Garden Visualisation with D5 Render – with Magda Pelka

Tuesday 20 October 2026, 6.00pm – 7.00pm

Participants will become familiar with the D5 interface and establish a reliable connection between SketchUp and D5.

Topics include:

• understanding the SketchUp-to-D5 workflow
• installing and using D5 LiveSync
• opening and saving a D5 project
• navigating within the D5 viewport
• understanding the main toolbars and project panels
• synchronising geometry, materials and SketchUp scenes
• deciding what should be modelled in SketchUp and what should be added in D5
• avoiding common import and synchronisation problems

Practical exercise: Connect a prepared SketchUp garden model to D5 and create the first saved view.

Tuesday 3 November 2026, 6.00pm – 7.00pm

This session focuses on organising the SketchUp model so that it remains easy to edit and performs efficiently inside D5.

Topics include:

• cleaning and simplifying SketchUp geometry
• using groups, components and tags effectively
• organising buildings, boundaries, paving and planting areas
• naming materials consistently
• preparing surfaces for lawns, borders, gravel and paving
• reducing unnecessary model complexity
• managing imported furniture and decorative objects
• establishing a repeatable project structure

Practical exercise: Prepare and reorganise the course project for rendering.

Tuesday 17 November 2026, 6.00pm – 7.00pm

Participants will learn how to replace basic SketchUp materials with realistic D5 materials.

Topics include:

• understanding material maps and material properties
• adjusting colour, texture scale, roughness, reflection and relief
• creating believable paving and gravel
• working with timber, brick, concrete and natural stone
• creating metal, corten steel and painted surfaces
• improving material variation and avoiding repetition
• creating convincing wet, aged or weathered materials
• saving and reusing custom materials

Practical exercise: Develop a material palette for the garden project.

Tuesday 1 December 2026, 6.00pm – 7.00pm

This session explores how to create convincing ground planes and transitions between different landscape materials.

Topics include:

• working with existing SketchUp terrain
• refining terrain
• creating mounds and subtle level changes
• applying and blending ground materials
• creating realistic lawns
• adding gravel, soil, mulch and meadow surfaces
• improving edges between paths, borders and grass
• using displacement and surface variation
• preventing ground surfaces from appearing flat or artificial

Practical exercise: Build the main terrain and ground treatments for the project.

Tuesday 15 December 2026, 6.00pm – 7.00pm

Participants will begin constructing the main planting framework of the garden.

Topics include:

• navigating the vegetation asset library
• choosing appropriate tree assets
• adjusting plant height, scale, rotation and colour
• creating groups of trees with natural variation
• building hedges and clipped planting
• creating tree lines and boundary planting
• using plant paths and repeated elements
• balancing botanical accuracy with visual quality
• considering mature size and spatial composition

Practical exercise: Add the principal trees, hedges and structural planting to the project.

Monday 19 January 2026, 6.00pm – 7.00pm

This session focuses on creating detailed planting compositions without making them appear repetitive or artificial.

Topics include:

• creating planting layers and visual depth
• combining shrubs, perennials, grasses and groundcover
• using individual placement, brush and scatter tools
• controlling plant density, size and orientation
• building natural-looking repetition
• creating colour and textural rhythm
• representing seasonal character
• adding variation without visual chaos
• creating planting suitable for close and distant views

Practical exercise: Create one detailed mixed planting border and one looser naturalistic planting area.

Tuesday 2 February 2027, 6.00pm – 7.00pm

Participants will add the elements that communicate scale, use and character.

Topics include:

• adding garden furniture and accessories
• adding pots, lighting, sculptures and decorative elements
• creating water surfaces for pools and ponds
• adding rocks and natural landscape details
• using small elements to improve realism
• arranging assets without overcrowding the scene
• checking scale and consistency
• organising assets for efficient editing

Practical exercise: Complete one key garden area with furniture, accessories and detailed landscape elements.

Tuesday 16 February 2027, 6.00pm – 7.00pm

This session explains how lighting can transform the emotional quality and legibility of a garden visualisation.

Topics include:

• understanding sun position and shadow direction
• setting the time of day
• creating clear daytime lighting
• working with golden-hour and overcast conditions
• controlling sky, clouds, fog and atmosphere
• creating wet or post-rain scenes
• adding artificial garden lighting
• balancing interior and exterior light
• producing evening and nighttime garden views
• avoiding images that are too dark, orange or oversaturated

Practical exercise: Create two atmospheric versions of the same view, such as a bright daytime view and an evening view.

Tuesday 2 March 2027, 6.00pm – 7.00pm

Participants will learn how to create images that communicate the design clearly while remaining visually engaging.

Topics include:

• choosing the most useful viewpoints
• setting camera height for garden visualisations
• working with perspective and focal length
• using foreground, middle ground and background
• framing entrances, terraces, paths and planting
• creating visual depth
• directing attention toward important design elements
• using depth of field selectively
• balancing realism with presentation clarity
• adjusting render and image output settings
• creating a consistent series of project images

Practical exercise: Produce three coordinated views: an overall garden view, a human-scale experiential view and a detailed planting view.

Tuesday 16 March 2027, 6.00pm – 7.00pm

The final session brings together the complete visualisation workflow and focuses on preparing a polished set of images for presentation.

Topics include:

• reviewing the complete garden visualisation
• identifying and correcting unrealistic materials, planting and lighting
• checking scale, repetition and asset placement
• refining composition and camera settings
• improving visual consistency across several views
• adjusting exposure, contrast, colour balance and atmosphere
• using D5 post-production settings effectively
• deciding how much image correction is appropriate
• preparing images for screen, portfolio, social media and client presentations
• organising project files and creating a reusable workflow
• troubleshooting common SketchUp and D5 problems
• reviewing opportunities for further development

Practical exercise: Refine and export a coordinated set of final garden visualisations.

Final project

Throughout the course, each participant will develop one garden visualisation based on their own SketchUp model or a model supplied for the course.

The completed project should include:

• an organised SketchUp and D5 workflow
• realistic landscape and architectural materials
• structural and detailed planting
• garden furniture and finishing elements
• at least two different lighting or atmospheric conditions
• three to five coordinated final still images
• one overall garden view
• one human-scale experiential view
• one detailed planting or material view

The emphasis will be on creating a coherent, believable and professionally presented garden project rather than simply adding as much detail as possible.