With the development of computer graphics, architectural visualization is gradually shifted from 2D to 3D. 3D archviz is not only the display of models and materials, but also the expression of atmosphere and design concepts. Therefore, we summarize some techniques that are proven practical in real projects to help architects better deliver their ideas.
The following two projects were optimized with the techniques we will show, and you can see the change in the overall effect:
Set perspectives like in architectural photography
Architectural rendering has much to do with photography. A proper perspective can tell your audience a lot about the design and atmosphere you want to create.
There are several perspectives that you should learn how to use in archviz:
Eye-level view: This is the most common perspective that can simulate human eye sight. For rendering, you should set the camera at a height of 150-180cm.
Aerial view: This view usually displays the building as well as the surrounding context. With a proper use of this perspective, you can create stunning works.
Worm's view: a view as seen from below or from a humble position. It allows you to fit very tall subjects in the frame, such as skyscrapers.
Nowadays, glass facade is widely used in architectural design as it provides both functional and aesthetic benefits. However, in archviz projects, many people ignore the surrounding environment resulting in a very messy reflection of the glass, thus destroying the overall aesthetic.
Before
After
In this project, the original glass facade reflected buildings around, and revealed harsh lighting inside the architecture. We placed a panel with a sky image on it on the opposite side, thus giving the glass a clear reflection of the sky.
Then we adjusted the transparency and roughness of the glass to a matte frosted effect. The overall vision becomes clean and fresh.
You can also use backdrop planes from the D5 Asset Library to quickly get a beautiful context.
Notice the contrast of warm and cold tones
Maintaining tonal balance is an important aspect of architectural rendering. Too cold or too warm tones can lead to visual imbalance and a flat, monotonous image.
If the overall environment seems cool, then adding some warm lighting is an ideal choice.
Surround your building with plants
Greenery is an integral part of architectural design. It not only softens the lines of the building, but also relaxes people's mood. In architectural visualization projects, we can follow the following principles to place plants:
Greenery close to the camera: shrubs and broad-leaved trees. You can increase the brightness of leaves a bit.
Greenery in between the buildings: tall trees like arbors.
Greenery far away: smaller trees with low crowns.
In this way, the greenery will form foreground, middle-ground and background for the image.
Another tip is to place warm lights under the trees to make them look soft and vivid.
How to place plants
Lights under the trees
Decorate the building's interior
In archviz projects, many will neglect the refinement of building interiors, resulting in a hollow, dissonant look, which is especially evident in large architectural projects. Here we provide two tips for quickly enriching building interiors:
Add lights to illuminate the building inside
Use Interior Parallaxes to decor the building windows with one click (Interior Parallax is a faux window display of decorated interior scenes)
Breathe life into your scene with animated models and particles
Nowadays, animation has become a hot trend on social media platforms. Architects are following this trend to attract more audiences. To make full use of this feature, you will need animated assets to work with it.
Yet it might be a bit difficult for individual designers or small businesses to make animation, because it's expensive to acquire both animation rendering tools and dynamic assets.
Here we recommend the rendering software D5 Render, which is free to use and has its own asset library with animated characters/plants/vehicles/particles.
