Tips for Making Your Exterior Visualizations Realistic

3D artists use the latest tools and technologies to create beautiful and realistic 3D renders. However, mastering 3D visualization isn’t easy; it’s a highly complex task requiring advanced skills and knowledge to achieve satisfactory results.

If you’re an avid 3D artist, you’re undoubtedly interested in learning about different tips and tricks that can make your renders more realistic and better overall.

When it comes to exterior visualizations, they represent the face of your project that helps your clients visualize their ideas accurately and effortlessly. Below, you’ll find some of the best tips for creating realistic and high-quality exterior renderings. Let’s jump straight into it!

Invest time in 3D models.

If you’re an architectural 3D artist, you probably already know how much time and effort goes into one 3D render. Whether you’re working with interior or exterior architectural renders, it’s safe to say both require plenty of time, skills, knowledge, and expertise.

Therefore, it’s impossible to create a breathtaking render in just a couple of hours. Instead, a realistic exterior visualization requires investing a lot of time into the process, often with the help of advanced 3D modeling software. So, it’s understandable some excellent visualizations took weeks or even months to complete.

While 3D artists get better and do their job faster with more practice and experience, a realistic 3D render will still require them to invest plenty of their time into the process.

Don’t lose track of proportions.

Unlike interior renders, their exterior counterparts don’t have an abundance of details and smaller objects that artists can use as reference points. Therefore, it’s easy to lose track of proportions when working with exterior visualizations.

Considering the proportions and sizes of different elements in your exterior visualization is crucial for creating a realistic 3D render. Even if you don’t detect a mistake right away, the final product will undoubtedly feel off if the proportions of particular objects aren’t right.

To prevent that from happening, carefully examine the size of each object and how it fits with other elements in the scenario. That will prevent you from making such mistakes.

Lighting and shadows are essential.

While lighting and shadows are essential in interior renders, they’re also the focal point in exterior visualizations.

The type of lighting you choose for your exterior visualization can make it or break it, so it’s crucial to consider the intensity and positioning of the natural light. Since you don’t want to overexpose or underexpose your 3D renders, finding the balance between the two is the key to good lighting.

Similarly, shadows also play a vital role in creating realistic exterior renders. Once you choose the desired sun position and the direction of your primary light source, it’s essential to incorporate corresponding shadows to make the space look as natural as possible.

Pick suitable materials and textures.

Materials and textures also affect the overall quality of exterior 3D renders. Without adding the necessary texture to different materials, all parts of your render will look identical and as if they’re plastic. It’s challenging to design a realistic render where all materials have the same finish.

An easy way to avoid that is to introduce texture. For instance, benches are typically made of wood, so don’t forget to incorporate the type that will perfectly imitate the real-life material. Concrete buildings have unique textures, too, while metal objects seamlessly catch the sunlight.

Working separately with every object in your render will create a picture filled with different materials and textures. Ultimately, that’s the only way to achieve a genuinely realistic 3D render.

Pay attention to your surroundings.

Exterior renders are typically part of an existing location, and they rarely exist without any surroundings whatsoever. So, unless you’re working with visualizations featuring the middle of a desert or forest, the chances are you’ll have to pay attention to specific surroundings.

Whether you need to incorporate neighboring buildings, parks, offices, or restaurants, considering the surroundings is essential for creating realistic exterior visualizations.

Also, consider the size and distance of these objects compared to your location. That will play a significant role in your 3D render.

Omitting these details can leave your client wondering about the position or size of the entire project, which is why you might want to include these elements and offer a complete picture.

Add contextual elements.

Besides the surroundings, contextual elements also play a crucial role in exterior visualizations. Incorporating them will make imitating the real-life experience much more straightforward.

What do we mean by contextual elements?

Essentially, contextual elements are any details that add to the context and make the whole visualization more complete.

For instance, exterior visualizations often include grass, trees, benches, people, and even vehicles as their contextual elements. They make clients imagine themselves in that 3D space, evoking positive emotions and helping them make better decisions.

While these details aren’t the primary focus of a 3D render, they undoubtedly add to the value and make the result more realistic.

Choose the right angles.

Last but not least, choosing the right angle is another helpful tip you can implement in your future exterior renders. While some 3D artists decide to experiment with different camera views and angles, a good rule of thumb is to place the camera view to catch approximately what a human eye would see.

That helps you incorporate all the necessary elements without making your 3D renders too artistic. Since dramatic angles and camera views put different parts into focus and view the space from various angles, they damage the realism of the visualization.

Therefore, remember to use subtle camera angles to maintain the highest level of realism.

Creative Interior Solutions for Freelance Tutors.

As we have discussed, you can use 3D tools and technologies to create great designs. Freelance tutors mainly work from home; they should use modern solutions in their workspace. Remote work nowadays is popular, and many tutors prefer to teach through online platforms. Thanks to online teaching platforms, they can easily teach from home and decorate their working space with innovative solutions. 

For remote tutors, it is recommended to have creative designs, use pastel colors with bright decors and use the Bauhaus style. And always cut off unneeded items, as Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.

Conclusion

Creating a realistic exterior visualization requires plenty of time, knowledge, and skill. Even expert 3D artists have to work hard on their exterior rendering projects as they tend to include plenty of details.

By incorporating the tips and tricks mentioned above into your future 3D rendering projects, you will be able to create some of the most breathtaking exterior visualizations in no time.