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Residential Architectural Rendering Made Easy

22 June 2020
Shalini John
architectural rendering

Architectural 3D rendering can help identify potential challenges early in the design process and showcase design ideas effectively with both partners and clients. A rendered image can provide a realistic and detailed view of the home. There are 3 main types of 3D rendering: exterior, interior and aerial.

  • Interior 3D Rendering – It includes a 3D view of the floor, furnishings and lighting within the home.
  • Exterior Rendering – An elevational view of façades, lighting, shadows, reflections, vegetation and landscape, so that viewers understand how the home relates to the environment.
  • Aerial Rendering – A view from the top, this perspective includes landscapes and surrounding buildings.

Each type of 3D rendering can be presented in a certain rendering style. Generally, all 3 types will be portrayed in the same style to maintain continuity and to provide accurate views. Some of the rendering styles that have developed as a result even borrow names and approaches from the world of cinema. The more popular styles include the following:

The Theodore
  • Warm tones to portray natural light for a relaxed, cosy ambience inside
  • Diffused lighting, bright backgrounds and airy spaces
  • Name taken from Her movie’s Theodore character
  • People and plants added for lively spaces that are attractive and functional.
  • Good to showcase spacious living areas

Whodunnit
  • Uses cold colour tones (dark blue, dark green), low saturation, high contrast
  • Highlights angular shapes and modern materials
  • Cloudy, stormy skies, shadowy silhouettes for dramatic effect
  • Inspired by high-violence detective movies, projects modern minimalism
  • Accentuates modern and sophisticated architectural design
  • Highlights the most important feature in a room

Authentic/Photorealistic
  • Natural lighting, shadowing and colours for photorealism
  • Difficult to accomplish
  • Visualises how light moves during the day

The Katherine Heigl

For exteriors, high colour saturation, over-lighting, many laughing, talking people in the background for a romantic and happy setting (named after the actress in numerous romantic comedies with happy endings)

Sketching and Watercolour Style
  • Extreme stylised features, aesthetic colours, textures
  • Layers and styles used to create a mood or emotion
  • Not necessarily accurate architectural depiction

The Gondry
  • Named after Michel Gondry, attractive modern style
  • Collage-like, with 3D object renders, photographs, drawings
  • Each render is unique.
  • Used for modern, luxury homes

Architectural 3D rendering software tools enable sketching and water-colouring styles with a range of colours and textures. Homebuilding firms and real estate developers can effectively share residential designs with potential customers with the use of homebuilder 3D rendered images and VR and can even change or modify designs to customise homes. Many firms hire offshore companies to provide architectural 3D rendering services with fast turnaround times and for accurate, cost-effective images.

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