Render can create realistic environment within a few clicks. For example, designers can check how the garden looks on a rainy/snowy/foggy/sunny day by switching an option on.

Previously, when the team members used to use different software, they struggled to find a standard to review the renderings.

The problem was solved after D.R. shifted to D5. Designers can speed up collaboration and share with each other the visualization skills.

A stunning effect comes in easy reach with the help of D5's advanced real-time raytracing solution.  

03 Instant and lively preview of design

After optimizing the visualization process, D.R. took a step further to apply the walkthrough animation as a demo for clients.

The animation made with D5 can breathe life into the design. Designers output impressive videos after setting keyframes and camera views, which is simple and convenient.

D.R. often shares its animations on the social media platform to attract more targeted audiences.

Besides, clients can "walk around" the garden in the D5 scene to see the details of each corner. D.R. designers prefer this virtual walk-through as they can make immediate adjustments based on the client's feedback.  '

04 Epilogue

As the technology advances in leaps and bounds, "fast and furious" can also win the game if designers choose the right tool.

In the future, D5 Render will accompany designers creating more aesthetic works in an efficient and expressive way.

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