So far, you have learned how to create visuals and animations from SketchUp or an external renderer. These fulfill more or less the role of the traditional architectural drawing. We even used GIMP to make our renderings look more like hand drawings! However, progress in computer graphics and processing speed has not only made photoreal rendering accessible to everyone, but it has also opened up new ways of storing and presenting the information that is embedded in a digital image.

In this chapter, we explore a few new technologies that will allow you to interact with your rendering or 3D environment in real time. In particular, we will look at the following options:

You already have Thea Studio installed and can download a trial version of LumenRT from the website. Be warned that the download is almost 2 GB in size. The trial is fully featured for 14 days, but...