3D rendering for Dubai projects an offshore studio in Mumbai

Much of Dubai's new property is sold off-plan, which means before it is built, and many of the buyers are investors who live in other countries. The developer's images, film and sales-centre displays are what the buyer sees until handover. Projects range from towers in Business Bay, Downtown, Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Village Circle to villa and townhouse communities inland and homes on the waterfront.

Alongside the developers there is a large interior design and fit-out trade working on villas, apartments, restaurants, shops and offices. Those firms need views room by room to get a design signed off, often during a tender or a pitch. We give a schedule with the quote and do not promise a turnaround on a web page.

Dubai is one and a half hours behind Indian Standard Time. When your office opens, ours has been open a short while, and office hours in the two countries overlap almost completely. A comment sent in your morning is read in our morning.

All communication, drawing mark-ups and documents are in English. The working week in most UAE offices now runs Monday to Friday, so the working days in the two countries line up.

A render of a Dubai project made without checking the place can look like a building in the wrong country. The sun is high and strong, shadows are short and hard for much of the day, and the planting is date palms, desert species and irrigated lawns. Views are of the sea, the creek, a golf course or the skyline.

We ask for the plot location and orientation, photographs or drone images of the site and its views, the landscape plan and reference images you consider correct. Dusk is a common choice for hero images here, and a finished view can be re-lit for it.

The quote is sent in writing before work starts. Stills are quoted per view, films per project with the length stated, and interactive walkthroughs per project. It lists the number of views or the film length, the revision rounds, the delivery size, the schedule and the currency.

We make no claim here about how our prices compare with studios in the UAE. Ask for a quote and compare the same list of items. The guide to reading a 3D rendering quote lists what any quotation should state, whichever studio sends it.