Glossary the words, explained

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96 terms you will hear when commissioning renders, walkthroughs, AR, 360° tours or AI video. One or two sentences each.

A to Z

#A C D E F G H I L M O P Q R S T U V W

#

2BHK: A flat with two bedrooms, a hall and a kitchen. Developers order a set of interior views for each flat type, such as 2BHK and 3BHK. 3D Interior Rendering →
360° photo: A photograph that captures everything around the camera in one shot. Each viewpoint in a photographed tour is one of these. 360° Tours for Real Estate →
3D elevation: A realistic picture of the outside of a building, usually the front. It lets an owner see the facade, with its materials and colours, before it is built. 3D Elevation Rendering →
3D model: A digital object with shape and surface, built to the dimensions of the real thing. Every render, film and AR view starts from a model. 3D Modelling →
3D view: The everyday term in India for a still render of a room or a building. Quotes for interior and exterior work are usually counted in views. 3D Elevation, 3D View and Other Terms →
3D viewer: The part of a web page that displays a 3D model and lets the visitor turn it and zoom in. 3D Models for Websites →

A

Aerial view: A picture of a building or a whole project from high above, also called a bird's eye view. It shows the layout of a site in one image. 3D Exterior Rendering →
AI film: A film whose shots are made with generative AI under a director's control, with no camera shoot. It suits ideas that would be hard or impossible to film. AI Brand Films →
AI UGC: Creator-style videos, such as a review to camera, made with AI and no shoot. Brands use them to test many versions of an ad. AI UGC Videos →
Animatic: A rough version of a film made from storyboard frames or simple 3D, cut to the planned timing. It shows pace and length before full production.
AR-ready model: A 3D model built light and to real dimensions, and exported as GLB and USDZ, so it works in AR on both iPhone and Android. AR-Ready 3D Models →
Architectural visualisation: Making pictures and films of buildings and interiors from design drawings, before they are built. Also spelled visualization, and shortened to archviz. Architectural Visualisation →
Aspect ratio: The shape of the frame, as width against height. A film for television is wide and a film for Reels is tall, so say where it will be shown.
Augmented reality (AR): Showing a 3D object through a phone camera so that it appears to stand in the real room. Shoppers use it to check size and fit before buying. Augmented Reality →

C

CAD: Computer-aided design: the precise drawings or 3D files used to build or manufacture something. They are the most accurate starting point for a model.
Camera path: The route the camera follows in a walkthrough film. It is agreed on a plan before rendering, because changing it later means rendering those shots again.
CGI: Computer-generated imagery: pictures and films made from 3D models, with no camera. In Indian marketing, a CGI ad usually means a hyper-real product film. CGI Ads →
Clay render: A plain preview with no colours or materials, also called a white-card preview. You use it to approve the camera angle and the layout before detailed work begins.
Colour grade: The adjustment of colour and contrast across a finished film, so that every shot matches and the mood suits the brand.
Compositing: Combining separate layers, such as a product, a background and effects, into the final shot. It lets a layer be changed without redoing the others.
Configurator: A tool in a walkthrough or on a web page that lets a buyer switch options, such as flooring, furniture or colour, and see the result at once. Apartment Configurator →
Consistency: Keeping a product, a face or a room identical from one AI shot to the next. It is the hardest part of AI work and the first thing to check.

D

Digital twin: A digital copy of a real, existing place, usually made by scanning it. A walkthrough of a design that is not built yet is a different thing. Walkthrough, Interactive, VR or 360°? →
Direction: The human decisions that shape AI output: the idea, the references, the selection and the corrections. Without it, AI output is a set of unrelated clips. AI Brand Films →
Dollhouse view: A view of a whole floor from above with the ceiling removed, so the layout is seen at once. In an interactive walkthrough the visitor can pull back to it. Interactive Walkthrough →
Draco compression: A method of shrinking the shape data inside a GLB file. A smaller file loads faster on mobile data. 3D Models for Websites →

E

Embed: Placing a tour, a 3D model or a film inside a page of your own website, so visitors see it without leaving the page.
Equirectangular image: A 360° picture stored as one flat, wide rectangle. It is the kind of file that a photographed or rendered tour is built from.
Experience centre: A developer's sales space with screens, models and sometimes VR, where buyers are shown a project before it is built. Real-Estate Developers →
Exploded view: A shot in which the parts of a product move apart to show how it is built. It is straightforward in CGI and very hard to film. 3D Product Animation →

F

Floor and wall placement: The setting that decides where an AR object sits. Furniture is placed on the floor, and a wall piece such as a mirror is placed on a wall. AR for Furniture →
Fly-through: A walkthrough in which the camera travels through the air, over and around a project. It suits townships, towers and large sites. Walkthrough Animation →
Frame rate: The number of still images shown in each second of film. It affects how smooth motion looks and how much has to be rendered.

