From the plan to the image

This article describes the different steps of a 3D visualization creation, from the required elements you have to provide up to the calculation of final renders.

1. Required elements

In order to create 3D visualizations we imperatively need:

base plans, elevations, sections (DWG, DXF format) > needed to model
furniture's details and interior elements/decoration(photography, materials, product references and brand websites, etc.) > needed for interior elements and materials
project geographical position > needed for the staging
environnement picture of the project > needed for the staging
Number of perspectives and their purpose (internal development or sell) > needed for the staging
Size or resolution of final renders
Camera angles > needed for the staging

Note: quality of the plans is essential for a good process of the next step.

2. Modelling

The modelling is a long and delicate step that consist in the creation of 3D volumes from 2D plans. It happens in 3 steps:

plans study
base volume creation
detail addition depending of camera angles.

Note: Clear and explicit plans are essential in order the shorten the modelling process.

3. Textures and materials

The textures (picture, often extracted from a photography, divided in various layers) defines the different aspects of the materials, like: colors, bump, reflection, etc...

The materials (containing one or several textures melt in a heterogen way) defines the aspect of surfaces presented on your project.

We take a particular care to supress all visible tiling effect once textures are applied on 3D volumes: it helps its realism.

A scene once finished contain more than a hundred materials.

4. Staging

We first definitively establish camera point of views retained for the staging, then valide it with you.
The scene is composed of the project's 3D volumes, but also of the following elements:

final settings of cameras: they are the same than on a real camera
natural and artificial lighting of the scene: project's position, date, hour and lights
environemental background: sky and/or project's own environement
dozens of objects giving life to interior and exterior renders: furniture, decoration elements, vegetation, urban elements, vehicles, etc...

Note:a 3D photorealistic visualization is aimed to reproduce a photography or video taken with a camera. You can consider it as a virtual photography of your project.

5. Full resolution final renders

First, a preliminary picture is calculated in order to help do the last adjustments on the design and the materials.

The software we use to compute the pictures allow us to produce high quality visualizations. The time required to render them is considerably long, that's why it is essencial to do a close study of the preliminary picture in order to detect all the changes needed to be done.

Then, we calcul the final images in high definition. The render times are proportionnal to the resolution of the render

Note: the different elements we provide during the evolution of the project up to its end are: