Often, the number of images that the client needs is not consistent with the scale or budget of their project. In this article, we offer you 5 tips to make the most of your budget when you order your architectural renders.
1. Quality or quantity?
We often receive emails like this one:
"We are designing a house and we will need 20 photorealistic renders to promote and sell the project. The images must be ready in 2 weeks."
Sometimes, as in this case, the number of images proposed by the client is not consistent with the scale, goal or total budget of the project.
From the start, we know that 20 photorealistic renders will entail an excessive cost for the visualization of a project with a small scale like a house.
This would make sense if we were visualizing a medium-large scale project, such as the offices of a large company, where there will be spacious, complex and unique spaces that will require to be visualized independently.
If the price for the images you have requested exceeds the budget you want to allocate to the visualization of your project, you have two options:
1. Work with another visualization studio, reducing the quality of your images.
2. Reduce the number of images you need to the minimum with which you can convey the idea of your project.
We have been creating images for our clients for over 15 years and there is something we are very clear about: the second option is always better.
You will prefer to make 3-4 very good images of a project, capable of catching the eye of whoever sees them and standing out from the rest, than to make 10-12 mediocre images that will go unnoticed among so much content that exists today.
That is why we always recommend doing the following exercise: choose the most significant viewpoints of the project, the minimum with which you can explain the idea of your project, leaving the viewer room to imagine the rest.
You don't need to show everything.
Show the strengths of the project, and set the bar as high as possible for the client to imagine the rest.
Here are our recommendations for different types of projects:
- Small-scale projects (for example, a single-family home): 3-6 images
- Medium-scale projects (for example, a contest for the construction of a school): 3-5 images
- Large-scale projects (for example, a large residential complex): 8-10 images
2. Include the 3D model of your project to optimize the budget of your architectural renders.
If you use BIM software, such as Archicad, Revit or Sketchup, you can export the 3D architectural model of your project, which will serve as a starting point for us to detail it and start working on your images.
We prefer that this 3D model does not include objects with complex geometry, such as furniture or vegetation. We will add these elements always taking into account the references that we ask you before starting the collaboration.
Don't worry if you can't include the 3D model of your project, it's something we can do for you. But keep in mind that, generally, this will entail a significant increase of 30-40% of the total cost of the collaboration.
3. Prepare and organize the source documents efficiently.
It is worth spending enough time on the pre-planning before starting the collaboration, so that we avoid redoing things later, which could increase your initial budget.
If you have a clear idea of how each element in the image will look like from the beginning, this will allow us to go straight to the final result.
We will create a project board in Milanote, and we will ask you to include references and descriptions for everything:
Environment and general lighting.
Furniture.
Vegetation.
We will review each phase of the project to make sure that the images always go in the direction you want. This way, we divide the process into:
- Review phase 1: Detailed model and general lighting.
- Review phase 2: Material progress.
- Review phase 3: Post-production progress.
- Review phase 4: Final adjustments and delivery.
The initial documentation must be final.
We will ask you to provide us with the final documents of the project from the beginning: plans, 3d model, material descriptions, lighting and references.
If in the middle of the collaboration you decide that we should replace the complete 3d model of the project, this will imply that we have to go back to the first phases of image development, which could mean an increase in your budget.
Don't worry, we are flexible, and as architects we understand that there are always last-minute design changes. The important thing is that these changes are easily achievable, and do not imply a significant setback.
4. Do you really need your renders so urgently?
One of the factors that affect our budgets is the delivery date. If you need your images very urgently, we may have to make an extra effort to get your images ready on time, including overtime or adding additional members to the development team of your project.
If you are flexible with your delivery date, we will be able to offer you our best price.
5. Give us some creative freedom.
For example, you might want to use a specific piece of furniture that you have seen in a picture.
If instead of modeling that object, you allow us to use a similar one from our libraries, we will be saving time, and therefore, money.
A tip is to always choose elements from well-known brands, as they usually have the 3D model available for us to have a starting point to work on, without having to add extra costs to your budget.
At Render4tomorrow, we create architectural images to showcase your projects in the most realistic way possible without breaking the delicate balance between dream and reality.
Do you want to visualize your project? Fill out this form and receive your quote in the next few hours.