SketchFX Documentation

Getting Started Tutorials

This is a series of four video tutorials to help you getting started with SketchFX.

Note: effects whose name ends with (AO) will need the AmbientOcclusion extension to be installed. You can get a free trial at the link below.

Reference Manual

SketchFX applies a series of visual effects one after the other in a bottom down order. There are three kind of effects:

Image: generates an image from different sources: file, SketchUp scene, a particular style or even a constant color; images can be affected by child effects;
Filter: alters an image with its particular properties; can be an Image child or can affect all the previous (above) effects;
Mask: hides or shows only certain areas of an Image. Can only be child of an Image.

This is the complete list of available effects:

Image from file
Image from scene
Image from scene transition
AmbientOcclusion
Style
Color
Gradient image
Hue, saturation, value
Brightness, contrast
Gamma, exposure
Depth of field
Blur
Radial blur
Bloom
Vignette
Artistic paint
Fog
Temperature, tint
Invert
Color
Sketch
Radial mask
Linear mask
Image mask
Depth mask
Gradient mask

Tools

Update viewport re-applying all the effects;
Stop current task;
Create a new project;
Open a saved project;
Save current project:
Save SketchUp’s viewport as an image file;
Set resolution;
Render animation (Ex version only);
Batch rendering (Ex version only);
Add a new effect;
Remove selected layers;
Move selected layer up;
Move selected layer down;
Open documentation.

Auto update: if on, every change to the viewport or to an effect’s parameter will force recomputation;

Purge styles: certain effects (Style and Image from scene transition) will add styles to SketchUp’s project. If this option is turned on, unused styles will be automatically purged everytime the effects are applied.

Common parameters

Every effect has the following parameters:

Name: name of the effect; if not empty, it will be displayed in the effects list;
Visible: toggle effect.

Image common parameters

Every image effect has the following parameters:

Common parameters
Blend mode: how the image mixes with the previous (above) effects;
Opacity: how much the image will mix with previous effects;
Use depth as mask: if on, portions of the image corresponding to parts of SketchUp’s viewport without any geometry (for example, sky or ground) will be considered transparent;
Invert mask: if on, the previous mask will be inverted;
Smooth mask: if on, borders of the mask will be smoothed.

Filter common parameters

Every filter has the following parameters:

Common parameters;
Affect previous only: if on, the filter will be a child of the previous (above) effect and will be applied only to it.

Mask common parameters

Every mask has the following parameters:

Common parameters;
Invert mask: if on, the mask will be inverted;
Mask operation: controls how the mask will operate on previous (above) masks.

Blend modes

Normal: simple linear interpolation;
Overlay: overlay mix, useful to blend images without loosing details;
Multiply: multiply each pixel;
Add: sum each pixel;
Subtract: subtracts pixel values from previous image;
Difference: result will be the absolute difference between pixel values;
Hard light: hard light mix, useful to enhance shadows;
Screen: screen mix, useful to add highlights.

Image from file

Image common parameters;
Filename: path to image file. Can be an absolute path or can be relative to SketchUp model’s directory. You can also use the images contained in “Images” subfolder inside SketchFX’s installation folder: also in this case you just need to insert the file name without the complete path;
Preserve proportions: if on, aspect ratio will be maintained.

Image from scene

Image common parameters;
Scene: the number (starting from 1) of the SketchUp scene you want to use as source for the image.

Image from scene transition

This effect is a powerful tool to mix two SketchUp scenes with potentially different styles. A series of steps will be performed to create a smooth transition between the scenes.

Image common parameters;
Scene 1: the number (starting from 1) of the SketchUp scene you want to use as first source for the image;
Scene 2: the number (starting from 1) of the SketchUp scene you want to use as second source for the image;
Steps: how many steps will be generates;
Transition blend mode: how every step of the transition will be mixed with the previous one; see blend modes;
Transition start opacity: how much of the Scene 2 will be blended at the beginning of the transition;
Transition end opacity: how much of the Scene 2 will be blended at the end of the transition;
Style mix mode: if “Default”, the two scenes’ styles will be mixed using SketchUp’s default mode. If “Blend” the two styles will be linerly interpolated during the transition.

AmbientOcclusion

This effect uses AmbientOcclusion to generate a rendered layer. AmbientOcclusion must be installed in order to use this feature.

Image common parameters;
Preset: AmbientOcclusion preset;
Override next parameters: if checked, parameters below this option will override the ones contained in the chosen preset;
Color mode: AmbientOcclusion render mode; can be black and white or colored. If “Set in AmbientOcclusion” is used, AmbientOcclusion’s color mode is selected. Colored mode is unavailable with AmbientOcclusion Lite;
Quality: AmbientOcclusion quality;
Gain: determines how bright will be the layer;
OcclusionDistance: how far must be an object to affect another;
Lens radius: controls depth of field effect;
Bump scale: how much bump will be scaled;
Section cuts: toggles SketchUp’s section cuts;
Shadow enabled: toggles shadows;
Shadow contrast: how dark will be shadows;
Shadow softness: how soft will be shadows;
AO opacity: geometry opacity while rendering with AmbientOcclusion;
Background color: color used for AmbientOcclusion background.

