Whether you are a developer, builder, or real estate agent, a 3D virtual reality house tour is one of the most powerful tools in architectural rendering and real estate marketing. The render is what catches the buyer’s eye, immerses them, inspires them, and eventually brings their mind back to your project with enough force or frequency for a sale to ensue. 

The problem with discovering flaws in architectural renderings is that they are often not easy to spot, but once you do, a floodgate of question marks appear.

If you look closely at most architectural visualisations, you’ll see that several common errors are prevalent, but all this can be dodged. Before you press ‘send’ on your marketing materials, Australia’s leading image marketing technology specialists, BoxBrownie.com, urges you to avoid the seven deadly sins of common architectural rendering mistakes, so you can transform your renders into marketing magic.

 

Get the people right

 

“ENTOURAGE”, as it’s known in the business, is the word for populating the environment of your development with people. Think of it as virtual staging with humans or animals instead of furniture. 

The biggest issue with people is scaling. A small child throwing a ball for a dog is a common trope in architectural visualisations that include people. While these images are used to convey a safe, fun and free atmosphere to the viewer, the problem arises when the poodle is four times the size of the child, and the ball the child is throwing is larger than their head!

Another issue with adding people to architectural visualisations occurs when the same people start appearing too many times. 

Consider the “woman in beige” or the “Little Red Riding Bag” as she is known on Tumblr. One stock photo has been used so often in architectural renderings that not only has her presence been noticed, but someone has created a Tumblr profile for her, featuring many of the architectural renderings that she has shown up in. Your choice in people images is there to amplify what you are selling, not to distract.

 

Car charisma

 

Cars can be the vampires of architectural rendering as they are often having neither shadows nor reflections.  

Since artists pluck these images from graphic design sites then reposition them into the rendering, sometimes at the last minute, it is not unusual to discover that not enough attention has been given to making the item fit accurately into its surroundings. 

 

Get real with reflections

 

Reflections are regarded as the most difficult aspect of any architectural rendering to master. Reflections are difficult to get right and easy to get wrong because there is a lot for the artist to keep in balance, including accurately reflecting the time of day. 

According to Peter Schravemade, of BoxBrownie.com, the day to dusk hero images that are offered at BoxBrownie.com are becoming increasingly popular for architectural visualisations.

“Who doesn’t like to see a building at sunset? But if you are going to take the step to change the colour of the sky, make sure that this alteration is reflected in the windows of the buildings as well. Pink clouds in the sky with white clouds in the window can discredit your architectural visualisation as a whole.”

Also, if there are people or parked cars in the rendering, how will the artist represent their reflections? 

“One small distortion, anomaly, or omission can make an otherwise alluring render appear ridiculous or at least unreliable once the flaw is noticed,” Peter adds.

 

Too simplistic?

 

There is minimalism as a form of style, and then there is emptiness. The reason that staging and then virtual staging became established real estate marketing techniques, is that some empty spaces can repel a buyer. 

The same well-furnished, well-appointed space, on the other hand, can have the opposite effect, inviting people in, creating a desire to inhabit the space.  

“It’s important that an architectural rendering does not give potential buyers that ‘hollow’ feeling and appears like it could use some virtual staging,” Peter adds.

“On the other hand, an overly busy or baroque scene can cause a potential buyer’s dreams to seek calmer pastures.”

 

Future fascination

 

Peter says, “There must be some connection between the desire to become a CGI artist and a love of sci-fi because the attraction is written all over the renderings of many future construction projects. There are a suite of architectural visualisations out there of future projects which seem like something out of The Matrix or some other futuristic film.

“CGI renderings that are too eagerly or too distantly set in the future, can cause a disconnect that makes it difficult for potential buyers to imagine inhabiting the space in reality.” 

 

For the love of lighting

 

Whether virtual or real, bad lighting is a faux pas to be avoided. In real estate photography, bad lighting generally refers to dim lighting and in architectural rendering, bad lighting is a more complex phenomenon.

“With light architecture taking on a more important role over the past twenty years, CGI artists must pay careful attention to spill and reflection, and understand feng shui behind uplighting and downlighting,” Peter says.

“Where there is light, there is the corresponding shadow. Architectural renderings which omit or distort shadow sprawl will appear unprofessional - the last way you want a potential buyer to view your project.

“One of the advantages to using our architectural rendering services at BoxBrownie.com is that you can trust our CGI artists to get the lighting right. We offer advice and how-to guides in almost all areas of real estate photography.”

 

Taking the wrong perspective

 

It might be difficult to understand why the perspective of an architectural visualisation would be important. Shouldn't the project look good from any angle? Yes, but it is the obligation of a CGI artist to present the property at its most attractive angle to the potential buyer. 

This is an area where many developers, who don't tend to be trained visual artists themselves, forget that they have any say. They submit their dimensions and leave the rest up to the CGI artist. 

The right perspective for your project will of course depend upon the project itself. But it is generally agreed that there is a wrong perspective for your architectural rendering to take. 

“Don’t be a giant,” is the slogan for it in the architectural world. There’s sort of a no-fly zone in the world of architectural aesthetics, and that means that the camera angle of your shot should not fall between 2.4 metres and nine metres in the air. 

Peter says, “This doesn’t mean excluding aerial from your presentation, it means that if you are going to present an aerial view of your project, be clear about it. And if you are going to present a ground-level perspective, let your audience understand that that’s what it is.

“Let the viewer know they are seeing your project through either a birds-eye perspective or that of their own eye.

 

“It is all about taking the time to create authentic and beautiful architectural renders which resonate with your potential customers. By investing the time in quashing the seven deadly sins of architectural rending mistakes, there is a greater chance to excite and intrigue your buyers.”