3D rendering can be very helpful in visualizing and designing the exterior of a building project. It allows architects, designers, and developers to create a realistic, computer-generated image of the building’s exterior design before construction begins. Using 3D rendering, different design options can be explored and compared in terms of aesthetics, functionality, and feasibility. It can help identify potential design flaws, allowing for adjustments to be made before construction begins. Additionally, architectural visualization can be used to create visual representations of the building’s exterior design for presentations to stakeholders, investors, and potential buyers.
Ryan from Murfey Company is planning to build an 8-story apartment on Fifth Avenue, San Diego, California, USA. Thus, to ensure the building’s exterior design meets the desired aesthetic and functional goals while also addressing any practical considerations such as zoning regulations and building codes, AIMIR created three exterior renders for this apartment. Now, let’s take a tour to see the process of visualizing this structure.
3D Rendering Process for Secoya Apartment
#Stage 1: Briefing
Secoya apartment is a new way of living. It is an iconic, 8-story, 100 unit community of modern apartment homes located less than one block from Balboa Park. On the ground floor, retail and amenity spaces provide convenience living for all residence. Despite its density of over 400 units per acre, Secoya contains a variety of common areas for residents to enjoy including a landscaped courtyard, spa, and rooftop terrace.
Requested by Ryan, we needed to create three renders for this apartment. They are:
A street view of the overall building. Should be the same as the render draft our client did before;
A view looking at the building heading north on Fifth Ave;
A view heading west on Redwood Street.
That’s basically a render package to demonstrate the structure from different angles.
At the same time, more information were provided to help our 3D team understand this structure more. We’ve received:
A SketchUp model.
The site plan. This is to help get an overall idea of the site, including the location, property boundaries, easements, and landscaping arrangement.
Mood references. Ryan typically listed the atmosphere he wanted for each of the images. He described clearly the time, season, sky, lights, and other activities in the images.
Floor plans. They provide detailed drawings that show the layout of this apartment. In this way, we know the arrangement and dimensions of rooms, windows, and other features.
Elevations. These exterior views are clear visual representations of the building appearance design.
Landscape plan. Especially, Ryan shared the plant schedule that he emphasized on some of the plants to be showed in the images.
#Stage 2: 3D Modeling
The SketchUp model had elevated the modeling process a lot. Although it cannot be used directly, we saved time creating the model. So, what we did was to input the model into 3ds Max, and fine-tune it. During the process, our 3D modeler needed to remake the geometry, such as a missing face or flipped normal. Anyway, a SketchUp model saves time in 3D modeling process.
Because there are some materials attached in the original model, the 3D model drafts are like this:
Ryan and his team responded fast on the model drafts. In particular, they mentioned the balcony railings. Actually, they are exquisitely designed to fit the apartment. As a result, Ryan shared the balcony handrail design and commented on the drafts:
They’d like to update the mural design. So remove the current mural and smooth the white stucco;
Update the vertical mullions aligning to the steps in the ceiling on the storefront;
Make screens less transparent.
After updating the new model, the next step we would add colors on the structure.
#Stage 3: Applying Materials and Textures, Lighting, and Post-production
As an all-concrete structure, this apartment is more than that. Our 3D artists strictly followed our client’s design concept, and selected the matching materials. In addition, materials and textures stage is a crucial part of the 3D rendering process, as it can greatly impact the final look and feel of the 3D scene.
After learning the instructions about the mood and activities Ryan shared in the first place, our 3D artists selected the proper sky for each image. Furthermore, 3D specialists adjusted the lighting based on the sky, and added people, cars, and activities in each scene.
At last, the colored drafts were here as below:
When receiving these drafts, Ryan commented on some detailed parts such as the lightings and plants. In all, he wanted to:
Relocate some of the balcony lights, and remove some at the same time;
Reduce the motion blur of the cars in foreground;
Thin out one of the Jacaranda trees and make it able to see more through;
Differentiate the plants on the balcony.
As a consequence, our 3D specialists modified these details and Ryan agreed to move forward and get the final rendered images! Here are the final 3D renders for Secoya Apartment:
The Secoya Apartment finished construction and open to home buyers in October 2022. Before it’s complete, Ryan and the marketing team use the renders for advertising this apartment. Now, when we see the structure’s photos, we’re surprised by the similarity of the photos and the renderings. The photos are here:
It was sheer pleasure working with Ryan and his team. Although they have changed the design during the process, the communication was efficient and clear. Firstly, the notes on drafts are super clear and consistent. They’re experts in giving comments. Secondly, the briefing is excellent. All types of materials are provided at their convinence. At last, they know how to save time in 3D rendering process. For example, they provided balcony railing design files to articulate this complicated part. Also, when they wanted to update the plan, they only sent the updated part instead of the whole model. This greatly saved time in the process, and brought results that makes both sides happy.
