3D rendering, or architectural rendering, is an inevitable and powerful solution in real estate development. It is widely used by architects, interior designers, and real estate professionals, especially in the initial stage during the development. Today, we’d like to share an architectural visualization case study
This project is a proposal for PWC Offices in Athens. Tina and her team from ASPA KST architecture design planning talked about this project with us, and hoped to get the high-res and high-quality visuals delivered in 10 days.
To support our client’s work, we created 2 views for this building in 10 days. In this blog, we’ll subdivide the 3D rendering process and enrich it with details, so that no matter you’re looking for a similar service or you want to be a 3D artist, it is easy to get the whole picture. Let’s start the story!
Architectural Rendering Process
#1. Getting to Know the Project
Before everything starts, it is always important to know about the project. It comes first in each architectural visualization project because the 3D team is able to perform great results only when they understand the project. From the vision to the project location, the more detailed information, the more of help to the visualization process.
For this structure, Tina explained their vision: an office complex focusing on the sustainability and people, introducing a new, authentic, and interactive work experience. A building with high-level design and wellness principles incorporated, will be a new architectural benchmark in the area of Maroussi, Athens, Greece.
ASPA KST is our partner and we’ve kept their preferences on 3D renders in mind. This means they don’t always need to articulate what they want in the images. The next thing we need to do is to sort the information and understand the scope of work.
#2. Understanding the Scope of Work
Before getting to the scope of work, our team firstly sorted the information received from Tina.
Design Concept.
A Rhino3D model.
A drone photo of the site.
Some renders created by their in-house team.
Design concept
Drone photo
Renders created by their in-house team
Renders created by their in-house team
Then the scope of work is crystal clear:
One aerial view using the drone photo for photomontage.
One eye-level view of the office buildings with night mood.
#3. Building the 3D Model
As the first stage of the 3D rendering process, our 3D team always consider 3D modeling as the most important stage. Because the 3D model will give the first impression of the design.
In this stage, we input the Rhino 3D model into 3ds Max, sorting the lines and geometries, checking the materials, and fine-tuning the model. Firstly, we confirmed the basic shape with the design. Using a variety of tools in 3ds Max such as splines and primitive shapes, our 3D modeler refined the model. When the shape was ready, our 3D specialists added details to the model. This could be done by applying textures and materials, adding lighting, and adjusting any settings of each shape. Finally, the 3D modeler exported the fine-tuned 3D model.
3D model created with 3ds Max
3D model created with 3ds Max
After sharing the model draft with the wanted camera angles with Tina, she came back with her comments quickly. In the comments, she is happy with the model, but she wrote more about future instructions:
The mood of the view, with a reference image.
Material board. She provided reference images of the concrete façade, pedestrian walkway, glass windows, and the logo on the building.
Other designs such as the vegetation spaces.
Thus, we’ve confirmed the model and views, and learnt the design details of the building. The next stage is to complete the scene with details.
#4. Applying Materials, Adding Lighting, Rendering, and Post-work
Once the 3D model has been created, we start to texture and lit it in order to make it look realistic. According to the instructions Tina shared, we carefully selected the materials and textures. Usually, the client will receive the textured drafts for checking the colors and textures of the objects. But for this project, we continued to working on others, here, the lighting.
Adding the lighting involves adding different types of lighting to the scene. For example, natural, artificial, and environmental lighting. These lighting will affect the realism of the scene, and can be adjusted during the 3D rendering process. Our 3D artists set realistic lighting to the scene, making it look like natural light that gives the building a natural and warm touch. Moreover, as we use photomontage, we also need to adjust the lighting based on the one in the original photo.
After the above was done, it was time to render the scene. Perhaps the most exciting part of 3D rendering process is three-dimensional rendering. In this process, our 3D artists will create render passes and then combine them into a complete and photorealistic image using 3ds Max.
