New to Enscape for SketchUp? This beginner-friendly guide walks you through how to launch Enscape, view your model in real-time, and start navigating your design with ease. Learn how to place assets, adjust materials, and activate live updates to instantly see changes in your scene.
Well, this is exciting - you’ve just signed up for Enscape (or you’re thinking about it 😉), and now you’re ready to start creating realistic renderings in SketchUp.
This article will walk you through the steps to help you get up and running quickly. You’ll be creating beautiful renders and walking through your rendered project in no time.
A quick note before we get started - while many of the features and functionality covered will apply to both Enscape for Mac and Windows, please refer to our dedicated Enscape for Mac guide if you are on a Mac device and using SketchUp.
Table of contents:
- Enscape system requirements
- How to download and install Enscape for SketchUp
- Opening Enscape in SketchUp
- How to start Enscape and render in SketchUp
- Finding your way around Enscape
- Enscape Material Editor
- Enscape Asset Library
- How to render an image
- How to create a video
- AI tools available with Enscape
- Dive into extra learning
- FAQs
Enscape system requirements
Enscape is available for Windows 10 or higher and Mac for supported host applications: Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, Archicad, and Vectorworks. See which versions are supported here.
Since Enscape uses ray tracing for real-time rendering, it relies heavily on your graphics card (GPU) to quickly render your models. You will need an NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel Arc A310 with at least 8GB of dedicated VRAM (not shared) for Enscape to run.
It’s best practice to keep your graphics card driver updated to ensure Enscape runs smoothly. You can do this via the NVIDIA or AMD websites.
Additional support and information:
How to download and install Enscape for SketchUp
To install Enscape, you will need the Enscape Installer. This will be sent to you via email if you have signed up for an Enscape free trial, have applied for an educational license, or if you have purchased an Enscape license. You can also download Enscape here.
Before you run the installer, first close SketchUp, then start the installer and follow the instructions.
For step-by-step installation instructions, see our Documentation article.
If you need to deploy Enscape to multiple machines, learn how to roll out Enscape across many computers using centralized installation and automated configurations.
Opening Enscape in SketchUp
Enscape is a SketchUp render plugin (also available for other popular modeling tools, including Revit) that provides designers with direct access to real-time visualization and virtual reality. SketchUp will automatically detect that Enscape is available once you have installed it.
Enscape can be found under 'Extensions' on the SketchUp toolbar.
You can access Enscape’s features here, or you can enable the Enscape toolbar in SketchUp by either:
- Right-clicking on the SketchUp toolbar and selecting Enscape.
- Or from SketchUp's menu, go to View > Toolbars. Enable Enscape in the toolbars windows list.
How to start Enscape and render in SketchUp
Now that you have installed Enscape and opened up the toolbar, it’s time to start rendering in SketchUp. Open up your SketchUp project file. If you do not have a project file, you can download a free sample project from our website.
Next, click the ‘Start Enscape’ button on the Enscape toolbar (or go to Extensions > Enscape > Start Enscape).
Enscape will open up in a new window, with your project automatically rendered and presented in the perspective view. At this point, you can start walking around your rendered model.
Now the fun begins! Try swapping materials, changing geometry, or adding assets. As you adjust your project in SketchUp, you can see the changes instantly appear in Enscape (if you have Live Updates activated in Enscape). You can also activate ‘Synchronized Views’ to sync the perspective view from SketchUp to the Enscape rendering window. Now, as you navigate your SketchUp model, Enscape will follow and present the same view.
We will go into more detail about how to render an image later on in this article.
Additional support and information:
Enscape Help Menu
Enscape provides a Help Menu to guide you through using the plugin. To access it, press the H key or the question mark in the upper right of your Enscape window. Depending on what feature you are using, you will see the appropriate hints and tips displayed.
For example, when in the ‘View Management’ setting, you can find instructions on how to walk through your project. W to move forwards, S to move backwards, A and D to move left and right. Even information on how to change the time of day, walk or fly through your project, and change the solar angle and rotation.
These helpful tips will change as you navigate around Enscape and open different functions.
Finding your way around Enscape
View Management
It's good practice to set up views early on in your project so you have reference points you can always return to and track document progress.
