We have put together a few guidelines to help you when working with a 3D Architectural Illustration company. We are always glad to talk with clients about the process, so feel free to call (847) 546-3901 and talk with Jennifer any time.

You can download a print-ready form of this document as a PDF from Here.

Advantages to using 3D Architectural Illustrations

Enhance Marketing:  3D Architectural Renderings give viewers an eye-catching view of a project in multiple forms of media that enhances perception of your company and product.  3D renderings give the customer the ability to view the environment from many angles, inside or outside, and to understand better what they are buying long before it is built.

  
Improve Understanding:   3D renderings can graphically simplify complex designs and details, making the design instantly understandable to a large number of people, particularly those that have trouble visualizing your design from a 2D print.  Since the design can be viewed from multiple vantage points without extra cost, your clients get a better sense of the scale of your design.    3D images can be generated in any phase of the design, from initial massing models, to low-resolution models, through high-resolution models for construction signs and billboards.

Evaluate Color Schemes:  Our 3D tools can create or replicate almost any building material, simulate any landscape environment, and accurately depict lighting effects while producing true-to-life images.  Revisions are quick, and unlike traditional hand-drawn methods, you don’t need to start again from scratch when a change occurs.

Make More Informed Design Decisions: Often times our clients see their building in an entirely new light, and can make informed decisions on things that need to be changed well before they are built. By helping to get it right the first time, our 3D Renderings save expenses and can reduce the overall project duration.

Improve Bid Accuracy: 3D Renderings of your design helps to eliminate the chance for design interpretation issues.  Contractors understand projects better, and this takes some of the guesswork out of bidding.  Better communication leads to more accurate bids.

Smooth Government Approvals:  3D Renderings of a proposed building take away the uncertainty and gives local officials confidence in approving your project.   

What goes in to Project Estimations?

Just as it is for architects and designers, every project we do is different from the next, and the cost involved depends entirely on the work involved.   It is our hope that this document helps you to understand more about what goes into the production of a 3D rendering, and the cost drivers.   With most clients we provide a no-nonsense guaranteed maximum price estimate for projects, and bill for actual time used up to that point.  Costs will not exceed unless there is a significant change in the design along the way, and spending time up-front to communicate with you helps to improve the accuracy of our estimates.

Contact Jennifer for more details on some recent projects and the final costs involved with them.   This will give you a ballpark, good faith idea of what a typical project can involve.  Again, each project is different, and we can discuss pricing once plans are available.

The main factors that affect the cost of a project are…

Details of the model:  Basically, how complex the building design is. 

 
The desired level of detail and image size:  There is no sense paying for details you do not need or want, or for details that will not be seen in the size images you need.    If you are looking for something for a brochure and not a billboard, then we can dial-down the detail and save you money.  We can also do non-photorealistic low-detail painterly images for early design stages, and for use with local governments.  This work can be further refined for later higher-resolution renderings.

Number of views required:  To keep costs to a minimum, we do not model anything that isn’t visible in the view(s) you need.  Unlike most studios, we do not charge per-view..  We charge for producing the render-ready 3d model no matter how many images are produced, and estimate a typical amount of time for rendering management overhead.   Often times multiple rendered views can be produced with minimal or no additional 3d modeling. 

The format the design data is in:  Will it be CAD drawings, or hand-drawn plans?  Hand drawings can take more time, as we need to create more data in our systems.  AutoCAD files are preferred, but we can work from a paper napkin if needed.  A SketchUp or Revit 3d model may save some time, too.

Animation or still-images:  Because our render farm is in-house, we do not experience the high cost of outsourcing our renderings, and pass that savings on to our customers. There is a modest amount of expected overhead involved with rendering high-resolution images and animations, and that is always factored into a quote. There is more render management time involved with an animation, and additional time to compile and burn DVDs, and we factor some amount of manpower in to our estimates.

Special Services:  Services such as an aerial view that requires a fly-over, or any live-action videography or voice-overs for a sales DVD.  For most projects we handle videography and DVD/video production in-house to keep your costs to a minimum while still providing a high quality product.

For most clients we will generate a Guaranteed Maximum Price Estimate based on the scope of the project and your budget, and work from there.

Common Questions about the Production Cycle

What do we need to begin?

 * Plans, Elevations and Sections in CAD format or hand drawings.

 * An understanding of what you want seen to help define the scope of work.  For animations, this will also involve developing a storyboard to ensure we are all on the same page as to what will be created for you, before moving too far forward in the project.

What aids the creation process?

 * Any existing color renderings and SketchUp / Revit models, if they exist. 

