Mac users of Google SketchUp 5/6/Pro will now be able to use the SU Podium rendering plug-in, just released for Mac OS X. Podium for Mac will be identical to the Windows version except for the OS compatibility. Users of the Windows version are permitted to switch to the new Mac version for free using their original serial number. A full Light fixture library for Mac has also been released, including a total of 227 fixtures that can be added to any SketchUp scene.

Podium uses SketchUp's surfaces, textures, views, background color, and shadows to render images of the user's scene by simulating light reflected from all surfaces. Lighting or reflection effects can be changed by changing the background color or adding shadows.

Lights can be differentiated as omni-lights that emit light in all directions, such as light bulbs in a room, or LEMs which emit light in one direction, such as the ambient glow of a television on a wall. Podium uses ray tracing and global illumination to render images. Commercial versions of podium allow images resolutions of 230X150, 640X480, 1024X768, 2048X1536, 3076X2304, and the entire SketchUp Viewport resolution of the computer screen. Podium is available for purchase from their website, the commercial version for $180 and a student version for $80.