G

Game engine: Software made for video games that displays 3D spaces in real time. Studios use it to build interactive walkthroughs of property. Unreal Engine Walkthrough →
Generative AI: Software that makes new images, video or sound from a description and examples. It works quickly, and its output has to be directed and checked. AI vs CGI →
GLB: A single file holding a 3D model with its materials and textures. Web browsers and Android phones can display it. Adding a 3D Model to a Website →
glTF: An open format for 3D models, designed for the web. GLB is its single-file version, and it is the format to ask for when a model will be shown online. Adding a 3D Model to a Website →
Golden hour: The warm, low light shortly after sunrise or before sunset. Developers often ask for it because it suits a building and its landscape. Day-to-Night Renders →
Gyroscope: The sensor in a phone that detects how it is tilted. A tour uses it so that moving the phone looks around the room.

H

HDRI lighting: Lighting taken from an all-round photograph of a real sky or place. It gives a render natural daylight and believable reflections.
Hero shot: The main image of a product, lit and composed with the most care. It is the picture that opens a campaign, a landing page or a print ad. 3D Product Rendering →
Hotspot: A clickable point in a tour that moves you to another viewpoint or opens information, such as a floor plan or a specification.

I

Image-to-video: An AI method that turns a still image into a moving shot. A film can start from approved stills, so the look is agreed before any motion is made.
Interactive walkthrough: A real-time 3D version of a property that the visitor moves through freely, changing furniture, finishes and lighting on the way. Interactive Walkthrough →

L

Level of detail: How finely a model is built. A model seen in close-up needs more detail than one in the background, and detail affects both price and file size. 3D Product Modelling →
Likeness: A real person's recognisable face, voice or appearance. It should not be used in AI content without that person's permission. AI UGC vs Creator UGC →
Look development: The stage where a 3D product's materials and lighting are adjusted until it matches the real thing. You approve it before animation starts.

M

Macro shot: An extreme close-up that shows fine detail, such as a blade edge, a droplet or a fabric weave. It is common in beauty and fragrance films. Fragrance & Beauty CGI →
Marker: A printed image that an AR experience recognises and attaches content to. Product AR on the web usually needs none, because the phone detects the floor itself.
Master plan: The drawing of a whole development, showing buildings, roads, open spaces and amenities. It is the base for aerial views and township walkthroughs. Real-Estate Developers →
Material: The description of a surface in 3D: its colour, shine, roughness and transparency. Correct materials are what make marble look like marble and fabric look like fabric.
Matterport: Another company's product that scans a finished space to make a 3D tour. The name is often used loosely for any scanned tour. Matterport Alternative →
Mesh: The whole surface of a 3D model, made of connected polygons. A clean mesh renders well and loads quickly.
model-viewer: An open-source web component that displays a GLB on a page and opens AR on phones that support it. Adding a 3D Model to a Website →

O

Optimisation: Reducing the file size of a model, with fewer polygons and smaller textures, so that it loads quickly on a phone and still looks right. 3D Models for Websites →

P

Pack shot: A clean image of a product in its packaging, usually on a plain background. It is used on e-commerce listings and at the end of an ad. 3D Product Rendering →
Panorama: A very wide image. A full panorama covers the whole scene around one point and can be turned on screen.
PBR material: A material described by physical properties such as roughness and metalness, so it reacts to light realistically in any viewer. PBR stands for physically based rendering.
Photographed tour: A virtual tour shot with a 360° camera in a finished space, such as a show flat, a hotel or a completed building. 360° Tours for Real Estate →
Pixel streaming: Running a real-time walkthrough on a remote computer and sending the picture to a web browser. The buyer needs no powerful device and no download. Interactive Walkthrough →
Polygon: One of the small flat faces that make up a 3D model. More polygons give smoother curves and a heavier file.
Post-production: Work done on an image or film after rendering: colour correction, adding people or sky, titles and sound. Small changes can often be made here without rendering again.
Prompt: The written instruction given to an AI tool, describing what the image or shot should contain. A finished shot usually takes many prompts and corrections.