The very last part of this stage is to post-process the images. During this part, the whole scene will look brighter and more natural, and the consistency will be adjusted too. Apart from that, adding elements such as people, cars, plants and other necessary stuff is also processed. We added some dynamic people and moving cars to emphasize the life-like atmosphere of the office buildings.
Having received the results, Tina commented back:
Make the concrete façade brighter at the same time a little less grey.
Adjust the PWC logo until it fits into one horizontal stripe.
Add more vegetation.
Besides these minor adjustment, Tina also wanted to make a bit change on the design. It was about an entrance door that Tina’s team wanted to remove.
Our 3D artists corrected the renderings based on these comments, and sent the updated final drafts to Tina again. This time, she was happy with them and said they were good to go!
#5. Final Delivery
As these two renders were ready for usage, we output the high-res final images. For the aerial view, it is 7k, and for the eye-level night view, it’s a 5k image. Both these resolutions were agreed in the first place when starting the project. Now, please enjoy these two photorealistic renders:
#6. Summary and Survey
For each project, we send a summary that goes through the whole process. This is a summary that recaps what we did well and what we need to improve during this project. Meanwhile, we will invite our client to fill a Client Satisfaction Survey to rate our service. This includes overall service, communication skills, 3D work, and many other factors relating to the experience. Tina rated us a five-star brand and said her team were excited to use these 3D renders to persuade the juries and win the plan.
Do you like these 3D renders for this incredible office buildings? If you do, that means we did a good job! As an architectural rendering studio, we never stop showcasing the soul of the design with challenging tasks. But no matter what is the task, art is always an integral part of the process.
Like these 3D renders? Want to bring your exciting project to life with gorgeous visualization works? Contact us for professional 3D rendering services, and we’ll blow your audience’s mind with realistic visuals that tell your vision!
“How can you guarantee the quality of your works?” probably is one of the most frequently asked questions when our project managers are exploring the possibility of working with architects and designers. The quality of the 3D rendering works should be the top concern for anyone who uses this service. Quality is all about what the client gets out and is willing to pay for. In the architectural visualization industry, there is one more concern that the quality should not only be “good” but also be “consistent”. This is because the majority of the Architectural Visualization projects request more than one images.
As a professional architectural visualization studio started from 2006, AIMIR deeply understands that our clients’ satisfaction differentiates our brand from our competitors, lower the bar to collaboration, and gives our clients a sense of confidence in our services.
So, what is AIMIR’s Quality Control system? How does it guarantee our services and works? Today we’d like to share our comprehensive quality control system which help guarantee our services and protect our clients.
AIMIR’s Services
First things first, you need to get an idea of what we provide before knowing how to guarantee you during and after the process.
AIMIR is a professional Architectural Visualization studio founded in 2006. We are a team of highly creative individuals delivering realistic visualization solutions for architect, designers, real estate agents, developers and constructors. Despite the wide range of ArchViz, we typically offer:
3D Rendering Services;
3D Animation Services;
Virtual Reality Services;
360 Virtual House Tours;
Interior Rendering Services;
Exterior Rendering Services;
2D/3D Floor Plans;
3D Modeling Services;
3D Product Rendering Services.
With so many visualization services, we’ve built a strict and conscientious quality control system. In this way, we’ve delivered over 8,500 projects to the world and reached over 98% client satisfaction from 2006.
AIMIR’s Quality Control System
In 2006, we created the quality control system to guarantee our services and works. The system was gradually improved and completed a couple of years after. We’re confident to say this QC system has been tested and is able to cope with various situations. Of course, we will keep refining and improving it when we confront with more situations in the future.
In the following paragraphs, we’ll introduce the QC system from these aspects:
Quality control during production;
After delivery services;
Free-trial system;
Regular internal reviews.
Let’s start from the first one and see what we do to guarantee the quality during production.
#1. Quality Control During Production
As we all know, there is no standard quality measuring tool to assess a 3D visualization work. Or, let’s put it another way, most 3D teams have their own unique styles. However, there are still some key factors determining a “good” visual. The general judging rules of details, composition and creativity are just a start. There are more to learn in our blog Eight Ways to Spot a Good Rendering.
