Thea Render 2.0 for SketchUp: Q&A with Antonio Flores.

Antonio Flores is a rendering expert and Thea Render evangelist who brings with him an extensive history of knowledge and hands-on expertise working with designers in a wide range of industries. In our recent Novedge Webinar Antonio showcases the new  Thea Render 2.0 for SketchUp .  This Thea plugin is a fully integrated rendering environment that enables photorealistic and physically accurate renderings to be easily created directly inside SketchUp, eliminating the hassle of importing and exporting models. With a completely redesigned user interface and accessibility to multiple rendering engines, creating renderings with the appropriate look and feel is intuitive and efficient. And with CPU as well as GPU support, Thea runs effectively on any hardware configuration. Offering the ultimate experience in usability and exceptional functionality, Thea Render 2.0 for SketchUp provides many new features including: – New user interface – On-line material library – Denoiser – Tone Mapping – Fog Medium. Enjoy the webinar and stick around for the extended Q & A with Antonio Flores.

 Q:  Can we expect better performance with the Pascal cards over version 1.5?

A: By using the corresponding Nvidia CUDA compilers we achieve the indicated out of the box performance for Maxwell and Pascal generations. Anyway on Thea Render 2.0 there are some algorithmic optimizations for GPUs.

Q: Version 1.5 performed better with Nvidia's Maxwell architecture over their Pascal architecture despite general improvements of 30% in performance. 

A: By using the corresponding Nvidia CUDA compilers we achieve the indicated out of the box performance for Maxwell and Pascal generations. Anyway on v2 there are some algorithmic optimizations for GPUs.

Q: Will caustics be rendered with GPU in the upcoming version?

 A: Caustics have always been rendered also with GPU. It is a matter of light sources. Not all are supported on GPU but HDRIs and mesh lights are. Point lights like spot and sun are not.

 Q: Which future plugins can we expect to see in the pipeline? Revit? Will the 3DS Max plugin return?

A: We are evaluating new integrations but there is no final decision yet. Stay tuned!

Q: Does the denoiser work on animations? 

A: Yes, it works. It is not totally optimized in the sense that it takes into account only the individual frame, but it works.

Q: Is there way to batch import material packs?

A: This is no longer required since now we have the Online Repository integrated inside the Thea Browser.

Q: Will any NVIDIA card work?

A: Only CUDA cards. For more details please check the system requirements on the Thea website.

Q: Is it possible for rounded corners to be applied at render time on SketchUp?

A: No, there is no similar function.

Q: When will Thea Render 2.0 be available ?

A: You can expect version 2.0 to be released after the 4th of July Holiday.

Bookmark this link and come back to Novedge on Friday to get your digital download. Novedge will provide the best customer experience and the lowest price on the web.

Take a look at this showreel and expect even more from version 2.0.