A Detailed Guide on 3D Exterior Rendering: Process, Benefits & Tips

In today's modern architectural industry, design visualization serves as a building block in decision-making and project approval. Since traditional blueprints and 2D drawings have failed to communicate the true essence of designs, 3D exterior rendering takes its place by creating highly detailed representations of buildings.

They are helping architects, real-estate agents, and developers in presenting their projects with clarity, so the expense for modifications during the construction phase can be eliminated. If you are a 3D artist new to exterior visualization, thoroughly read this guide and clarify your concepts. From the basics of 3D exterior rendering to its benefits, processes, rendering time, and tips, you will find all the details here. 

Part 1. What is 3D Exterior Rendering?

3D exterior rendering is a computer-generated visualization of a building's exterior features, such as doors and windows, along with surrounding elements like landscaping and other buildings. In simple terms, it's a process of creating realistic 3D building exterior images through computer graphics. To stimulate the appearance of materials like glass, wood, or metal, advanced computer software or 3D renderers are utilized.

They portray realistic lighting effects and show how artificial lighting and sunlight change structures at different hours. Overall, architectural exterior rendering serves as a communication bridge between clients, architects, and stakeholders in projects, preventing misunderstanding and fostering informed decisions.

Part 2. 3D Exterior Rendering Process in Glance

Remember that creating an exterior 3D design is a challenging task and requires technical expertise combined with artistic vision. Therefore, the following is a breakdown of this multi-step journey to help you understand the process with clarity and take necessary actions:

1. 3D Modeling

In the initial phase, you need to gather all the project details, including blueprints, sketches, and client-specific requirements. Afterward, the technical team can begin building 3D models through specialized software. During this process, they strive to ensure accurate proportions and scales so that the final render precisely represents a real-life structure.

2. Texturing and Materials 

As the 3D model is ready, you should add materials and textures to it through various techniques. It includes the addition of glass, concrete, brick, metal, and wood layers to the 3D model, which will bring the building close to reality. Delving deeper, you need to define the surface color with Albedo, add surface details via normal maps, and control shiny or matte material appearance with a roughness map.

3. Environment Set Up 

After creating a visual composition, add environmental elements to the scene, such as trees, benches, cars, and people. Additionally, you can add HDRI for a realistic sky, which will dramatically affect the mood and feel of the rendered image. Following that, it is advised to set up the camera angle carefully, as it can significantly impact the display of architecture.

4. Lighting 

Similar to setting up the scene, a perfect exterior architectural rendering requires the simulation of natural light based on the time of the day. In this regard, brightness coming from the sun, house lights, and street lamps could be adjusted to create a close resemblance to the natural situation. Furthermore, it is advised to consider temperature balance and avoid overexposure through brightness and contrast adjustments.

5. Rendering 

Once the light is adjusted properly, render the scene to obtain a final image or animation. At this stage, all the elements come together, and a static image is produced upon a 3D software's calculations of shadows, lights, textures, and colors. Generally, this process is considered time-consuming based on the project's complexity and your local machines' resources.

6. Post Processing 

It's the final phase, where the rendered image goes through necessary adjustments and photo editing before going ahead to stakeholders or project managers. In this stage, usually, small adjustments are made, like adding background elements, changing saturation, or enhancing focus to bring the image closer to the desired outcome.

Part 3. How Long Does It Take to Do 3D Exterior Rendering?

Architectural visualization firms with tight deadlines always wonder how much time 3D exterior rendering services and procedures may take. According to an estimate, rendering of 3D exteriors could take up to 48 hours for high-quality renderers.

However, based on the resolution, rendered image, hardware, and number of light sources, this approximate time could vary. For a clear picture of average estimates, below is a table for 3D exterior rendering time:

Note: If your local machine does not have enough hardware resources as suggested for rendering, the estimated time can be increased. Also, you may face lag and unnecessary delays, leaving you unable to use the system for other tasks.

Pro Tips: Improve the 3D Exterior Rendering Efficiency

Having limited local hardware resources doesn’t mean you cannot render the 3D exterior until you upgrade the resources and invest in expensive machines. Luckily, cloud exterior 3D rendering services like Fox Renderfarm make rendering possible on limited hardware systems. All you need to do is upload and submit your 3D model project to its cloud and customize CPU or CPU rendering requirements.

Without using your system resources, this cloud rendering service will quickly render your complex exterior projects immediately, reducing rendering times and avoiding system crashes. Additionally, it uses Raysync’s high-speed transmission to speed up the project upload, delivery, and download. Besides, its Hollywood-level production record makes it an ideal choice for complex exterior rendering within a minimum time frame.

Key Features

• Guaranteed Security: This 3D rendering exterior service is ISO27001 certified and provides a non-disclosure agreement, which aims to protect customers' rights and interests. Additionally, it's a TPN-accredited vendor that strives to maintain your project's confidentiality and security.
• Multiple Software & Plugins Support: No matter whether you have created a 3D model of the exterior through Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Arnold, or RedShift, this platform supports all. Other than this 3D software, Fox Renderfarm supports multiple other renderers, plugins, and 3D software.
• Multi-OS Compatibility: If you think this service only caters to projects built on Mac, revise your concepts. This service is available for Windows, Mac, and even Linux systems, providing cloud rendering services to all, irrespective of devices.
• Flexible Pricing: Instead of bounding your budget to monthly rendering subscriptions, this service facilitates customized plans for each project. Moreover, it provides a 20% bonus for first-time users and special discounts for teachers and students.
• Massive SSD Storage: To eradicate I/O bottlenecks, it enables high-performance SSD storage solutions. Additionally, it fires up thousands of render nodes that further speed up the rendering process.

Part 4. Benefits of 3D Exterior Rendering

The advantages of 3D exterior rendering aren't limited to a single group; various industries and professionals can leverage this combination of art and technology. For now, learn the key benefits of 3D exterior rendering through the following points:

• Cost & Time Saving: During construction, mistakes can cost heavily regarding resources and time. Thus, architects use 3D exteriors to address potential issues and shift to alternative materials or colors during the design phase, which minimizes costly revisions and construction delays.
• Improved Communication: Previously, 2D blueprints and sketches were challenging for conveying ideas to clients and stakeholders. However, 3D exterior rendering services now enable investors, homeowners, or municipal planning boards to grasp the vision and discuss changes.
• Realistic Environmental Context: Instead of just focusing on a building, 3D exteriors let everyone pay attention to the entire landscape, streets, and neighboring buildings. It is fruitful, especially while planning urban environments, where one can actually see how one building can align with another.
• Enhanced Marketing & Sales: It's a valuable marketing tool for developers and real estate agents who can show property before construction starts. This way, they can attract buyers, investors, and tenants by just exhibiting the rendered image on brochures, websites, or social media.
• Increased Project Approval: Through 3D exterior, project managers can increase project approval rates as well as client satisfaction. It even eliminates future disputes on certain color schemes and materials because both parties have a 3D-rendered image as proof.

Conclusion

In essence, 3D exterior rendering has been the need of the era since it cut down construction revision costs and project delays. This article has discussed every detail on the 3D exterior so you can adapt to new architectural demands, being a new 3D artist. Upon learning everything, if you have created a 3D model of an exterior, render it through Fox Renderfarm to streamline your workflow and eliminate hardware performance limitations.