Q

QR code: A square code that a phone camera reads to open a link. On a tag, in a catalogue or on a desktop page, it opens the product in AR on the phone. AR QR Codes →
Quick Look: The AR viewer built into iPhone and iPad. It opens a USDZ file and places the product in the room, with nothing for the shopper to install. Web AR (No App) →

R

Re-lighting: Changing the light in a finished image, for example from day to golden hour or night, while the design stays as it is. Day-to-Night Renders →
Real-time rendering: Drawing a 3D scene as the viewer moves, with no waiting. It is what makes a walkthrough interactive. Interactive Walkthrough →
Reference image: A picture supplied to guide the look of the work: a mood, a material, a camera angle. In AI work it also helps keep a product or a character the same.
Render: An image calculated by a computer from a 3D model, with its materials and light. It is what you receive when you order a 3D view of a room, a building or a product. 3D Rendering →
Rendered tour: A virtual tour made from a 3D model, for a space that is not built yet. Developers use it to show a flat before possession. Rendered Virtual Tours →
Resolution: The size of an image or film in pixels. A hoarding needs a much larger image than a social post, so the size is agreed in the quote.
Room set: A furnished room in which furniture is shown in use. A rendered room set does the job of a built studio set for catalogue images. Furniture Rendering →

S

Sample flat: A furnished flat that a developer builds to show buyers, also called a show flat. A virtual sample flat does the same job before a real one exists. Virtual Sample Flat →
Scene Viewer: The AR viewer on supported Android phones. It opens a GLB file and places the product in the room, with nothing for the shopper to install. Web AR (No App) →
Storyboard: A sequence of sketches showing each shot of a film in order. Approving it early avoids changing shots after they have been made.
Storyline series: A story told in short episodes for social media, with recurring characters. Made with AI, it depends on the characters staying the same from episode to episode. AI Storyline Series →

T

Texture: An image wrapped onto a 3D surface to give it pattern and detail, such as wood grain or a printed label. Sharp textures matter in close-up views.
Topology: The way polygons are arranged across a model. Good topology keeps curves smooth and makes the model easier to change and to make lighter.
Touchscreen kiosk: A large touch display in a sales gallery on which visitors explore a project themselves. An interactive walkthrough can run on it. Interactive Walkthrough →
True scale: Showing a product in AR at its real dimensions. It depends on the 3D model being built to the correct measurements. AR for Furniture →
Turntable: A short clip of a product rotating on the spot. It is used to check a 3D model from every side, and as a simple product video.

U

UGC: User-generated content: videos that look as if a customer or creator filmed them on a phone. Used as ads, they come across as a personal recommendation. AI UGC vs Creator UGC →
Unreal Engine: The game engine we use for interactive and VR walkthroughs. It shows realistic light and materials in real time. Unreal Engine Walkthrough →
Upscaling: Enlarging an image or film to a higher resolution while adding detail. Work made at a small size can then be used on larger screens or in print.
USDZ: The 3D file format that iPhone and iPad use for AR. A product needs one beside its GLB to work on both kinds of phone. AR-Ready 3D Models →
UV mapping: Laying the surface of a model out flat so that images can be placed on it precisely. It is how a label ends up in the right place on a bottle.

V

VFX: Visual effects: altering footage from a camera, or adding things to it. It is how a CGI product is placed in a real street. AI vs CGI →
View in your room: The label shoppers know for AR on a product page. Tapping it places the product in their own room through the phone camera. Adding AR to a Furniture Website →
Viewpoint: One standing position in a virtual tour, also called a node. Tours are usually quoted by the number of viewpoints. 360° Virtual Tour Cost in India →
Virtual site visit: A way for a buyer who cannot travel to see a project remotely, through a streamed walkthrough or a tour link. Virtual Site Visit →
Virtual tour: A set of linked 360° views of a space that a visitor clicks through on a phone or a computer. It lets a buyer look around without visiting. 360° Virtual Tours →
VR headset: A device worn over the eyes that shows a 3D space at life size as you turn your head. It gives a buyer a true sense of room size. VR Walkthrough →
VR walkthrough: A real-time model of a property viewed through a VR headset, so the visitor stands inside the rooms before they are built. VR Walkthrough →

W

Walkthrough: A film that moves through the 3D model of a property as if someone were walking through it. It shows how the spaces connect. Walkthrough Animation →
Web AR: AR that starts from a web page or a QR code, with no app to install. It removes the step of downloading something first. Web AR (No App) →
WebXR: A browser feature that lets a web page show AR or VR directly. Some Android browsers use it to run AR inside the page.

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