Style

Image common parameters;
Style file name: path to style file. Can be an absolute path or can be relative to SketchUp model’s directory. You can also use the images contained in “styles” subfolder inside SketchFX’s installation folder: also in this case you just need to insert the file name without the complete path;
Default style: use a default SketchUp’s style. This parameter will be ignored if “Style file name” parameters is not empty;
Shadows: toggle shadows;
Keep after process: if on, this style will be set into SketchUp’s after applying all the effects.

Color

Image common parameters;
Color: the color of the image to be generated.

Gradient image

Generate gradient image from viewport.

Image common parameters;
Power: power used to generate gradient. Hi power values will discard more details;
Mode: which channels will be used to generate the gradient;
Grayscale: if active, output image will be in black and white.

Hue, saturation, value

Filter common parameters;
Hue: hue variation;
Saturation: saturation variation;
Value: value variation.

Brightness, contrast

Filter common parameters;
Brightness: brightness variation;
Contrast: contrast variation.

Gamma, exposure

Filter common parameters;
Gamma: gamma variation;
Exposure: exposure variation.

Depth of field

Filter common parameters;
Algorithm: the type of algorithm to perform depth of field;
Focus Z: where along the depth there will be full focus, in inches. This parameters will be ignored if “Autofocus” parameter is on;
Power: how much of this effect will be applied.

Blur

Filter common parameters;
Size: how big will be the filter;
Weight: how strong will be the filter.

Radial blur

Filter common parameters;
Size: size of the filter;
Center X: the center along x screen axis of the filter: 0 = right, 1 = left;
Center Y: the center along y screen axis of the filter: 1 = bottom, 0 = top;
Start radius: the radius (from center) where the filter will start to be applied;
Aspect ratio: aspect ratio of the filter;
Steps: the number of steps used to perform the filter.

Bloom

Filter common parameters;
Size: size of the filter;
Brightness: brightness of the filter.

Vignette

Filter common parameters;
Radius: vignette’s radius;
Power: power of the filter.

Artistic paint

Filter common parameters;
Radius: radius used to create the effect; the bigger the more you’ll have a painted an imprecise look;
Intensity: intensity of the filter.

Fog

Filter common parameters;
Start: where the fog starts, repect to depth;
End: where the fog reaches its maximum, respect to depth;
Normalize: if on, “Start” and “End” parameters will be normalized: 0 means where the SketchUp’s geometry starts, 1 where SketchUp’s geometry ends; if off, “Start” and “End” parameters represent depth in inches;
Amount: how much fog;
Type: controls how fog intensity changes along depth;
Color: fog’s color.

Temperature, tint

Filter common parameters;
Temperature: temperature variation;
Tint: tint variation.

Invert

Invert image colors.

Filter common parameters.

Color

Assign a color to an image.

Filter common parameters;
Color: the color to be assigned to the image.

Sketch

Apply a sketchy style to an image.

Filter common parameters;
Algorithm: the kind of sketch algorithm to apply. Can be “Pencil 1” or “Pen 1”;
Radius: line’s width;
Density: determine how dense the lines will be;
Variance: how much randomness will be used while drawing;
Detail size: how much blur will be used on the original image. When using high values smaller details will be discarded;
Direction: lines direction;
Max brightness: source image’s pixels with brightness greater than this parameter will be skipped;
Use custom color: when active, a custom color will be used instead of source color;
Custom color: the custom color to be used when “Use custom color” is active;
Use background color: when active, a custom color will be used as background before drawing lines;
Background color: the background color to be used when “Use background color” is active;
Grayscale (“Pen 1” only): when active, lines will have a black and white.

Radial mask

Mask common parameters;
Center X: the center along x screen axis of the mask: 0 = right, 1 = left;
Center Y: the center along y screen axis of the mask: 1 = bottom, 0 = top;
Start radius: start radius of the mask;
End radius: end radius of the mask;
Aspect: aspect ratio of the mask.

Linear mask

Mask common parameters;
Center X: the center along x screen axis of the mask: 0 = right, 1 = left;
Center Y: the center along y screen axis of the mask: 1 = bottom, 0 = top;
Size: size of the transition between visible and invisible parts of the mask;
Angle: angle of the mask.

Image mask

Mask common parameters;
File name: path to the image used as mask;
Use transparency as mask: if on and if the source image has a transparency channel, this channel will be used as mask.

Depth mask

Mask common parameters;
Start: where the mask starts, repect to depth;
End: where the mask is completely visible, respect to depth;
Normalize: if on, “Start” and “End” parameters will be normalized: 0 means where the SketchUp’s geometry starts, 1 where SketchUp’s geometry ends; if off, “Start” and “End” parameters represent depth in inches.

Gradient mask

Generate a mask from gradient image.

Mask common parameters;
Gradient image parameters.