KP* Architecture is an Oregon-based architecture company who looks for projects that use mass wood. Their vision is to develop, design and build for the future with timber’s full potential. Kevin reached us with their new project in Portland, which is a mixed-use with office and commercial spaces, looking for 3D renderings for presentation.
We love their vision of building wood structures, and were happy to help. Kevin addressed this project had a tight schedule in particular. As a 17-year architectural visualization studio, we’re confident to deliver this project on time.
Please follow us to discover the story behind this timber structure and how we deliver four images in 10 days.
The Spar
The Spar will be a breath-taking building in the city of Portland, not only because of its standout façade but also the use of mass timber. Once complete, it will stand as the tallest mass-timber building in the world.
In the 3D renderings, Kevin would like to demonstrate the uniqueness of the Spar as well as its consistency with the adjacent spaces. For the purpose of it, there would be various views to introduce this amazing structure to its viewers.
The Scope of the Project
According to Kevin, they needed four images in 10 days for reporting. The camera angles were very clear:
An aerial view facing downtown;
An aerial view facing north;
An eye-level view of the entry/front;
An eye-level view of the arcade.
View drafts composed with Google Earth to indicate the camera angles.
In addition, one of the aerial views was going to be printed on 24”x36” posters. We would pay attention to this particularly during production.
The References
In order to help our 3D artists understand the project, Kevin kindly prepared various references and materials, including:
The location of the new building. Because the site is an existing post office block, and the new proposal is to “break up” this massive block into smaller blocks as well as extend the existing park right up to the Spar Tower. Therefore, in the renderings, we need to pay attention to the adjacent landscape and make them natural and consistent.
Break up site into 4 x 3 grid, and the tower is located on one of them. Extend green spaces into middle blocks leading up to the tower.
Drone photos for photo-composition. They decided to use site photos for the surrounding context in the 3D renderings. Thus, they took two drone photos with the precise camera angle which are really helpful!
The model. A Revit model of the building was ready to use. To make it easier, we imported the Revit model into 3ds Max and converted it to a compatible one.
Material board. It greatly helped our 3D artists to understand the material and texture of the structure, because they were not completed included in the model.
The Process
The first thing we did was to refine the model and found the desired camera angles. There’re two views that needed photo-composition. These angles needed to meet the requirements from Kevin, and fit the drone photos perfectly at the same time.
Fit the model into the photos.
After confirming the views, our 3D specialists started to apply materials and textures on the model. Because we’re using photo-composition, we decided to share the drafts with Kevin’s team when finishing all four images.
For the two aerial views, our 3D artists studied the geometry of the site carefully, and adjusted the space around the adjacent blocks to be more reflective. For the other two eye-level views, applying accurate landscape and material was the key to a vivid image. After sharing the first round of rendered drafts, Kevin came back with the following comment:
Adjust the glass of the building to be slightly bluer. Kevin wanted the façade to reflect a blue and clear sky;
Make the mountain more visible;
Enlarge the trees on inside rows;
Enrich the texture of the wood to make the wood read more varied with individual board texture;
When we summarized all these comments, we immediately fixed them and Kevin’s team confirmed back right away. Here are the final images!
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It was such a pleasant experience working with Kevin’s team. They are kind, highly-efficient, and well-organized. At last, we delivered all images in 10 days. Hope to work with them in the near future!
AIMIR is a 17-year architectural visualization studio consistently delivering high-end CGI works to the world. If you’d like to talk about your exciting project, please feel free to contact us, and we’ll bring your vision to life!
More recently, with many powerful 3D visualization tools at disposal, architects fully show their nature of using design to tell a vivid story. 3D rendered works (images, videos and so on) bring a space that’s yet to be built to an entirely new level where clients can see the dream behind it. They blur the lines between reality and future, helping architects express their ideas in a more digestible way and leading to a larger number of sales.
However, the course of architectural visualization is time-consuming and fiddly, which requires meticulous attention to detail. Some architects may behave poorly in conveying their design when doing with the complicated projects, particularly facing tight deadlines and hectic schedules. To complete the task more quickly and simply, the results tend to be full of platitudes with little innovation, unable to have the same effect as expected. It is even possible to make annoying mistakes. To be frank, it is really common in the art of rendering. Even skill professionals can be in such a dilemma.