In the Enscape rendering window, click on the View Management icon to get started.
Here, you can see all of the saved 3D views of your project. If you have predefined perspectives, you can jump to them right away. If you don’t have any setup, click on the ‘Create View’ button at the bottom of the View Management tab, and Enscape will save the current position and daytime in SketchUp.
In this section, you can mark a 3D view as a favorite for easy access, or you can link a visual settings preset to it.
How to create a view
By clicking on ‘Create View’ in the View Management panel, you can generate a new 3D view back in your design application. Enscape will save the perspective and time of day and any other settings copied from the currently selected view. You can return to the selected view anytime by pressing 0 on your number pad. This is particularly handy if you get lost somehow and provides a safe point to always return to.
- Set the camera view position in the Enscape viewport.
- Position the sun if desired (not compulsory).
- Apply any camera-specific settings, visual settings, or SketchUp styles to the project geometry.
- Click 'Create View' in the View Management panel. The Create button will remain inactive until a name is entered.
- You then have the option to mark the view as a favorite, set a linked visual preset, save the sun position, or update the view.
- Click Create to save the view.
To close View Management, press Esc on your keyboard or the home button.
Additional support and information:
Visual Settings
You can access Visual Settings from the Enscape rendering window:
This is where you can refine the look of your Enscape visualization, be it an image, video, or virtual reality experience. You may find yourself here when you are ready to export a render and want to create a specific look or if you just want to test different settings and see how they impact your visualization.
In Visual Settings, you can set up your camera, environment, and export settings. You can also define specific details, such as render style (white mode, for example), artificial and ambient brightness, and depth of field. You can adjust atmosphere settings, such as sun and night sky brightness, shadow sharpness, change the wind intensity, and much more.
In the Output tab, you can choose the rendering resolution, the file format, whether to export additional render layers for post-production (such as the alpha channel for an image with a blank background), video compression quality, and more.
Click ‘Create Preset’ at the bottom of the Visual Settings panel to set up a new preset. Now you can select the appropriate settings and start to create specific looks for your scenes. All Settings Presets are saved to the CAD project file itself. The 'Save as file' option exports a .json file which can be used in another CAD project as well.
You can even connect them with your views in the View Management window. All of the settings in this interface can be controlled by a preset.
Additional support and information:
Enscape Material Editor
Enscape comes with its own Material Library and Material Editor. Here you can find a range of ready-to-use PBR materials and maps. You can also import your own materials and easily replace them.
Open the Enscape Material Editor by clicking the checkered sphere icon in the Enscape toolbar or by going to Extensions > Enscape > Enscape Material Editor.
You will see a window showing the selected material on the right and a list of all of your materials in your project on the left. Notice that the Enscape Material Editor accesses the same materials as SketchUp, and Enscape adds some information and functionalities.
You set up and apply a material in SketchUp, but you can edit it in the Enscape Material Editor. Here you can change the color, height (with bump, normal, and displacement maps), and reflections, which control how glossy an object will appear.
You can also import textures via the Enscape Material Library to help you set up your materials. There are many sites that provide high-quality free 3D textures, such as Poliigon.com or ambientcg.com.
Updating and replacing materials is possible from within the Enscape Material Editor. This helps you quickly view, test, and change materials in your model without having to replace them individually.
Additional support and information:
- Materials in SketchUp
- AI Material Generator in Enscape
- SketchUp Material Editor: Enhanced Realistic Materials for SketchUp
Enscape Asset Library
The Enscape Asset Library, powered by Chaos Cosmos, provides thousands of high-quality, real-time optimized models for you to enhance your scene with.
You can access the asset library either via SketchUp or via the Enscape toolbar by clicking on the tree icon. If you open up the library from SketchUp, then you can only add assets within SketchUp. To add assets directly to your rendered scene through Enscape, you’ll need to access the library from the Enscape toolbar.
It’s simple to use – just pick any model, click it with the left mouse button, and place it in SketchUp. The asset will be placed as a simplified placeholder in SketchUp to save performance, and Enscape will show the full high-detailed model.
