How effectively an interior designer or builder conveys a project plan often predicts whether or not clients give them the green light to move ahead. Creating lifelike visuals of any renovation concept or interior design vision is now even easier thanks to new advances in photorealistic rendering software.
With the addition of photorealistic renders not only can pros walk their customers through a multi-dimensional rendering of how the space will look in real time, now they can turn their 3D floor plans into a true-to-life image representation of every project. Using this technique generates 3D renderings of a space that are so realistic they are difficult to distinguish from reality. “Hyper realistic renders are the future of our industry,” says interior designer Trevor Fulmer. “Our clients require it and if we’re going to stay at the top of our game, we need to be able to provide it,” says Fulmer, who opened Trevor Fulmer Design in 2019.
In this piece, we’ll explore how photorealistic rendering software works, discuss some applications for interior designers and builders, and walk you through creating a photorealistic render with the new easy-to-use 3D rendering functionality in Houzz Pro.
What is Photorealistic Rendering?
Simply put, photorealistic rendering is a 3D modeling technique that uses a rendering engine to generate a 3D image that’s similar to a photograph. Unlike other 3D rendering software, photorealistic rendering includes elements such as lighting, shadows, materials, textures, and all the other details an actual photograph would include. It helps your client better envision the final product and get excited about moving forward with your business and your ideas.
How Does Photorealistic 3D Rendering Software Work?
3D visualisation is the process of using 3D modelling software to convert 3D models into two-dimensional images during the design process. One key phase of this is the rendering process. This is where the details are converted into realistically detailed images. Photorealistic visualisation software generates renders using a rendering engine that mixes lighting, shadows, camera angles, and more to produce these remarkably realistic images.
The end result is that design plans are shown in a remarkably lifelike setting with lighting, textures and colours that seem real. It is difficult to distinguish a photorealistic rendering from an actual photograph of the space. Indeed, the software is now so sophisticated that interior designers, builders and architects can generate photorealistic renderings in minutes to show their clients and project team.
How Interior Designers Use 3D Renders for Crystal Clear Clarity
As Fulmer knows, homeowners often come into design projects with only a vague concept of the transformation they are seeking, and they count on a pro to help them see it clearly. “Clients want to be able to walk through their future home,” he says. “Visualisations are the selling factor. They help push a project over the approval finish line. Seeing truly is believing.”
Homeowners may be unsure about the room layout, materials, colour choices, flooring, and how all the design and construction elements interact to transform their space. After seeing interior depictions, their uncertainties subside, Fulmer says. “For example, a client was concerned that a sofa we selected was going to be too large for a living room. After seeing renderings, they were able to visualise and understand it was the perfect size,” he says.
Sarah Horst of Hawk Interiors says visualisation tools help draw out a designer’s ideas. “Many times designers have the ability to visualise what a space could look like and how so many different items will come together in their own heads, but the clients do not always have that same ability,” she says. “Through visualisation tools, we give the client the ability to see the bigger picture and to more clearly understand a vision.”
Visualisation tools like Houzz Pro 3D Floor Plans and Life-Sized Walkthroughs put everyone on the same page. Adding photorealistic renders to your digital tool kit means your clients will even more effortlessly picture the project and get excited about moving forward with the concepts your team is offering. “We have only touched the surface of what the Houzz Pro 3D Floor Planner can do,” says Fulmer. “It simplifies and streamlines our ability to build a 3D interior – quickly. From floor planning to walkthrough and doll house views, it's a creative and user-friendly interface.”
Benefits of Photorealistic Rendering for Construction and Renovation
These advances in 3D visualisation and photorealistic rendering software benefit more than interior designers. Contractors and renovation pros can use them to create a photorealistic house rendering before construction. Created in real time, these lifelike images can focus on specific details or materials of a building project or zoom out to provide an overall perspective from multiple angles. The combined power of Apple’s innovative RoomPlan API with LiDAR technology and Houzz Pro’s immersive 3D Floor Planner enables pros to create accurate, lightning-fast floor plans right before their eyes.
The exquisite level of detail allows you to seamlessly offer clients an outstanding visual of their future home. “3D Floor Plans are the reason I switched to Houzz Pro,” says Will Benoit, owner and founder of Zion Home and Building LLC. “Being able to scan a room and automatically create a 3D Floor Plan that allows my customers to see how their home will look after a renovation is huge for us.”