Want to sell your property faster? Thinking about hiring a professional 3D team for visualizing your project? Talk to our project manager now and get a free quote for your project. AIMIR is always here delivering head-turning 3D architectural visuals for the world.
By producing high-quality, photorealistic images and animations of the interior design, 3D rendering can be a valuable tool for expediting a project. You may hire a team or do it yourself quickly and effectively generate visuals that best highlight your design by building accurate and detailed 3D models and rendering them in a realistic manner. Let’s see how to speed up an interior project using Interior Rendering Services.
Z Residence is a luxury house in Tokyo, Japan. 2 kilometers from the Tokyo Tower, this three-story property is nestled next to the Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park. Tomo from SAAD is one of our friends in Japan, this time, he requested our 3D team to create 10 renders to show the majestic interior design.
Interior Rendering Process for Z Residence
#Stage 1: Briefing
As we mentioned millions of times, a good 3D rendering brief can be the accelerator of a project. To help the 3D team work fast and efficiently, we will take this project as a good example of how to provide a 3D rendering brief. Tomo, as we collaborated many times since 2016, is the expert in briefing. Here is the clear, concise brief with accurate and detailed information:
A Rhino model. A basic model that has the spaces created. It needs further refinement.
The elevations. Since it is an interior project, we don’t actually need information of the exterior design. However, understanding the whole picture is necessary to creating accurate interior images.
Floorplans and Views. Tomo kindly marked the camera angles, aka the views, in the floor plans. We’ve got all floorplans for three floors, the basement, and the roof. In total, we needed to create 10 images, which are: one entry, two pool, four master room and ensuite, one kitchen, one living room, and one dining room.
Material board. This material board outlines various materials as well as names and textures of different parts of the building, both exterior and interior.
Furniture layout. Because the model has no furniture for most of the rooms, this file marks details of furniture including location, design, brand (if available), color, and reference images.
Landscape plan. Since some of the views include outdoor scenes especially the garden, we’ve received the landscape plan for the garden. In this plan, the plantations are listed clearly with reference images.
Site location
Elevations
Floor plans and views
Material board
Furniture layout
Landscape plan
After studying these files, our 3D modeler started to create the 3D models for this interior space.
#Stage 2: 3D Modeling
At AIMIR, we use 3ds Max to create 3D models for most of the times. A stunning 3D model is the key to make the work stand out.
The first thing we did was to input the Rhino model into the 3ds Max, sorting the lines, materials, and geometry, fine-tuning it. One of the key things to keep in mind in this step is to create with a clear picture of the whole project in mind. This will keep our 3D modeler stay focused on the aim.
This time, we paid great attention to the lighting and shading while creating accurate models. This is because proper lighting and shading are of great help for making models look realistic. For this luxury house with many large windows, we believe it is vital to use lighting and shading techniques. In the end, we shared ten views in the 3D model and Tomo was happy with them so that we could move forward to next stage.
Rhino model
3D model
#Stage 3: Applying Materials, Textures and Lighting
In order to create photorealistic scenes, our 3D artists firstly selected the materials and textures strictly based on the material board. At the meantime, set or adjust the lighting according to the scenes. Eventually, the colored drafts were completed and shared.
When we shared the colored drafts to Tomo, he replied back with comments. Especially, he wanted to:
Change the finishes of marble walls, benchtops, cabinets to matt;
Make the color of the glass darker;
Change the color of the pendants;
Add white appliances such as Miele microwave and oven.
In the meanwhile, we adjusted the drafts with the help of these comments. Soon, we moved to the next stage.
#Stage 4: Rendering and Post-production
In this stage, our 3D artists refined the scene to make it more realistic by rendering and post-production. During the process, the scenes were rendered in the rendering software and then added or adjusted the details in Photoshop. Furthermore, Tomo’s comments for the drafts are as below:
Adjust the concrete wall texture;
Add steel entrance door;
Change a couple of décors such as the carpet and blanket.
After all of the comments were modified, we shared the drafts to Tomo. He approved them and loved the images a lot. To specify this process, our professional project manager and art director was involved. This is to guarantee the quality of the work as well as the efficiency of communication between clients and our 3D team. This is our Quality Control system, you can check this article here for more details on how we guarantee the quality.
