This page provides detailed information on Viewport Rendering in V-Ray.

Overview

Viewport Rendering (VPR) is a render output overlay on top of SketchUp's viewport. It is rendered interactively and if scene changes are made, updates the rendered result. VPR can either overlay the entire viewport or render over selected regions.

 

 

 

UI Paths

 

||V-Ray for SketchUp Toolbar|| > Viewport Render

||V-Ray for SketchUp Toolbar|| > Viewport Render Region


 

SketchUp Menus Ribbon

||Extensions|| > V-Ray > Rendering > Viewport Render

||Extensions|| > V-Ray > Rendering > Viewport Render Region

 

 

 

Viewport Rendering

Note that the render output does not automatically fit the viewport resolution. If you wish it to do so, go to Asset Editor > Render Settings > Render Output and set the Aspect Ratio to Match Viewport. You can either adjust the image's Width and Height to match the Aspect's Width and Height or resize SketchUp's window and press the Update () button.

Select only a region in the viewport to be interactively rendered from the toolbar button or from the V-Ray Rendering submenu. Multiple regions can be selected while the VPR is running.

Control of the render overlay opacity is done through Ctrl and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ keyboard shortcuts, so you can decide how much to blend it with the SketchUp regular viewport. 

Shift key adds a region to the existing one, while Ctrl key selects a new region discarding the previous ones.

 

 

Example: Region Viewport Rendering

 

 

 

 

Example: Reduced render overlay opacity

 

 

 

Viewport Rendering in SketchUp 2023

 

SketchUp Menus Ribbon

||Extensions|| > V-Ray  > Rendering > Render Interactive


||V-Ray for SketchUp Toolbar|| > Render Interactive

 

||V-Ray Frame Buffer|| > Start Interactive Rendering

||V-Ray Frame Buffer|| > Region render

 

||Window|| > Default Tray > Overlays > V-Ray Viewport Render

 

||Extensions|| > V-Ray > Preferences > Viewport Render Opacity


 

 

Workflow

To start the Viewport render, activate the V-Ray Viewport Render Overlay first. Then start an Interactive render.

Adjusting the viewport render region is available with the V-Ray Frame Buffer Region render option.

The Viewport Render Overlay opacity is modified from the Viewport Render Opacity menu option.

Note that closing the V-Ray Frame Buffer does not stop the Viewport render.

 

Notes

  • Use 'Ctrl' plus '+' or '-' key combination to control overlay opacity.
  • V-Ray Vision is an alternative to the Viewport rendering and can be used instead. However, V-Ray Vision is currently not directly available in the viewport.
  • The Always face camera option of SketchUp components is disregarded during Live Link.