What to send for a 3D render files for interior, exterior and product work

An interior is built from the floor plan upwards. The plan gives the room sizes and the positions of doors and windows. The ceiling drawing gives heights, coves and light points. The material list tells us what each surface is.

For a flat sold by a developer, the builder's floor plan and the specification sheet are the usual starting point. This is the full list for 3D interior rendering.

• Floor plan with dimensions, as CAD, PDF or a clear sketch
• Ceiling and lighting layout, with the ceiling height
• Wall elevations or sections for panelling, wardrobes and kitchens
• Material and finish list: flooring, wall finishes, stone, fabrics
• Furniture list with links or photos, or references for the style
• Photos of the site, if it is a renovation
• The views you want and the time of day for each

An exterior needs the shape of the building from every side that will be seen, and enough about the surroundings to place it correctly. For an aerial view of a township or a villa community, the master plan is the main drawing. A 3D elevation, which is the rendered front view of a building, is made from the same set.

This is what we ask for before quoting 3D exterior rendering.

• Floor plans for every level, and the roof plan
• Elevations and sections with heights
• Site plan showing the plot, the road, the levels and the compound wall
• Facade materials: cladding, paint colours, glass, railings, grilles
• Landscape plan, or references for planting and paving
• Photos of the site and the neighbouring buildings
• The views you want: street level, aerial, day or night

A product is modelled to its real dimensions, so we need something to measure from. CAD gives the most accurate result. Photographs with dimensions are enough for many products. Send the artwork files too, because a label rebuilt from a photograph is less sharp than the original.

For 3D product rendering, send as many of these as you have.

• Product CAD, the 3D design file used for manufacturing, if the manufacturer has it
• A physical sample, when the product is small enough to send
• Photographs from the front, side, back and top, with a measurement marked
• Label and packaging artwork as vector files
• Colour and material references: the exact finish, the glass tint, the print
• The list of images or shots, and where they will run

If you have a model, send it. 3D rendering from a SketchUp or Revit model is common, and it saves building the geometry again. We open the model, check it against the drawings and tell you what it lacks. Design models are often light on the things a render shows most: furniture, soft furnishings, lighting, planting and material detail. We add those.

Send the drawings with the model. Where the two disagree, we ask which is current. An AutoCAD drawing set with no model is also fine. We build the model from it.

Many first briefs are a floor plan and a few pictures. That is workable. The usual gaps are ceiling heights, window sizes, materials and furniture. We list what is missing, ask the questions that only you can answer, and propose sensible options for the rest.

Decisions are then confirmed on drafts. You first see plain previews, without materials, to approve the layout and the camera angles. Materials and lighting come next, and you review again. If something is still undecided at that point, we can show two options side by side. We will not guess at something that is going to be built and present it as final.

A homeowner who wants a 3D view of a house plan needs the plan with dimensions, the number of floors and their heights, and pictures of houses whose look they like. If an architect has drawn the elevations, send those too.

We render a design that exists. We do not design the facade or the interior. If the look of the house has not been designed yet, that is work for your architect or designer first, and the render follows it.

How long 3D rendering takes depends on the job, so we give a schedule with the quote in place of a standard figure.

The part a client controls most is the review. A schedule holds when the feedback on each draft comes back together, from one person, in one list. It slips when the design changes after the drafts are approved. These are all the things that move it.

• How much has to be modelled: a room, a whole flat, a tower, a township
• The level of detail in furniture, materials and landscape
• The number of views, and whether they share a model
• How complete the drawings are when work starts
• How quickly drafts are reviewed and approved
• The number of rounds of changes, and how large the changes are
• The size of the final images, and whether a film is included

Put everything in one shared folder and send the link. Name the files so the current version is obvious. Add a short note with the purpose of the images, the list of views, the date you are working to, and the name of the person who will give feedback.

If you want to compare studios, send each the same folder. Quotes can only be compared when they are based on the same brief. Our guide to reading a 3D rendering quote explains what a quotation should list.