How to avoid mediocre performance and clichéd mistakes? We could never eliminate risks, but the clear and precise cognition could attenuate it. To help you gain a foothold in the rat race of architectural visualization, we have made a checklist of 5 most common misconceptions before, during and after visualization. Below, let’s learn together!
1. Overloading your renderings with busy details
Although the saying goes, “Success is in the details”, going too far is as bad as falling short. So does the architecture industry. Promoting the “less is more” style, the industry taste prefers using simplicity and minimalism to present design concepts. We should know that 3D renderings are conducted in the service of design to communicate the ideal character and tone of the architecture in the architects’ minds. Showing too much for perfection will result in some ambiguous or messy-looking images, which clouds the main focus intended to show. Remember, keep the right balance in all aspects of your composition. It will make it easier to evoke clients’ enthusiasm. If you’re not sure, please ask your archviz consultant for a second opinion. Their feedbacks allow you to improve and perfect the visuals.
2. Reusing a lot of stock elements
In the era of mass production, many people go with the flow of the crowd and can copy others’ contents. Nevertheless, only the unique works will be more likely to be memorized. It’s important for your visuals to have a personal touch. This should be also reflected in the elements within your renderings, such as scale figures. Some architects overlook it and recycle the stock elements in different images. Of course, these readily and freely available materials are definitely suitable for creation. But repetitive contents might distract the viewers and dilute their feeling of excitement and anticipation.
What we mean is not against the free-to-download collections. But for the best visual effect, we have a great library of original design elements to avoid duplication. In addition, we keep a record of the used stock images to a certain client and the ones that are prevalent in 3D visualization. You can also take a picture of your staff and family. The materials in this way are always fresh and easy to match resolutions.
3. Adopting inappropriate atmospheres
If the rendering is a song, the story it tells is the emotion of music and the created atmosphere is the style of singing. The first step towards a lifelike image is to find the right style based on your architectural concept. The style you choose can remarkably improve or weaken the quality of visualization. Sometimes somber and oppressive atmospheres are used to make images more stunning and melancholier. In fact, not every building fits this tone. Mismatched atmospheres make it difficult to explain the ideas and strike a responsive chord. Hence, make sure to choose the right tone is passing on positive feelings rather than strange ones.
4. Dissipating your energy in trivial matters
Making a wonderful rendering is a long, complicated and dull process. It means we have to streamline our tasks by planning and setting priorities. After all, one’s energy and time is limited. So don’t be a perfectionist who gets stuck on unimportant details which hurt little significant essentials. For example, though rendering artists work in 3D, the final picture is shown from 2D perspective. And some modeling details may not be noticed. Therefore, it’s not sensible to work on trivial matters at a last-minute dash. You must make greater efforts on things that are in focus.
5. Wrongly drawing your design inspiration
Improper execution is one of the common points where architects go wrong. Owing to a wide range of rendering styles and techniques, some of them are prone to blend various types of elements mistakenly or don’t know how to use them accurately. Different types of elements have their own requirements. Only when they are integrated well, will they achieve a harmonious combination which allows you to make the most of an inspiration. Otherwise, your end product may lose the ability of proving your design concept.
We hope these suggestions can guide you to avoid some frustrating trends in architectural visualization. If you’re interested in the art of 3D rendering, follow up our blogs and consult our professional 3D architectural visualization studio about your exciting projects. We’re here to help move your ideas into reality!
Located in the central urban area of Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, as the core block of Jinhua Economic & Technological Development Zone, Jinhua Central Innovation District (South Zone) carries the important mission of Jinhua’s opening-up and development of high-tech industries, and serves as a key strategic platform for Jinhua to fully integrate into the Shanghai-Hangzhou-Jinhua Development Belt and build the innovative technology transformation base at the south wing of the Yangtze River Delta. Through the construction of R&D centers, headquarter bases, laboratories, research institutes and other industry resources, it assists in-depth integrated development of real economy and scientific innovation resources, promotes functional rebuilding and urban renewal in the urban area of the Central Innovation District (South Zone), and builds the District into a driving engine for Jinhua’s industry transformation and a vitality source of technological innovation, as well as a demonstration district of the city’s technological innovation platform, a pilot district of industry transformation and a demonstration district of ecology and livability.