#Stage 5: Final Delivery of High-res 3D Renders
We created ten interior 3D renderings for Z residence. Please enjoy this luxury house in Tokyo.
We have to say we really love this amazing house. Our team enjoyed working with Tomo and would like to work on more architectural visualization project together. What’s more, with the help of 3D interior renders, we believe this house is a welcoming home for its future owners.
Love the renders? Want to discuss your interior project? Looking for a professional 3D team to take care of your exciting project? Contact us at AIMIR and get a free quotation for your interior or exterior project, and we’ll provide the best solution for your buildings!
As part of our annual tradition, we’d like to recap some of the best residential 3D rendering projects completed in 2022. These data are collected from our website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Behance, Twitter and other platforms.
In 2022, AIMIR has delivered various types of ArchViz projects to our clients and partners across the globe. Some of them remain confidential (due to the signed NDA), but some other projects are already loved by our audience or ready to be loved.
Therefore, from luxury houses to seaside apartments, here are 8 architectural visualization stories from 2022 (don’t miss out the bonus project in the end!):
This project is a luxury private villa in Desert Palisades, Palm Springs, California. The architect was looking for 3D images to showcase key effects and demonstrate the design details of the structure before it’s built. To support their intention and at the same time develop the design stage of the project, we created these persuasive 3D exterior renderings.
From building the 3D model from CAD plans to the final processing of the scene, our 3D team dedicated to giving life to this house by adding explicit details.
This mega mansion is no doubt a gorgeous house to stay. All walls are smooth white stucco, with traditional and beautiful brown roof tiles. Nestled in deep wood, our visuals of this private villa aim to have a lasting impact on the viewers through photorealistic materials and inspirational environment.
The 3D exterior rendering process started with a Revit model. After importing the model to 3ds Max rendering software, our 3D artists applied the materials and textures. This is a crucial part because a realistic render starts from its materials. This project belongs to one of our most talented clients based on U.S. who has a unique design style. Check out more American residential design here.
The latest proposal “Butterfly House” is listed in Beverly Hills, California, for $45 million. Having majestic views of Downtown Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean, this megamansion is inspired by the wings of birds and butterflies. AIMIR’s 3D exterior renderings help present the design of the structure, especially the wing-shape ceilings, the relocated swimming pool and extreme large terrace on the main floor. Meanwhile, in the interior rendering, our 3D artists emphasize the furniture layout and selection by creating a unique and welcoming atmosphere.
Tianyu Peninsula is a luxury apartment in Guangzhou, China. Located along the riverbank of Zhu Jiang, or Pearl River, Tianyu Peninsula has spectacular views of the river and the beautiful garden along it. This place promised to be a true pleasure to live in with its elegant and comfortable interior design, and our client needed these images for the upcoming interior construction project.
Our 3D artists started from the CAD plans and floor plans and built a model for these spaces. Besides, the photorealistic materials and textures definitely give this apartment a welcoming vibe for the viewers. We’re happy to know that this project is finished and we’re waiting for more site photos from our client.
Facing the Surfside Beach, Hillcrest Surfside is a 10-story residential structure with a basement for parking and a rooftop. The project size is 58,980 square feet. There is an infinity edge swimming pool on ground floor, along with some stairs that go down to the rear yard. For the façade, Hillcrest mainly uses glass walls with vertical louvers. These Carlisle windows with bronze non-reflective texture add a shimmering skin under the sun.
Learn more about 3D modeling and rendering in this project! AIMIR’s 3D images help our client to report and get approved by the city council. In 2021 and 2022, we worked with our client to design and create visuals for countless versions for this project.
A strong case to learn how 3D renderings help elevate the design process and final presentation. When it comes to different plans of interior design, 3D ArchViz is the game-changer. This high-end property took about five months to complete all interior images, and the final result turned to be exiting. Our 3D renders depict various inner spaces of this luxurious house from the kitchen, family room, living room and even the stair space, to give its future owner a clear idea of the place they’ll live in.
This is a private property that the construction was nearly finished except the outdoor garden section. Our client hoped to have a persuasive 3D exterior rendering to market this property in advance. Designed in a natural context, this residence achieves a perfect harmony with nature with light-colored exterior and concrete walls. In the visual, our 3D artists complete the whole design with the garden and set the lighting in a calming atmosphere.
