How To Reduce The Cost Of Architectural Renderings
                     
How to Reduce The Cost of  
Architectural Renderings: Part 
2
We have seen in the previous article that  
various factors influence the cost of real  
estate renderings. As the project 
progresses  to the construction stage, the 
price is further  affected by some factors 
that come into play  later. Here we shine 
the light on what these  factors are, and 
how, as an architect, you  could reduce 
the cost of the 3D Rendering  Services.
Revisions To Architecture & 
Angles
A major factor that affects the cost of your rendering is the 
number of  revisions that the artist has to do. In quite the same 
way as revisions to  an actual building will cost more as the 
construction progresses, any  revisions to your 3D rendering will 
also be more difficult as the work  on the rendering is underway. 
In many ways, creating a rendering is  similar to building a 
property, as in both cases the foundation is  constructed first, and 
layer upon layer is added as the work  progresses. Once the work 
is in an advanced stage, modifications to  any of the layers would 
involve considerable time and effort. In many  cases, the project 
has to be broken apart and recreated from the  foundation stage. 
If the architect has already finalized all the details  and the 
number of design iterations is minimized, then the cost  involved 
in the Architectural 3D Rendering Services will also be  lower.
Similarly, if you are requesting only small adjustments in the 
camera  angle at an initial stage, the revision takes very little 
time but at later  stages, there will be significant rework 
required if the zoom,  elevation, or angles are changed. While it 
sounds like a 90-degree  rotation may not be very difficult, in 
reality, there is considerable  work involved as the side that is 
on display may not have been  prepared for rendering at all 
and will need to be done from scratch.
If saving money is high on your priority list, you should avoid 
making  any such change requests unless they are done right 
at the  beginning of the work.
Finishing Materials And 
Detailing
Similarly, you should be very clear about the 
design  details, finishes, and specifications at 
the very  outset to avoid rework and extra time. 
Poor quality  materials or incomplete details will 
result in  additional work and unnecessary 
problems as the  work progresses. Right from 
the beginning of the  rendering, the materials 
and documents you  provide will be used as 
guidelines for design. For  instance, if the 
façade is changed from exposed  brick to 
stucco plaster or wood, this would lead to  
extra costs and extra effort. A change in the 
sizes  and finishes of windows will lead to 
considerable  rework and wasted effort. Even 
the addition or  removal of a cornice detail will 
have a lot of impact  on the rendering work. 
Similarly, if the landscaping  details are altered, 
there will definitely be a change  in the pricing 
and turnaround time.
Do keep in mind that the following documents and  
details should be provided at the very outset for 
high-  quality Architectural Rendering Services:
AutoCAD Drawings – Site plan, Floor Plans, 
Elevations,  Sections
Detailed site plan and layout showing 
contours  Property address, Site photos
Landscaping layout and detailing including plant names 
 and reference pictures
Finishing material specs, textures, and colors (make 
sure  that you provide samples and photos)
Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment – complete 
details  and specs
Sample of the rendering style and quality 
required
Make sure that you discuss the camera angles, the 
 elevation of the camera and zoom required as 
well  before the work commences.
Custom Created Furniture 
Design
If you require custom-created furniture for a 
3D  rendering project, the pricing will be on the 
higher  side. Adding generic furniture will be 
quicker and  easier for your artist and will 
result in lower costs;  however, you may or 
may not get the final  aesthetics that you have 
in mind. Typically a studio  will have a large 
library of optimized 3D elements  like furniture, 
cars, human figures and so on which  can be 
chosen to add visual interest and scale in  your 
3D image. Reusing these resources will lower  
your costs, while custom creating individual  
pieces, or purchasing them from online 
libraries,  will result in a higher cost outlay. 
Studios will  charge extra based on the level of 
customization  required, and the more 
complex the detailing, the  higher will be the 
costs. If you wish to save on  costs, then you 
should avoid customization.
As you can see, all these factors will impact the 
 production costs of your Architectural 3D  
Visualization. The 3D rendering studio should  
always give a clear indication to the architects  
about all these cost factors, and should also let 
 them know that the time schedules can also  
change based on the exact requirements and  
number of change requests. In fact, a studio  
should always outline their working processes 
so  that there is no ambiguity, and should also 
request  the architects to be involved in the 
production at  an earlier stage so that edits, if 
any, can be  minimized. It’s a good idea to 
have a contract laid  out that clearly mentions 
the cost and time for  extras, the number of 
iterations and revisions that  can be done at no 
additional cost, the scope of the  project and 
so on. It is always best to be as  transparent as 
possible so that the 3D rendering  services 
studio and the architects or designers are  
completely on the same page, in order to get 
the  best outcomes at the best possible prices.
Thank You