Lying at the central scientific innovation core of the Central Innovation District, the Central Innovation District (South Zone) Jinchuang Green Valley Landmark Project is one of four cores in the planning structure of the Central Innovation District. As the urban green axis perfectly blending financial scientific innovation and ecology, it follows the guidance of national green building, energy saving and emission reduction policies, with a view to building a regional landmark architectural complex and forming three-dimensional and intelligent high-quality core public space.
2. Project location
Located in the east of Central Innovation District (South Zone)-the southwest side of the city proper of Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province and the west of Huhaitang, the Project reaches Desheng Street in the east, Xianhua South Street in the west, Shifeng Road in the north and Xianyuan Road in the south.
Fig.1 Location diagram of Central Innovation District
Fig.2 Scope diagram of Central Innovation District (South Zone) Jinchuang Green Valley Landmark Project
3. Project location
Overall positioning: Jinhua south parlor, new city landmark.
Overall objective: Relying on the landmark of 12 towers, build a headquarters economy agglomeration of scientific innovation industry and modern service industry, maximize ecological resources on the basis of environmental advantages, realize the agglomeration of innovation elements and the polar nucleus of urban service, demonstrate high-end industry introduction, and establish a new gateway in the south of Jinhua City and an urban innovation parlor.
Functional positioning:
1) Scientific innovation center, smart west bank, pilot area of Central Innovation District;
2) City district with scientific innovation industry, headquarters economy, residence and living, business, cultural tourism and leisure as main functions;
3) Create a model for the development of industrial and ecological integration areas.
Design contents
1. Design scope
10 plots of Jinhua Central Innovation District (South Zone) Jinchuang Green Valley (the numbers of these 10 plots in the current regulatory plan are: ZX-30-07-08, ZX-30-07-09 , ZX-30-07-10, ZX-30-07-11, ZX-30-07-13, ZX-30-07-16, ZX-30-07-18, ZX-30-07-20, ZX -30-07-14, ZX-30-07-15), the specific information is as follows：
2. Competition stage
The conceptual design of Jinchuang Green Valley: The total land area is about 235,000 square meters, and the total building area is 1,303, 640 square meters, of which the capacity area is 800,292 square meters, and the total underground space development area is 503,348 square meters (Note: the total underground space development area of Jinchuang Green Valley project is based on the balance of unit A-2 in the Underground Space Planning of Jinchuang Green Valley core area, including the underground area of plot ZX-30-07-12), including but not limited to the relevant strategies for determining the overall framework of superior planning connection, ecological environment, etc.; as well as the coordination of functional composition, the spatial layout of building groups, the creation of featured space, the optimization of the skyline, the street building interface, and the architectural style characteristics based on design research of meso and micro-scale urban style. According to the analysis of the business formats of Jinchuang Green Valley in the industrial planning, the plan layout of the main functions of the building is carried out to coordinate and unify the internal functions and external forms of the building.
The architectural schematic design of Jinchuang Green Valley Phase I: Three towers with serial numbers of ZX-30-07-10, ZX-30-07-11, ZX-30-07-13 in the current regulatory plan (plots ④ , ③, ⑤): the total land area is about 43,000 square meters, the total capacity area is 202,000 square meters and the underground space area shall be balanced and planned according to the underground space planning of Jinchuang Green Valley Core Area.
The design development content of the first-place winner: From the development design of Phase I architectural scheme to schematic design phase, the development should reach the depth of scheme construction application (architecture specialty reaches the depth of preliminary design), and cooperate with the Host in completing the scheme construction application work (Among them, the basement design shall be undertaken separately by the general control design agency). Subsequently, the first-place winner should cooperate with the preliminary design, construction drawing design and consultancy work in the construction phase. (For details, please refer to the Design Brief). If the first-place winner(consortium) does not have the project construction application qualification, it may independently entrust a domestic agency with the construction application qualifications to complete the construction application work.
