**Bella for SketchUp**
[Bella for Rhino](../bella_rhino/index.html) |
[Bella for Maya](../bella_maya/index.html) |
[Bella for SketchUp](../bella_sketchup/index.html) |
[Bella GUI](../bella_gui/index.html) |
[Bella CLI](../bella_cli/index.html) |
[Bella Core](../bella/index.html) |
[Tutorials](../../tutorials) |
[Node Definitions](../nodes/index.html) |
[Main site](https://bellarender.com) |
[Discord](https://discord.gg/AaQtpWt5aT)
Introduction
===================================================================================================
Bella for SketchUp is a simple exporter plugin for SketchUp 2017 and up. It allows setting up the
Bella scene & materials, which are then exported to a Bella file and rendered using Bella GUI.
## Scope
This document pertains specifically to Bella for Sketchup, and does not cover general Bella concepts,
for which you should refer to the [core Bella](../bella/index.html) and [node definition](../nodes/index.html)
documentation.
For information on Bella licensing, and how to install your Bella license, see Licensing in the
[Bella GUI](../bella_gui/index.html) documentation.
Installation
===================================================================================================
To install Bella for SketchUp, download the package appropriate for you operating system (.zip for
Windows, .dmg for MacOS) and follow these steps:
## Windows
1. Download the .zip file and unzip it on your desktop.
2. Start SketchUp and click *Window > Extension Manager*.
3. Click *Install Extension*.
4. Browse & select the unzipped `bella_sketchup--win.rbz`.
5. The Bella toolbar should appear (if not see *View > Toolbars*).
!!!
If you encounter any error when attempting to start Bella GUI, download and install the Microsoft
Visual C++ runtime from the [downloads page](https://bellarender.com/downloads).
## MacOS
1. Download the .dmg file and double-click to mount it.
2. Start SketchUp and click *Window > Extension Manager*.
3. Click *Install Extension*.
4. Browse & select `bella_sketchup.rbz` in the mounted .dmg.
5. The Bella toolbar should appear (if not see *View > Tool Palettes*).
Settings
===================================================================================================
To open the Bella Settings window, click the 'gear' icon in the Bella toolbar:
The Bella Settings window will be shown (or hidden, if it is already visible):
Using this window you can set up the Bella environment, camera, and materials.
## Environment
### Type
One of four environment types may be selected:
Type | Description
---------------------|--------------------------
Color Dome | The scene will be illuminated by a dome of light, with color set by the current style.
Sky Dome | The scene will be lit by a physical sky simulation, according to the SketchUp date & time.
Image Dome | The scene will be lit by an HDRI image.
None | There will be no scene illumination.
### Sun
The sun may be enabled or disabled explicitly, or set according to the current SketchUp shadow
settings, by using the *Auto* mode.
### Ground plane
The Bella ground plane will be enabled or disabled according to the current SketchUp style.
## Camera
While the physical attributes of the camera are taken from SketchUp, this section allows for
setting up depth of field (DOF), exposure, and focus distance.
### F-Stop
The *F-Stop* controls the depth of field of the shot, where lower numbers will decrease the distance
between the nearest & furthest in-focus points. Because the Bella camera is set to compensate exposure,
this may be set arbitrarily without needing to also adjust exposure.
### EV
The *EV* (or *Exposure Value*) is a number characterizing the exposure of the shot, where higher
numbers will be appropriate for brighter environments, and vice versa. See [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_value#Tabulated_exposure_values)
for some common values.
### Focus dist.
Lastly, you may either set the *Focus distance* manually, by picking a point in the model, or you
may click *Auto* (this just sets the value to `-1`) to have the plugin compute a suitable distance.
## Materials
### Types
In this section of the panel are listed all the materials in the model, allowing you to assign to
each a chosen Bella material type:
Type | Description
------------------|--------------------
Auto | The plugin will try to guess an appropriate material according to SketchUp color, opacity, etc.
Lambert | This is a perfectly diffuse material.
Metal | This is a metal material, with adjustable roughness.
Ceramic | This is a ceramic material, with adjustable roughness & specularity.
Plastic | This is a plastic material, with adjustable roughness & specularity.
Urethane | This is a rubber-like urethan material, with adjustable translucence & roughness.
Water | This is a water material. It is a true dielectric, so should only be used on geometry with volume.
Glass | This is a glass material. Like *Water* it should only be used on geometry with volume.
Sheet | This is a glass-like material which has no refraction, and is suitable for things like windows.
Emitter | This is an emitter material, which allows creating lights from geometry.
### Notes
Material settings not exposed in this table (e.g. color, texture) are taken from the associated
SketchUp material.
!!! warn
Bella does not support emitters assigned at the sub-object level, so you should only assign
emitter materials to groups or components, which have no per-face material assignments.
!!!
Clicking on materials in this table will select them for editing in SketchUp's material panel.
For more information on the specific material types, see the [core Bella](../bella/index.html)
documentation.
Rendering
===================================================================================================
Rendering in this plugin currently involves exporting the model to a Bella file, and rendering that
file in Bella GUI. To export, just click the *Render in Bella* button (the one with the Bella logo):
The plugin will export a Bella file and open Bella GIU, which will start rendering:
You may stop the render and change any parameters you wish, save the file, render again, etc. For
more details on this see the [Bella GUI](../bella_gui/index.html) documentation.