How to Create Realistic Grass with Vray in Sketchup

It is more than enough for an architectural scene in which grass is just an environment element. In most cases, this happens if you are working with a less powerful computer or do not have the time to deal with complex issues. A plug-in such as FUR for SketchUp can help you achieve that effect.

The environment will be full of many elements to render when you work with detailed models, such as trees, cars, street lamps, etc. In that instance, tall grass can cause major rendering delays since all of those elements will need to be processed at once. The use of masking techniques in Photoshop can also use to add grass.

Make of a Plane

SketchUp is a great tool for drawing grass on a plane. The rectangle command is open when you press the R key on your keyboard to create a rectangle.

Make Group

Select the group after you have drawn the rectangle. You can add a grass texture to your plane by selecting the added fur to the selection icon in the top toolbar.

Add Realistic Grass with V-ray

The V-ray rendering window can open by clicking the renderer button on the top menu bar. Then flip along to Group's Blue. If you look at your plane, the texture appears on the other side. You can fix this by right-clicking on the plane and selecting "flip along," then selecting "blue" for the group. On the top side, the texture will now appear.

Paint the Grass

While the grass has begun to look more realistic, it is still the wrong color. Choose the color of the grass as part of your default tray using the Materials tab. Use the dropdown menu to choose landscape, vegetation, and fencing, and select the most suitable material.

The grass you chose is light green. To paint the grass, click on your plane. The SketchUp texture provides enough variation to give it the appearance of being realistic, which means you don't have to use a V-ray material.

Edit Material

V-ray has an Asset Editor that can be accessed from the top menu next to the renderer. Click on that button to edit the realistic grass. V-Ray Fur can be found under the Geometry tab.

The settings panel will appear once you select this material and click the arrow on the right side of the window.

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Count and Length

At the moment, count and length are the settings you should pay attention to. The grass will appear more realistic and dense if you raise the count. As well, you can extend or shorten the length. Short grass looks fresh and even turf-like, as though it was just cut. In addition to appearing longer, it will seem untidy because of its longer length.

The length of your model is up to you, though it may add more depth if you use a longer one. Your plane will have more depth when you place an object on it since grass grows around it.

Conclusion

The use of vegetation is one of the key elements of photorealistic architectural renderings, as it adds life to your scenery. With the help of a good texture, you need to simulate grass in SketchUp quite realistically. A fancy fur plug-in or another overly complicated method not used here since it does not produce excellent results.

You prefer more user-friendly approaches that provide at least a customizable solution within a reasonable time frame.

To learn more, watch the following video tutorial.

Video Source: Designer Hacks

Download V-Ray for SketchUp