Requirements for application
A. The international competition will adopt “open application” without qualification restrictions. Units with relevant design experience from home and abroad may apply for participation. Application agencies should be independent legal person enterprises or institutions legally registered at home and abroad with valid business licenses or business registration certificates.
B. Consortium with no more than 2 members is allowed. In addition, each consortium member is not allowed to make duplicated applications either by himself/herself or by joining a different consortium with other design agencies.
C. Applications submitted by individuals or a group of individuals are not accepted.
D. Priority will be given to teams with similar design experience:
a With rich design experience in large complexes of urban core areas;
Experience in super high-rise building design;
Experience in hotel design;
Having won major international or domestic design awards.
E. The planning and design personnel participating in the international competition should be the personnel on the payroll of the design institution. The chief designer must be the truly responsible person of the Project, and needs to join the whole process of the International Competition, and participate in the Q&A meeting and review report. In order to ensure an accurate understanding of the background of Chinese region and relevant requirements, the Project planning and design personnel should include at least one member proficient in Chinese.
F. The open application design agency (consortium) will provide prequalification application documents as per Requirements for Prequalification Application Documents, which include application materials and a concept design (the conceptual understanding of the Project). The conceptual proposal may adopt various forms to express the core concepts and ideas of the design, not exceeding ten pages in content. (See 3.1 of the Pre-qualification Documents for specific requirements.)
G. Please log in to the website or scan the QR code: http://hi07552w.mikecrm.com/sHrWFMN, and register the application information before 15:00 of June 30, 2022. Please fill in an accurate registration information (the content must be consistent with the prequalification application document submitted).
Competition rules (including schedule)
“Open tender” is adopted for this International Competition:
First stage – selection of open application prequalification: The prequalification committee will conduct a comprehensive review of the prequalification application documents of the open applicants. The review content includes the industry reputation, design experience, project performance, awards, proposed project team, and concept proposal of the applicant. The pre-qualification committee will adopt the combined method of open ballot voting and scoring to select six shortlisted agencies to enter the second stage- the conceptual design and Phase I architectural conceptual schematic design. At the same time, 2 alternative participating agencies (with ranking) will be selected, and the alternative agencies will substitute in order when the shortlisted agencies withdraw.
Second stage – the conceptual design and Phase I architectural conceptual schematic design: 6 shortlisted agencies will submit design scheme. The Host will set up a jury panel according to the rules and the top three winners (without ranking) are selected by voting and recommend to the Host.
Third stage – determining the winner: Based on respect toward opinions of the scheme review jury, the host ranks the top three places via voting.
Schedule
☆ All the time mentioned is Beijing time. The Host reserves the right to adjust the schedule. In case of schedule adjustment, the Host will notify the shortlisted agencies via email.
Design Fee
The winner determined after review of the selection jury will receive the subsequent design development contract, with the design development fee ceiling temporarily set at RMB 12 million yuan (including tax) (about US$1,795,000). Shortlisted agencies make their own quotation according to the scheme within the upper limit price.
Specific work content: Complete the architectural schematic design and investment estimation of Phase I (three high-rise buildings), with the schematic development reaching the depth of scheme construction application (including architectural specialty reaching the depth of preliminary design, In addition, the scheme design of the basement shall be undertaken by the general control design agency), cooperate with the Host on completing planning and approval of the schematic design, and cooperate with the preliminary design, construction drawing design and construction phase work of other specialties.
Bonus and Design Compensation Fee
After scheme review, the shortlisted agencies conforming to the design requirements shall get the following design compensation based on the ranking and the specific information is as follows:
Inquiry of Competition Information
WeChat official accounts：
一和研发 、ABBS建筑招标智库、archrace
Application deadline: 15:00 p.m. June 30, 2022
Organizing institutions:
Host：CCCC Urban Investment Jinhua Co.,Ltd
Competition organizater: Shenzhen Ehow R&D Center
Ms. Tian: +86 13312968676
Email: competition@ehow.net.cn（Beijing Time, Monday through Friday 9:00—18:00）
Request for Competition Rule, Design Brief and Relevant Materials
Download link of competition rules and related materials：https://pan.baidu.com/s/1XbqMKxA5bLo0fomd4GF4wA?pwd=5nx9. Password：5nx9
The applicant must first send the egistration form (see Competition Rules – Part II: Format of Prequalification Application Documents, ③Registration form) to the designated email address: competition@ehow.net.cn. After that, the organizer will send the Design Brief and other relevant materials to the applicant by email, and the applicant will have to prepare a concept design accordingly.