Adjustable assets
Some assets are adjustable (you can identify those by filtering for the 'Adjustable' tag). There are two types of adjustable assets:
- Assets with variants.
- Assets that allow color and/or material customization.
- Some Adjustable assets offer both options.
Custom assets
If you have your own custom 3D models that you’d like to use as Enscape assets, then you can import them in obj, fbx, or gltf format in the Custom Assets Editor. For more information on how to use custom assets in Enscape, take a look at our documentation article.
Asset placement within Enscape
Once you've selected an asset you want to place in your scene, hover over the asset thumbnail and click the green import button. Selecting Import automatically downloads the asset and prepares it for placement. Once the import is complete, the asset is stored locally and appears in the Downloaded section.
Once you have your asset placed in your scene, you can move, rotate, and resize it.
Multi-asset placement
When using the Multi-Asset placement tool, multiple assets are placed simultaneously. You can either select single or multiple assets to place. You can also define the distribution (how dense you'd like the assets to appear) and the randomization (all assets facing the same way, or positioned randomly).
Additional support and information:
How to render an image in Enscape for SketchUp
Rendering images in SketchUp is extremely fast and easy to achieve when you use Enscape.
To render a still image using Enscape, start the Enscape Viewport if you haven't already. This can be done by clicking on the Enscape 'E' icon, which acts as the 'Start' button. It's located within the Enscape toolbar / ribbon in SketchUp.
The Enscape Viewport toolbar will appear so you can start rendering.
For a single render, you can either render the current 'live' view or select a previously created 'View' from the View Management panel. Click the Screenshot button as shown below. Enscape will ask you where you would like to save the image and will render it right away. And that’s it! Your image is rendered in just a few seconds.
If you wish to render more than one image, you can use the 'Batch Rendering' button. This will be available if you have created at least one View via the 'View Management' panel.
See our documentation site for more details on the Batch Rendering process.
There are also some additional settings that you can choose from, including:
- Changing the resolution: Go to Visual Settings > Output tab (if you’re unsure which resolution to use, use the default, Full HD). If you need to print on a larger scale, choose Ultra HD or Custom to add higher values (be mindful that this is dependent on the available memory on your graphics card. Using extremely high resolutions may also cause the rendering process to take more than a few seconds).
- Rendering styles: Located in Main tab of the Visual Settings menu, in the Style section. Here you can select a rendering mode (white, polystyrol, light view, sketch - e.g., pen, pencil, watercolor).
- Saving to a default location: In the Output tab, you can set up a default folder in case you don’t want to be prompted to choose a location every time. You can also tell Enscape to name the renderings automatically.
- Exporting an image with no background: Select png, exr or tga as the image file type, then activate the Apply Alpha Channel checkbox. Now every part of the background that is not hidden behind geometry will appear transparent, so you can easily place an image of your choice behind your rendering in any 2D software that supports layers.
- Further post-processing options: Choose to export Object-ID, Material-ID, and Depth Channel in the Output tab.
Additional support and information:
- Rendering an image in Enscape
- Batch rendering
- 7 Essential Steps to Creating Realistic Renderings
- 5 Best Practices for Creating a Realistic Interior Rendering
- A Beginner's Guide to Lighting in SketchUp and Enscape
- Save as External Model for Enscape in SketchUp
How to create a panorama
To render a 360-degree panorama, simply move to the desired location and press the button below. A mono panorama will be created by default, but if you need a stereo panorama that you can use with Google Cardboard, click on the dropdown arrow to see that option.
From Enscape 4.1.1 and above, all uploaded panoramas will now be available on your Chaos Cloud Account. Once the Upload Management dialog is open in your CAD, it will display the Panorama tab by default. Here, you can further manage your panoramas, create virtual tours, and also generate QR codes for easy sharing and scanning.
Additional support and information:
How to create a video
To see how to render a video in Enscape and SketchUp, take a look at this step-by-step tutorial:
Additional support and information:
How to export an exe standalone or web standalone
Apart from using Enscape to export images, panoramas, and videos, you can also export independent interactive standalone experiences and share them for free without the end-user requiring a license to view them.