 * Material Samples (tiles, wallpaper, etc).  We’ll need this once the 3d model is nearing completion, and you can always change your mind along the way.

 * For projects that include animation, an animation script.  We usually work closely with the client on the development of the script and related  storyboards. 

 * Photos of the existing site.  If the area is local, we can take care of that.   This helps to define surrounding buildings and landscape for renderings.

What can easily be changed at any time without additional cost?

 * Textures such as floor coverings, wall types (stucco, brick, etc), upholstery, etc.

 * Colors of objects.

 * Camera views - provided the new view includes 3d details already modeled.  For instance, if you wanted a front view of a building and later added the need for a back view, we’ll need to create those 3d objects on the back of the building in order to render that view, and that would be an additional cost.    Changing the camera view within existing objects is no cost.

What might generate additional cost?

 * Significant revisions to the 3d model. Most changes we get fit within our initial estimates, and with our advanced tools most changes are quick and easy. That said, sometimes things are completely different and we have to start over.

 * Drastically different viewpoints requiring additional 3D modeling.  To save you money we only model what we’ll see in the images, so deciding, for instance, that you want to see the front and the back of a building when only the front was quoted, will require a revised quote.

 * Any significant change in need for custom 3D libraries for furniture, Plants, Cars, etc.   We have an extensive library of 2D and 3D objects to populate your scene, which greatly reduces the need for special objects. We'll also work with you to define your needs up-front.

Since most people have difficulty 'seeing' designs in their mind's eye, we find that what the client sees in photo-real 3d can often drive changes. The end-result is a building that is what the client expects will be built, and that can result in greater client satisfaction and reduced changes during the construction phase.  3D Visualization helps designer and client make informed decisions early in the design process when it is relatively easy to change, and this is part of the beauty and power of our services.

3D model changes can be quick and easy, depending on the change.  We work to stay on the forefront of 3d modeling technology to provide the fastest, most efficient and editable models we can.   Whatever we can do to make changes quick and easy for us saves you money and keeps you coming back.

What is the 3D Design Process?

There are six major steps to this process:

 1: CAD Conversion, or creation of CAD data from prints.  With existing 2D CAD drawings the data is simplified down to what will be used to create the 3D building.

 2: 3D Modeling – converting the 2D CAD data to 3D.  We use combinations of hybrid Solid Modeling software and the latest 3D Building Modelers and design tools.  We continually strive to invest in and learn the latest tools and techniques to do our work faster and better.  Clients will get preliminary images along the way to ensure that the building is as expected, and to answer any questions we may have. Changes can be made at any point.

 3: Texturing – applying brick, glass, carpet, and so on, to the 3d objects.

 4: Lighting – we can simulate accurate interior and exterior lighting conditions so you get a highly realistic image that can even represent a particular location on Earth and time of day.

 5: Animation Scripting – animation can be as simple for us as moving the camera through the 3D scene and clicking ‘render’, or can involve multiple cameras in numerous rooms that fade from one to the other over time, and require the production of DVDs and multimedia files for Internet playback. 

 6: Rendering – the process of creating the final image or animation.  Clients usually get test still-images along the way to ensure that the views and materials are as expected.  In the case of animations, a gray-shaded test animation is also provided to validate the camera path.

How is the rendering or animation provided to the client?

We can provide the render image files in a variety of formats and sizes for use in your own documents and prints, and we can also arrange for large-format printing.   Most clients arrange for their own printing. We can produce short runs of DVD and CDs, and can arrange for mass production if required.  Once we can define your needs, we can help to itemize the cost.

We can provide low and high resolution images, sized to match everything from web sites all the way to billboards.  We can provide any image format and size you need for your marketing materials, including:

Image Files:

Exterior Perspective Renderings.
Exterior Elevation and Plan-view Renderings.
Interior  Rendered Plan Views with furniture and fixtures.
Interior  Perspective views.

Animation files:

Animations are rendered at DVD or High-Def resolution, and can be down-sized for playback on computers, and for download and streaming off the Internet

DVD and High-Definition video for playback on standard or Blu-Ray equipment.

Apple QuickTime and Windows AVI  formats for computer playback.

Windows WMV, RealPlayer and Apple Internet Streaming web formats.

Apple QuickTime VR, 360-degree environments.

Prints:

We can produce portrait size and quality images, and can arrange for other printing at local large-format print services.

Photo-quality Portraits to 13x19, in-house. 
Additional sizes per service bureau. 

Copyright Jennifer O'Connor and 4D Artists, Inc. No portion may be used without expressed, written consent.

4D Artists, Inc. is a woman-owned business enterprise. We can be reached at info at 4da-inc dot com, and at (847) 546-3901.

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