At AIMIR , no matter big or small scale, each project has a project team when the project starts. In the team, there is a project manager who is in charge of the overall project progress; a team of 3D artists who take care of your project production; and a production director who will supervises and manages all facets of the production process.
QC during production network.
The above image shows clearly how the project manager, 3D artists, and production director collaborate with each other and respond to the client during production. As you can see, when a client comments on the work, it won’t go to 3D artists directly. What happens is that our project manager sorts out the comments – normally there won’t just be one – and send them to the 3D team.
To guarantee the comments are seen and revised, 3D artists have internal check before sending back the visuals. And the production director is there from the beginning to end to supervise the production and give advice when necessary.
#2. After Delivery Services
Final delivery of the project is not the end. We never disappear and reject to reply emails after a project is completed. Actually, we understand the nature of architectural design industry that the design may need to change. At the same time, we love to maintain a long-term partnership with our clients rather than one-time collaboration.
With this in mind, we’ve developed our after delivery services, namely:
Summary of the project;
After the final delivery of each project, the project manager summarize the process of the project from both the good and bad sides. In general, the project manager goes through the whole project process and comes up with what we did to help this project and what we need to improve next time.
Survey of the experience;
Meanwhile, our clients may take the chance to fill a Client Satisfaction Survey. It is a survey that they can rate our service and provide any possible feedbacks. In the survey, we collect different aspects of feedbacks, such as the communication, attitude, integrity of the works, delivery performance, and many other factors.
AIMIRers deeply believe the quality feedbacks can enable a company to continuously improve service quality and client satisfaction by encouraging clients to complain. If a client experiences a service failure and does not say anything, we have no knowledge of the problem at all. And not only does a company have an unhappy client, it also have no idea that a problem exists. This is why we encourage our clients to voice.
By summarizing the project progress, we learn what improvement needs to be done. And by taking the survey, our clients have the window to voice the happy and unhappy experiences. This in turn help us to realize the undiscovered issues.
#3. Free-Trial System
As one of the oldest tricks in the marketing textbook, offering a free-trial still holds a good chance to influence the clients, in particular, in the 3D visualization industry. Unlike the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), 3D rendering services has its unique and unreplicable final works that differentiate one project from another. Therefore, it is not easy to just browse the portfolio or reference works and make the final decision.
We fully understand this, and that’s why we introduce a free-trial system. This is for some new clients who haven’t worked with us before, and are hesitating whether we’re able to create the idea CGI works for their project. If our clients are satisfied with our services during the trial period, they’re ready to pay for the full service and will bring new projects in the future on a regular basis. And that’s exactly what we want to see, because again, we hope to collaborate with long-term partners that trust each other.
#4. Internal Reviews
Review is always the best way to look back over the past for evaluation. In order to achieve the best result and keep our team at the same page, we hold regular reviews.
Monthly Review.
Every month, our 3D artists and project managers sit down and go through any possible issues from the past month. In the meeting, most of the topics are about the difficulties during the production of projects. And it is a great opportunity for 3D artists and project managers to open communicate any questions.
Emergency Internal Reviews for a Particular Project
This is not a regular thing. We only have this kind of review meetings when irregularity. For example, an emergency happens due to a project, and the problem is over the capacity of a project manager. At the time, the project manager, 3D team, and team leader will sit in a room brainstorming a solution.
Actually, we also have reviews with our clients and partners. It’s usually on a yearly basis. We love our clients and partners to help us improve and keep our architectural visualization works quality.
Conclusion
This is a general introduction of AIMIR’s quality control system. It helps erase the concerns of our future clients and guarantee the quality of our services from 360 degree. At the same time, we are ready to face any future challenges (because time changes and problem arises) and perfect this system to guide our clients a safe, fast, and quality 3D architectural visualization experience.
If you are interested in talking about our quality control or 3D rendering services, please contact us and we’ll get back to you within 12 hours!