Located in Rancate, Switzerland, this structure is a two-story apartment building bearing a modern style with a roof floor and an underground floor. In our 3D renderings, not only the exterior of the residence is demonstrated in various views, we also arranged different stories that show how the SPA, pool area, parking space, and interiors accommodate the needs for its future dwellers.
This residence in Switzerland bears a modern style. In our 3D renderings, not only the exterior of the residence is demonstrated in various views, we also arranged different stories that show how the SPA, pool area, parking space, and interiors accommodate the needs for its users.
Don’t miss out the collection case study of residences in North America. No matter you’re working on a residential project, or looking for reliable 3D architectural visualization team in North America, this blog will give you an idea about how residential projects and 3D renderings look like in North America.
Above wraps up the best 8 ArchViz residential projects (and the bonus!) from 2022. From exterior to interior, image to animation, we are always on our way to deliver the best 3D rendering services to the world.
Professionals from architecture, construction and real estate industries never hesitate on using architectural 3D rendering services to sell their designs. Given the promising results, 3D renders are able to escalate the presentation and then boost the sales. In fact, 3D rendering can show various aspects of an architecture such as the exterior, interior
In this blog, we’d like to introduce an amazing architecture: a residential building in Rancate, Switzerland. It is a two-story apartment building bearing a modern style with a roof floor and an underground floor. In our 3D renderings, not only the exterior of the residence is demonstrated in various views, we also arranged different stories that show how the SPA, pool area, parking space, and interiors accommodate the needs for its future dwellers.
Based in Milan, Italy, ASArchitectti is an architectural design studio that pays attention to sustainability and human living. Alessandro was looking for top quality 3D images for his design. Now, let’s explore the story behind this apartment together!
Before the Start: Briefing
Located in the center of a residential community in Rancate, Switzerland, Rancate Residential will be a modern space for locals to embrace the nature while enjoying high-standard living. We at AIMIR had assembled a team with a project manager and a small group of 3D artists to take care of this project specially. We do this all the time, that means each project, no matter small or large scale, has a special team and one-on-one service. This is to guarantee the quality of the final works and the delivery time.
Back to the first step, our professional project manager had a short kick-off meeting with Alessandro. During the meeting, we’ve figured out the vision of this project, and what materials and information he could provide at this stage. Also, we’ve clarified our 3D rendering process and how it worked. After the meeting, we’ve sorted the files Alessandro provided, they are:
The location and site photos. The precise location help us understand the surrounding context, and the site photos are used for composing the background of the final image.
The design. This time, Alessandro brought us the CAD plans. As a standard stage, our 3D artists would build 3D models based on these plans.
The material and texture references. These references are important because they clearly indicates the texture and material for each objects and surfaces. In the CAD plans, Alessandro had included the materials for the exterior of the building.
The camera angles, aka the views. Alessandro shared the camera angles he wanted for this project. Apart from some exteriors and interiors, he also wanted some simple 2D floor plans to help his client understand the design easily.
The furniture selection and layout plan. The furniture in each room is carefully selected.
The moods. Usually, the mood is a key factor determining the overall mood of a 3D rendering. For this project, we used photomontage that composed the 3D model of the building with the actual site photos. In this way, the moods of the final rendering are the same with the photos.
When everything was ready, we started with building the models for exterior and interior separately.
3D Exterior Rendering Services
Step 1: Building the 3D Model
The next step was to create the 3D model for exterior. Based on the CAD plans, our 3D artists built the 3D model from scratch. At AIMIR, we usually use 3ds Max for model processing.
During the 3D modeling process, Alessandro’s team changed a bit of the design including balcony and terrace details, U elements on the fronts and the elevator tower. When we received the updated CAD drawings, we modified the 3D model based on them. The final 3D model is like this:
As to the landscape, the garden area plan we’ve received was very clear. We used it as references when building the model. Meanwhile, the vegetation plan was very helpful when selecting plants for the renderings.
Step 2: Adding Materials, Textures, Lighting and Post-production
After the 3D model is finished and confirmed, the next stage came to the material and texture application. This is the crucial part because the realism of the final images depends on the quality of materials and textures.
In order to create the best and most realistic scene, our 3D artists strictly follow the references Alessandro provided. After looking for the same or most similar materials, we adjusted the lighting based on the mood of the photo. This was to guarantee the consistency of the image. At the same time, we added some people that were involved in the activities to enhance the living atmosphere.
When Alessandro received the color drafts, he marked up some of the minor things that to be adjusted. Below are the marked-up version and updated final image of one of the exterior views.
