SketchUp V-Ray 5 Interior Kitchen Render Lighting Tutorial
In our V-Ray 5 kitchen lighting lesson, we light and render a kitchen modeled in SketchUp with V-Ray 5. In this live-stream lesson we covered what to watch for in interior renders and the V-Ray camera features. In the last part of the lesson, we rendered the same scene with Enscape to compare the two engines. In this article we focus on the lighting side of the topic.
During the live stream we also ran into hiccups, such as SketchUp crashing and small glitches caused by V-Ray 5. Still, we finished the render. For more lessons, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel.
V-Ray 5 kitchen lighting lesson video
The lesson is a live-stream recording and runs about 100 minutes. So we recommend watching the video section by section and trying each step in your own kitchen scene.
YouTubeWhy is kitchen lighting a special topic?
The kitchen is one of the hardest areas in interior visualization. Glossy countertops, metal appliances, glass surfaces and lacquered doors all come together in the same scene. Each of these surfaces reflects light differently. So even a single light in the wrong place can create distracting highlights on many surfaces. (The video is in Turkish; this guide walks through the key steps in English.)
A kitchen also needs layered lighting in real life. General light alone is not enough. You need one light for working on the countertop and another for atmosphere. When you build these layers in the render too, the image becomes much more convincing.
V-Ray 5 kitchen lighting layers
In a good kitchen image, three layers of light usually work together. Setting up each layer separately and then balancing them makes the job easier.
- Natural light: Daylight from the window is the main source in the scene. It sets the overall brightness of the space and the direction of the shadows.
- Task light: Slim lights placed under the wall cabinets light the countertop. These lights give the kitchen a professional look.
- Accent light: Pendant lamps over the island or lights inside glass-front cabinets create atmosphere.
Get the natural light right first. Then add the task lights. Finally, give the scene character with accent lights. That way you see the effect of each layer clearly.
How should you set up under-cabinet lights?
Under-cabinet lighting is one of the details that makes the biggest difference in kitchen renders. In V-Ray 5, a thin, long Rectangle Light is ideal for this. Place the light on the underside of the wall cabinet, close to the front edge, and point it down. Also make the light source invisible. That way only the soft light falling on the countertop stays in the image.
Do not overdo the light’s power. If a bright spot forms on the countertop, lower the intensity. On glossy granite or quartz countertops the reflection of the light already looks strong. So start with a low value and raise it slowly.
V-Ray 5 kitchen lighting and color temperature
Daylight usually has a neutral or slightly cool tone. The artificial lights in a kitchen are often warm white. Bringing these two tones together on purpose adds depth to the image. But do not push the difference too far. Otherwise the scene looks like two separate images stitched together.
Using the same color temperature for all artificial lights gives you consistency. Then adjust the overall tone with the camera’s white balance. We explained the logic of the camera settings in detail in the other article on the same lesson. In that article we also covered scene prep for a kitchen render and the Enscape comparison.
Speed comparison with Enscape
At the end of the lesson we also rendered the same kitchen with Enscape. Our goal was to show how fast Enscape delivers results. In Enscape, a real-time engine, the settings are quite simple. V-Ray takes longer, but gives finer control over light and materials. You can find official information about Enscape on Chaos’s Enscape page, and the visualization process with this engine in our visualization with Enscape article.
If you want to learn the basics of V-Ray 5 from scratch, also take a look at our V-Ray 5 course.
Frequently asked questions
Which light type should I use for V-Ray 5 kitchen lighting?
The sun and sky work well for natural light, a thin Rectangle Light for under-cabinet lighting, and small area or sphere lights for pendant lamps.
Bright spots appear on the countertop. What should I do?
Lower the light intensity and move it back a little. Also check the reflection of the countertop material.
Will the glitches from the live stream happen to me too?
Every user runs into similar problems in heavy scenes. Save your file often and keep your graphics card driver and extension versions up to date.