The announcement is published on AIMIR’s website now. If you want to know more following details regarding to this competition, please feel free to contact AIMIR. What’s more, you’re more than welcome to touch base with us if you need architectural visualization.
One of the advantages of architectural visualization is that it’s able to change the design at any time in a short turnaround. In this way, you can have a complete idea of the different plans before it’s built. Today, we’d like to share a project which is a perfect example of using 3D ArchViz to preview various plans.
Priscilla from ODP Architects brought their new design for a retail building with parking garage in South Florida, USA. The deadline was around the corner. They have proposed five plans for this project, and needed our help to bring them to life in front of the owner.
Let’s start the journey of how AIMIR completed 10 images in 6 days!
The Scope of Work
This project is aiming to create 10 images, one front view and one back view for each plan. All five plans are using silver metal façade combining greenery.
All 10 images were to be rendered in daytime. This is to showcase the structure more clearly.
2 images for each plan, a front view and a back view.
The adjacent building should match the site and needed to be grey mass. Because Priscilla wanted to emphasize the garage building.
The References
In order to help our 3D artists better understand the project, Priscilla shared many references, including:
The 3D models for five plans. They had prepared the models in 3ds Max format, which was ready to use after some fine-tuning. Given the tight schedule, the models really helped with the production process. Because building 3D models needs extra time.
The adjacent building was going to model as grey mass. Using grey masses for surrounding context can smartly emphasize the main building while keep the original landscape. On top of this, it is also time- and cost-saving. In this project, all glazing, mullions, parking slabs, columns and vegetation should match the adjacent building.
Façade metal material instructions has labeled metal materials used for each plan. It is one of the features of the designs, thus, the presented metal is vital in demonstrating the whole project. The reference material pictures helped our 3D artists quickly selected the accurate texture for the façade.
Metal material instructions for part of the plans.
The vegetation references indicated the required greenery type. This way, we were able to deal with the vegetation easily as instructed.
Vegetation references for Plan 2.
The landscape plan for trees and paving pattern. Priscilla attached a sketch which specified the location of trees, lighting poles, and paving pattern.
For such a complete references database, we started the production immediately.
The Working Process
Going along with our standard 3D rendering working process, our 3D artists firstly fine-tuned the 3D model and set the chosen camera angles for preview. Since the designs are eye-catching, we didn’t want to lose the uniqueness. As a result, we took care of the metal façade meticulously, especially Plan 1 and 4.
These two plans are using a draped screen over a parking garage that takes an amorphic shape. The screens, at the same time, function as a wire mesh. To present the streamlined metal façade, our 3D artists spent most of the time fine-tuning the materials during this stage.
Model drafts for five plans.
We didn’t stuck in the drafting stage too long, because Priscilla was satisfied with them. The next thing we did was to render them with the accurate material as the references instructed. In the post production stage, Priscilla asked us to guarantee the following:
Add people. Mix crowd but lean towards young professionals and tenants to showcase this dynamic community.
Populate the garage with cars.
Show storefront design on retail components. Also add people shopping to make the space feel activated.
Add trees and lighting poles according to the landscape plan.
Add greenery on the façade’s placeholders following the plantation references.
Also, in the last round, our 3D specialists created the daytime mood for all 10 images based on the sunlight direction provided by Priscilla. After all these were done, we presented the 3D images to Priscilla and she was excited to see the results were just as she needed. Here are the final images for her:
As you see, 3D rendering can help with visualizing your amazing designs and change them anytime. We are happy to help Priscilla and ODP Architects to visualize this stunning project. And we look forward to working with her again in the near future.
Need 3D renderings to express your concept with professional language? Contact our 17-year architectural visualization studio now and talk about your exciting project. We’re here to visualize your dream any time!