Using them as part of the quoting process, contractors can more quickly build trust with clients. Packaging estimates with 3D renders provides a way to create more professional, impactful presentations and win projects faster. Besides giving pros a competitive edge from the start, the realism of the renders can smooth the entire process out, giving current clients the confidence to commit to choices, reducing the number of revisions during the life of a project.
Pros with a Houzz Pro subscription can create an unlimited number of photorealistic renders taken as if shooting the room with a virtual camera at a variety of vantage points to provide a more complete and detailed picture of the design. Images are saved to the project within Houzz Pro and can easily be shared with team members and homeowners through the project Dashboard or attached to a Proposal, Estimate, Selections Board or Mood Board.
How to Generate Photorealistic Renders with Ease
It's easy to get started using Houzz Pro Photorealistic Renders: Open up your 3D Floor Plan, adjust your camera settings, select your camera view, and generate your image in real time. Here are the steps:
1. Select Your Floor Plan
- Open up the relevant 3D Floor Plan or create a new floor plan from scratch or from a template.
- View the floor plan in either Dollhouse or Walkthrough mode.
- Click the Camera icon from the menu on the right.
2. Capture the Perfect Shot
Once you are in your camera mode, choose from the options to make the photorealistic render just the way you want it, and adjust your camera settings to frame the right shot:
- Camera height: How high the camera is off the floor
- Camera tilt: The angle of the camera
- Field of view: How zoomed in or zoomed out the camera is
Once you get the angle and perspective you prefer, save your camera settings by clicking the “New Camera” button. Your New Camera view will appear in the Cameras section.
Pro Tip: For those who are already using a 3D floor plan template, some of these camera views will already be created and waiting.
After selecting the camera angle, just click “Generate Photorealistic Image.” A new screen then pops up telling you everything you need to know. Happy with the composition? Click “Generate” The notification at the bottom of your screen lets you know it's generating and notifies you when it is complete. And there it is! Now you have a photorealistic image to save and share with your clients.
3. Shoot Multiple Angles for Any Room
Making adjustments to any Photorealistic Rendering is a breeze. Just click Cancel to continue editing if you want to adjust your render. To give clients multiple views or more in-depth perspectives, create more than one photorealistic render of a room or project. From whatever angle or focus you choose for the render, expect your clients to be wowed.
With Houzz Pro’s user-friendly interface, you can generate compelling, lifelike images in just minutes. Photorealistic renders are available for Houzz Pro professionals with Essential and Ultimate packages.
Collaborate with Your Entire Team
Tools that ease collaboration and capture client input make the working relationship between pros and their customers feel more like a partnership than a business transaction. Mood Boards and all of Houzz Pro’s visualisation tools make it simple to share and iterate plans with clients.
“Our society is more visually driven than many other things it seems, we don't choose a restaurant until we have seen that the food looks appetising, we don't choose a hair stylist unless we have seen that their artistic ability is in line with what we are hoping to see on ourselves, and clients are less willing to select a designer unless they have seen that their work aligns with their own style or vision for their space,” says Horst. “It seems we are less trusting unless we have seen a visual representation of something in order to give it the green light and invest.”
Besides sharing the photorealistic renders with clients, send them to others on the project team such as subcontractors to ensure they have a clear idea of the plan. Add comments and suggestions on the render and let the collaborations begin!
Hone Your Design Process
For those who are new to 3D modelling and other visualisation tools, more experienced pros have some words of advice. “Sometimes putting together visualisations for your own benefit is the best way to start. If it's more difficult to envision the big idea, start with small ones using these tools. Even if you aren't utilising the tools for a specific project, practice using them for fun so you can feel more confident and efficient utilising them when a project does come your way,” says Horst. “If you are newer to the industry, sometimes visualisation tools may also help you shift your own ideas into a more improved version than you originally anticipated, which can save you from a mistake and also improve the outcome before it is executed.”
And, no matter your experience, Fulmer advises not to get stuck in old ways. “Don’t be an old dog, learn new tricks and educate yourself in visualisation software,” he recommends. Clients expect pros to be using today’s sophisticated tools to bring them the very best renderings of how their home will look,” he says. ”Surround yourself with those who are skilled and understand visualisations.”
Learn more about how to create Photorealistic Renders in Houzz Pro 3D Planner and bring your design and renovation projects to life.