To turn your Enscape visualization into a shareable experience, choose either the Exe Standalone or Web Standalone option. Both are fully VR-compatible, meaning that you can quickly create virtual reality experiences.
- Exe Standalone: Provides the same experience and quality as Enscape, but does not require Enscape or the CAD to run. VR compatible. Not featured in the Enscape trial version.
- Web Standalone: Provides a web-based file. Renders scenes in the user's browser using WebGL 2.0. This removes the need for a high-end graphics card. VR compatible.
By clicking the web standalone button, Enscape will immediately begin exporting a web-based file. This can be shared with clients or anybody who does not have Enscape software installed so they can explore the rendered project independently.
If you'd like to share your visualization with someone using a machine that meets our system requirements, you can export an identical copy of Enscape by clicking the Exe standalone button. This will no longer be connected to your design application, so no editing is possible at this point.
Additional support and information:
- Web Standalone Exports in Enscape and SketchUp
- Standalone Executable Exports in Enscape and SketchUp
What AI tools are available with Enscape?
Veras for AI visualization
Chaos Veras is an AI-powered visualization tool built directly into Enscape. Take your Enscape screenshots, sketches, or CAD model and instantly transform them into multiple design options and photorealistic images and animations. It's ideal for when you're exploring early design concepts and need visuals to share with clients for faster feedback and decision-making.
AI Enhancer
The Chaos AI Enhancer automatically enhances your Enscape renderings to a much higher level of realism. It's a cloud-based tool that quickly improves elements like vegetation, people, and surfaces. The AI Enhancer can be accessed from the Enscape Viewport toolbar.
AI Upscaler
Available on Chaos Cloud Collaboration, the AI Upscaler is designed to increase the resolution of your images. It helps you save rendering time and achieve a higher-quality final image without having to repeat the rendering and post-processing steps. You can render up to 16K. See how it works.
AI Material Generator
The AI Material Generator transforms any real-world surface photo into a ready-to-use tileable and realistic PBR material in Chaos Cosmos. There is no manual editing or complicated workflows involved. It’s particularly ideal for secondary materials. You can access the AI Material Generator by going to SketchUp and opening the Enscape Material Editor from the Enscape Toolbar.
At the top of the material list, click the AI Material Generator button.
Dive into extra learning
Chaos Academy is a fantastic resource full of training videos for all levels of experience and use cases. It's a great place to start learning about Enscape for SketchUp. You can also head over to our YouTube channel for more videos.
To further enhance your Enscape learning, here are some additional resources worth reviewing:
- Enscape Documentation
- Chaos Forum
- CGconnect community platform
- SketchUp-related articles on the Chaos Blog
FAQs
Is Enscape for SketchUp suitable for complete beginners with no rendering experience?
Yes! Enscape for SketchUp is suitable for beginners with no prior rendering experience. Enscape is built to be easy to use, and there are plenty of beginner tutorials available, including on Chaos Academy.
How long does it typically take to get usable results in Enscape for a real project?
Enscape is designed to get you up and running fast. Once your model is open, you can generate a rendered image in seconds. Then, with a few lighting and material tweaks, you can go from a first draft to something presentable in minutes.
What are the most common mistakes new users make when starting with Enscape?
Most issues come from fundamentals, such as messy SketchUp modeling creating visual inconsistencies, along with pushing quality/export settings too high too soon. Another common mistake is fighting an image that’s too dark or washed out instead of quickly balancing exposure and ambient lighting in Visual Settings.
Can I use Enscape effectively on early-stage, unfinished SketchUp models?
Yes, Enscape is well-suited to early design because you can render as you model, adjusting geometry, materials, and lighting, and seeing the results update instantly. This is especially useful for exploring ideas, comparing options, and spotting issues early.
How does Enscape fit into a broader visualization workflow with other Chaos tools?
Enscape is often used early on in the design exploration process and connects smoothly with the wider Chaos ecosystem, for example, by using assets from the Chaos Cosmos library and sharing or reviewing work through Chaos Cloud. If you later need maximum photorealism or more control for marketing images and animations, you can open up your project via a Live Link with Enscape Envision. Envision is available with the Enscape Collection plan.