Trimble® announced new visualization and interoperability capabilities in its latest software release for SketchUp®. The 3D modeling software now provides designers with photorealistic materials and environment lighting options, along with smoother transitions between SketchUp and other industry tools. With enhanced visualization features and improved interoperability, the release helps designers create, manage and share complex projects more effectively, enabling them to do better work faster, with less effort and rework.
"SketchUp's 2025 release introduces a new generation of visualization," said Sandra Winstead, senior director of product management, architecture and design at Trimble. "These accessible yet powerful tools help designers visualize and understand their projects using more realistic materials, enabling them to make better informed material decisions and produce outstanding visuals — all without leaving SketchUp. In addition, designers can now more easily move in and out of SketchUp thanks to advanced interoperability updates with Revit and IFC files for streamlined design workflows, improved collaboration and greater accuracy in project execution."
The new visualization features enable designers to apply photorealistic materials, turn on environment lighting and see how they interact in real time without hitting a 'render' button or waiting to see changes. From whitebox massing studies and stylized images to photorealistic visuals, environment lighting conditions and new background imagery, the capabilities create a richer picture of a project's materiality. The latest visualization features include:
- Environments: 360-degree HDRI or EXR image files act as a light source, reflecting off photoreal materials.
- Photoreal Materials: Dynamic materials more accurately convey texture and represent how real-world materials absorb and reflect light, producing richer, more realistic visuals within SketchUp.
- Ambient Occlusion: Adds visual emphasis to corners and edges, increasing perceived depth and realism with or without having materials applied.
"Accessing high-quality, realistic materials directly within the platform has made it so much easier to quickly present designs that resonate with clients," said Kate Hatherell, director of The Interior Designers Hub. "This feature is a game changer for accelerating workflows, and I'm excited to see how it continues to evolve."
The new release also has more advanced interoperability with Revit and IFC files, including more predictable IFC roundtrips, greater control over which Revit elements and 3D views are imported, and improved support for photorealistic materials when exporting USD and glTF file formats. From initial design to final construction, more robust interoperability ensures a seamless roundtrip data exchange between different software platforms and between different collaborators across various stages of project development.
"The IFC import feature is incredible," said Lucas Grolla, architect and owner of Grolla Arquitetura. "It has greatly improved the coordination of different project models with the architectural design. Plus, the new material editor and HDRI styles open up countless possibilities for the visual representation of projects."
In addition, LayOut, a tool for creating documents from your SketchUp model, has been updated to provide a user experience more consistent with SketchUp. 3D Warehouse, one of the world's largest libraries of 3D models, also now offers curated photoreal materials, environments and configurable 3D assets in the SketchUp content library, which can support a wide range of use cases and workflows. With 3D Warehouse, designers can model more efficiently with pre-built, configurable objects that better accommodate their design needs without the time investment typically required to produce tailored 3D assets.
Availability
Visualization updates are viewable across the SketchUp ecosystem, offering consistency regardless of platform: SketchUp for Web, iPad, and Desktop, LayOut, 3DW, and viewers.
