Sketchup Material System

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    • Official Post

    Hello scottofazphx , Enscape for SketchUp may be enhanced by using the keywords listed in this knowledgebase article.

    I know you're most likely aware of that, I'm just unsure at this point what exactly you mean by "if there is a path to improved material system", what are you missing?

    (Of course, if it's been discussed in past threads it's already listed in our list of feature requests, and I can say that there's no major changes to it in the latest releases)

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    Hello scottofazphx , Enscape for SketchUp may be enhanced by using the keywords listed in this knowledgebase article.

    I know you're most likely aware of that, I'm just unsure at this point what exactly you mean by "if there is a path to improved material system", what are you missing?

     

    I am not sure what the Revit side of Enscape involves but I'm sure Sketchup users would love to have more control over materials than just giving it a name, we'd like bump, reflection/specular control at the very least, control over glass and water as the default naming way is just not good enough.

    • Official Post

    Thank you for clarifying Solo, yes, this is what we're aware of. I'll make sure the corresponding topics are properly prioritized!

  • Yep Solo is stating exactly what i was meaning, more material options, bump,reflection maps etc. The revit version obtains this information from the revit material system. I find myself in this weird space, halfway between revit and sketchup. The revit version we get great materials and lighting but lack of content (furniture, plantings etc) due to revit. In the sketchup version we can have any content we need but lack the material control.


    Guess i want the best of both world ;)

    • Official Post

    I think you should have the best in both worlds ;) we'll do our best!

  • It also probably bears repeating that Thea Render is a great engine to look at for how to develop a material editor within Sketchup that's quick and simple to use, though I'm sure you could make it even better ;)


    Lumion has a good system as well (though it's obviously a standalone program). The automatic bump map creator is particularly useful, but there are other more advanced tools like adding weathering, vegetation growth, plasticity, etc. that are intuitive to use and don't require advanced skills. It's important to try and strike the right balance between giving users full control of material properties (physically based) while keeping the basic interface quick and easy to understand (uncluttered). The current system still works well, but it obviously needs further development.

  • I would love to know how far the developement/implementation of a real material system has come? Enscape has the potential to create stunning renders and animations, but without real control over specular, bump ect. it will never look realistic enough to use as final images. I think material control should be a very high priority :)

  • I was literally just looking for this answer myself. I'm finding myself flicking between the two at the moment as Sketchup has great content to download but lacks on the ability to enhance your materials which Revit does really well.


    If this can be solved via Enscape it'd make using Sketchup a lot better!

  • I completely agree, the only reason I am still using another software for certain renders right now and not only using Enscape is because i'm not able to enhance materials the way I need to. The keywords are great and simple, but I need control of how reflective a material is and bump mapping ect. I still love Enscape, just needs a little more in this department. :)

  • Hi Enscape team :)

    You are probably getting tired of this question, but i would love to know more about the path to a more complete material system? :)
    are there any news you could share with us? I must confess i'm on the verge of transfering to Unreal engine, simply because i lack the ability to make high quality materials in Enscape... and it's a shame, because i love everything else about the software (the seamless integration with sketchup, the realtime walkthroughs, the high quality lighting, the proxies... and much more)!
    Hope you have some news :)


    Best regards
    Lasse