Step 3: Small Adjustments and Final Delivery
As stated in the previous step, we made some small adjustments to each image, and the final images were done after that! There are three exterior views in total, each of them showcases the residential building under different time of a day. Please enjoy the final exterior renderings:
The truth is we carried out the production of interior renderings at the same time with the exterior ones. The reason why we separate the process of them is to make the process more clear.
3D Interior Rendering Process
The same with exteriors, our 3D specialists built the interior models according to the CAD plans. During this stage, we arranged the furniture in the position as the references. After the model is confirmed, realistic materials and textures were added. Then the lighting was set to bake the mood of the interior space. After some tiny modifications in the post-process, the images were ready to deliver!
We have created four interior renderings for this apartment which are two living rooms, a parking level, and a SPA space.
2D or 3D floor plan is the simplest way to show the layout and dimensions of each room for architects, interior designer, real estate agents and developers. 3D floor plan is vivid and realistic but this time, Alessandro only needed 2D floor plans for simple explanation.
This is a both time- and cost-saving process. Please check the 2D plans for this apartment.
Conclusion
Do you like these renderings for this unique apartment in Switzerland? No matter you’re an architect, interior designer, real estate professional, or you’re thinking of taking 3D rendering as a career, we hope this blog has clearly introduced the exterior and interior 3D rendering process as well as the 2D floor plans.
Talk to us today about your exciting project and see how we going to bring it to life with magic hands!
Both exterior and interior of residential renderings are able to show architectural designs of any scale. And of course, in North America, residential projects such as apartments, units, houses and villas are demonstrated with the help of 3D rendering services in order to market or report in a more story-telling way.
If you are looking for 3D rendering services or 3D architectural visualization studios in North America, you may have a look at these six projects here. We’ve summarized these projects with clear and detailed rendering process to give you an idea about how residential 3D renderings look like in North America.
M Residence is a 2-story luxurious property in California, USA. Our client is its interior designer and was looking for 3D renderings to show the owner how this house would look like in advance. We are delighted to work with Joo, the interior designer, to give this property an impressive look by redesign with Joo for four times.
The most challenging part of this interior visualization project comes to the redesigning. There were inevitable changes in the design due to various reasons. During this, Joo prepared the information for updated plans in advance, which really elevated the working process.
Situated on Main Street in Hackensack, New Jersey, USA, this mixed-use project features an underground parking level, retails, fitness and coffee shops on the ground level, and apartments on upper residential stories. Our client was looking for one view only. However, our 3D team realized there could be better views and moods to demonstrate this building. When we delivered our suggestions with the renderings (yes, we designed the 3D visuals for better persuasion), our client was extremely surprised and impressed by our images. At last, he used our images for reporting and the result turned to be satisfying.
Royal Manor Residential is a 3-story apartment building with 25 units in Canada. This is a project which we created from the very beginning, because we only received a conceptual sketch when we started the project.
What we did was to create the 3D model with our client together. During the process, we gave our professional suggestions while our client enrich the design details. Since the plan didn’t include any materials, the rendering job was challengeable as well. Our 3D artists created the rendering draft with our own understanding based on our professional experience. At last, the design was confirmed with our client’s help after a couple of rounds drafting.
This is the very first commissioned project we’ve done with Corona Renderer back in 2019. Located in Atlanta, USA, this palatial property asked for highly exquisite details with 100% customized furniture and fittings. It’s crazy that everything you see in the image was customized. Our client was very satisfied with the result and their clients were sold immediately when they saw the renderings.
Located in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains in Beverly Hills, California, USA, this mega mansion is welcoming a new design which proposed for $45 million. And our studio helped create 3D renderings of this future house in the majestic view of downtown Los Angeles.
The challenge was to select fine furniture and its layout. Our client stressed the importance of furniture selection and layout for this mega mansion. At last, we designed the interior furnishing and layout together with the help of our client.
This is a 3D walkthrough of Dareus Residence in Florida, USA. The 3D animation follows a classic path where it starts from the front view and then goes around the house 360 degree. In this way, the whole exterior of the structure is clear to its viewers. During the production process, our client paid extra attention on the landscaping especially the vegetation around. Also, there were a couple of design changes during the process after we compounded the keyframes. But we’ve modified the model according to the updated plan.
What do you think about these residential projects in North America? Our 3D visualization works have helped hundreds of architects and designers in North America preview the unbuilt and demonstrate their visions. As a 17-year architectural visualization studio, we hope these case studies can build your confidence in our expertise and professionalism.
