Rendering with SketchUp + Animator

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Tomdubbs
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Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 7:17 pm

Rendering with SketchUp + Animator

Post by Tomdubbs » Tue May 31, 2022 12:19 pm



I wanted to share a presentation video for a recent project, which uses the incredible Animator plugin by Fredo6. The video is not a work in progress, but I am still trying to refine the methods used to produce it, for which I hope I might receive some feedback here.

The functionality of the SU model is for it to be universal, in that the same base model can be styled for all drawings, visuals and video. Twilight is not used for photo realism (at this stage at least), but instead to enhance the SU standard output; adding lighting, reflections and ambient occlusion.

The video was animated in ~30 sequences split across ~25 models; rendered at 720HD @30fps, and each frame took 1-2mins on average, with batches varying between 2-15 hours depending on length and content. This was fast enough that I could re-shoot sequences as the video evolved, and the whole thing can always be remastered later to increase the resolution or improve render setting.

The biggest issue I had to overcome was regarding consistency: the need for render settings that cover both internal and external scenes. This could have been avoided with separate render settings and then transitioned in post-production, but that would be at the expense of overall efficiency. My current render settings are based on the "experimental" Ambient Occlusion, which I understand is not actually supported, but came over from Kerkythea. Regardless, the soft shadow combined with some Tone and Bloom effect, provides a contrasting light map to be multiplied with the SU viewport. For me it simply adds depth to the otherwise flat style of SU.

Unfortunately it's not perfect, there is some flickering in the soft shadows, which can't be avoided by reusing the light information due to the animation, but I hope it is not overly noticeable. I expect there could be ways to improve this method, and I'd welcome any tips or feedback on this matter, or the video in general.

Cheers

Fletch
Posts: 12897
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Re: Rendering with SketchUp + Animator

Post by Fletch » Tue May 31, 2022 1:46 pm

Very well done presentation/animation. :clap: :hat:

CONSISTENCY:
The only thing I can recommend is to use Easy 09 and combine with Fastforward Denoise Addon for Twilight Render.
This typically, on your presentation shown here, would result in, (combined with Overlay function to get the sketchup lines to show up as well) for me on a machine with 12 threads, something like 2 minutes/frame at 1920x1080. It would work with inter/exterior and any number of lights.

That said, if you intend to render animations, you need an animation rig - so 64 or 128 threads is ideal, then you can render on Easy 09 with fastforward and get extremely quick render times.

You will have to customize the Easy 09 render setting for animations to limit it to render a certain number of passes (will take some experimenting, but with my experience something like 5 passes when combined with Fastforward AI denoise can result is very good images.

Friendly critique: lower the camera as it flies through the space at lower eye height - 3'6" is typical. Slow the fly through down a little at the beginning, it's so fast that one can't understand what's happening.

Tomdubbs
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 7:17 pm

Re: Rendering with SketchUp + Animator

Post by Tomdubbs » Tue May 31, 2022 4:17 pm

Thank you very much, Fletch, for your feedback and insight.

Yeah, I see your points about eye height and camera speed, that's exactly the kind of thing I was hoping a fresh pair of eyes and a second opinion might point out. It's funny cause I always felt a very slight urge to duck when the camera moves through the doorways. It stands at about 1.5m (5') in the video so that might be why!

Regarding the render settings, I'll add a bit of context. The video wasn't produced in a commercial capacity; I was fortunate to be gifted an old workstation after a previous job redundancy and this project is entirely voluntary, both to help a relative and for me to practice whilst currently looking for a full-time job. My PC specs are:

HP Z230 Tower
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
CPU: 8x Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
GPU: NVIDIA Quadro K2200
RAM: 16.0 GB

I appreciate and envy your example for a proper animation rig! I will certainly keep that in mind when I upgrade in the future, but I'm kind of stuck with what I've got for now at home, as I'm running various older perpetually licensed versions of software, and everything works so I don't want to mess with it. With the Fast-forward add-on, I'm not sure if my current GPU is compatible?

For some reason I've always liked to use Photon Map settings (typically Tech 105 on TwR), I started out on Kerkythea in about 2008 and that has been my go to. Back then I used to export SketchUp linework and Depth Maps for still image post-production, so as you can probably imagine Twilight's post-pro and DOF is particularly useful to me.

I will spend some time experimenting with Easy 09, but I just tried rendering a frame and it took about 12mins to do 5 passes at 720HD. The thing is with my current render settings, I think it might be a bit of a hack. The rendered image is mostly coloured by the Sketchup overlay (Multiply) with TwR providing shading/reflections/bump maps. Below are some examples of how the images are composited, using SU styles, then some (crazy?) post-pro setting in TwR.

Internal Raw Example:Image

Internal Post-pro Example:
Image

Internal Output Example:
Image

External Post-pro Example:
Image

External Output Example:
Image

The result is quite saturated and cartoony, but I really think the simple lighting/shadows and reflections take the SketchUp look to another level. I hope what I've tried to explain makes some sense, and perhaps this is a good (or bad?) example of how Twlight can be used another way.

Fletch
Posts: 12897
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Re: Rendering with SketchUp + Animator

Post by Fletch » Wed Jun 01, 2022 7:12 am

Tomdubbs wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 4:17 pm
CPU: 8x Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
GPU: NVIDIA Quadro K2200
With the Fast-forward add-on, I'm not sure if my current GPU is compatible?
Which driver are you using?
Fastforward requires an NVidia graphics card with a minimum driver version of 435.8

However, we have another Fastforward legacy build that is valid for NVidia GPUs that can support driver versions up to V380. I see that your GPU has a compatible driver R430

Fastforward also works with Intel CPU, so even if the NVIDIA CUDA graphics version doesn't work, the CPU version should work. In fairness I have not tested the CPU denoise with animations. I will try to do that ASAP.

Subject: Fast Forward denoiser
Fletch wrote: Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:36 pm Glad to hear it works well for you "out of the box". :)
pbacot wrote: Sat Apr 11, 2020 6:59 pm The denoiser didn't seem to support SketchUp overlay. Is that right?
If you wish to use Overlay mode with Denoiser on, be sure to disable Overlay mode before starting the rendering. Once it is rendering, you should be able to enable the Overlay feature and denoise works. This is what I found in my test.

If Overlay mode is activated before starting the rendering, then nothing appears in the render window.

Thanks for letting us know about this - it could be something we can "fix" in the near future. :hat:
Tomdubbs wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 4:17 pm The result is quite saturated and cartoony
You can reduce the saturation in the Post Process tab of the render dialog window.

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