Thanks to the rapid development of high technology, today more and more architectural firms have access to 3D rendering services and can bear the cost. Designers and architects use it to present projects. But not all architects and designers have experience and skills to use 3D rendering services to the full. In addition, it requires expertise and some time. If you have no intention or ability of creating a rendering team on your own, then outsourcing is better than choosing to do it by yourself. In this way, you will access excellent rendering talents and equipment. As a 3D rendering company specialized in offering such a service, we are willing to share the reasons why you should outsource 3D rendering services. Let’s get started.
You can control the expenses on 3D rendering.
When you consider hiring an in-house rendering team for your company, you must realize that this will incur a significant expense involving salaries, office facilities, benefits, taxes and more. The better the visualization you want, the better your rendering team must be, which indicates that you have to pay more. On the one hand, you cannot make full use of your rendering team if you have a small number of projects, which means a waste of manpower and money. On the other hand, you should pay overtime to your overworked, overextended staff if there are lots of projects at the same time.
Outsourcing is a good choice that you can streamline your staff and then control your costs while preventing a decline in the quality of your products and services. By outsourcing 3D rendering, you also enjoy flexible services from veteran 3D artists. The difference is that you only have to pay the total cost of outsourcing. This is naturally more economical than hiring an entire in-house team! Fewer expenses but more gains!
You can get quality resources at your fingertips.
With the emergence of 3D architecture studios in the market, more and more industries tend to get professional support from them to enhance the competitiveness of their products or designs. To this day, it has become quite a mature business model for 3D rendering agencies to provide outsourcing services according to clients’ requirements. In this case, they are skilled and experienced in creating satisfactory renderings as well as timely adjusting their services.
As well, it is not enough to simply maintain the original strength to stand firm and remain competitive in today’s 3D rendering companies. 3D artists and agencies need to move forward, or they will fall behind. It requires them to constantly and regularly upgrade and improve their skills, software and tools. That is certainly great news for you. After all, it’s hard to ensure that your team is always up to date with cutting-edge technological developments and resources. More importantly, their employees need to invest more time and energy to acquire more knowledge and skills. All of this assures you that any first-class service will always be available, whenever and wherever you need it.
You can minimize the mistakesthroughout the process.
To create a3D rendering is a complex and delicate task. Sometimes it is inevitable to have mistakes, big or small. But even an error in size or angle can wreak havoc on a rendering project, which cannot be ignored. How can you reduce and avoid mistakes and errors? Outsourcing may help you. The project is undertaken by teams that specialize in 3D rendering. They are more professional, more perceptive, and more sensitive to minor details, so they are more likely to detect certain errors that are not readily apparent to others.
You can reduce the workload.
When you are in the architecture industry, you are bound to attend to numerous affairs days in and day out. If you want to take all matters into your own hand, the amount of work will be too burdensome. Sometimes you are tied up with other work and are not able to pay full attention to 3D renderings. While you need to prioritize everything, you should not scamp the rendering work because you have your hands full. After all, rendering effect not only directly decides whether or not you win clients, but also indirectly affects the image of your company. If you outsource this work to a professional team, it will undoubtedly reduce your workload so that you can have more energy to deal with other matters, spending relaxation time, devoting more time and working on getting clients.
You aren’t satisfied with the 3D rendering services near you.
Using 3D rendering outsourcing can break through geographical limitations. Render resources are unevenly distributed and the strengths of each studio vary. If local resources don’t meet your requirements, you are free to ask for help from talented teams around the world. And a professional company firm has the ability to provide a round the clock service based on the clients’ time zones. Why don’t you think about outsourcing to enjoy the freedom of flexibility and scalability?
You lack visual content to attract Clients
If you want to market your company’s services and make a name for yourself, social media accounts and official websites are your promotional positions today. And the content of the products and services on your accounts and websites are your business cards. If photos and words alone are not enough to attract people, it would be much better to use 3D renderings to make your presentation more powerful and memorable. Just imagine displaying your design concept beautifully in front of your audience. Does it bring you closer to your potential clients and convey your design inspiration and emotional attachment?
Now you may know why you should outsource 3D rendering services. Are you interested in getting the most compelling visuals for your project? AIMIR specializes in providing architectural visualization services. Use our 3D rendering services and we’ll turn your project into a powerful sales machine! We’re here to help move your ideas into reality.
