SketchUp to photoreal render, in about a minute.

What you need

• A SketchUp model with the elevation you want to show. Textures are optional.
• One exported view as PNG or JPG — 1600–3000 px wide is plenty.
• A Visulixx account (3 free renders, no card).

That is it — no plugin, no GPU, no render engine.

Step 1 — Set up the view in SketchUp

1. Pick the camera you want the client to see. Eye level (about 1.5–1.7 m) reads most naturally. A slight three-quarter angle shows depth; a straight front reads like a classic elevation.
2. Use two-point perspective (Camera → Two-Point Perspective) so verticals stay vertical — just like an architectural photograph.
3. Field of view around 35–45°. Very wide angles distort the building and make the AI's job harder.
4. Leave room around the building. Keep the full building in frame with some sky and ground — the AI needs space to add the street, plot and planting.

Step 2 — Choose a style that exports cleanly

• Shaded with textures or Shaded both work. Simple flat colours are fine — Visulixx adds real materials.
• Turn on edges, turn off profiles exaggeration. Clean, thin edges help the AI read windows, railings and slats.
• Shadows: on or off both work. Shadows on can help with depth on balconies and cantilevers.
• Hide clutter you don't want in the render: stray guides, section planes, scale figures you don't need, dimension text and tags.
• Neighbouring blocks are welcome. Simple white masses for adjacent buildings tell the AI where the neighbours are.

Step 3 — Export the image

File → Export → 2D Graphic → PNG or JPG. Set the width to 1600–3000 px. Do not export at 8K — it only makes the upload slower; Visulixx upscales the final render to 4K if you need print resolution.

Step 4 — Render it

1. In Visulixx, start a project and upload the PNG (or press ⌘V to paste a screenshot straight into Studio).
2. Pick V-Real for your first render — it reads the building and picks a fitting neighbourhood (village, semi-urban, gated community, urban, city or farmhouse).
3. Leave atmosphere on From style, or pick one: golden hour for warmth, blue hour for drama, midday for clarity.
4. Choose the aspect ratio — match source, 16:9 for decks, 4:5 for Instagram, or A4 for print sets.
5. Generate. Consistency Lock checks the result against your SketchUp view before you see it.

Step 5 — Iterate like a designer, not a prompt engineer

• Change atmosphere keeps the photograph and re-lights it — perfect for showing a client day and night.
• Try a different style moves the same building to a different street or setting.
• Tweak makes one-line changes ("darker gate", "more planting").
• Lock world → shots renders more angles of the same scene.

Six of the sixteen atmospheres rendered from one SketchUp file.

Troubleshooting

SketchUp + AI vs SketchUp + V-Ray

V-Ray (or Enscape, Lumion, D5) gives you full control and animation, but needs materials, lighting set-up, a capable GPU and hours per view. SketchUp + AI gives you a client-ready image in a minute, five lights in five minutes, and no hardware — ideal for first meetings, options and approvals. Many studios now use both: AI for everything up to approval, a traditional engine for the final hero frame. Our complete AI rendering guide goes deeper on when each wins.