Next Limit Technologies has come up with a great affordable plugin for SketchUp, a simpler version of their very powerful Maxwell Render. Here are some quick one click renders using only SketchUp materials, sunlight, and environment. See SketchUp exported images here.
There seems to be some limitations with advanced interior lighting, if there is not a lot of daylight but, who designs without daylighting anymore. For $95 and one click not too bad! There is a great set of starter tutorials that walk you through the interface as well as a large library of Maxwell textures and skies available for your rendering pleasure. Your SketchUp materials can also be saved with the Maxwell render settings for ease of use later. As you can see from my portfolio, I am not a huge fan of photo-realistic renderings. I find my time better spent on designing instead of waiting for renderings. With the new plugin though I can now have the best of both worlds without a lot of hassle. Overall the Maxwell plugin is a well priced, simple, and powerful addition to your SketchUp workflow.
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