3D Animations are being used to digitally stage and visualize spaces in an efficient and valuable way. Pre-construction marketing has given developers and realtors an edge to their “on the boards” development projects. Real estate marketing has changed. Our 3D animations are helping clients sell over 50% of their projects before construction begins. This makes pre-construction marketing a valuable addition to any real estate sales strategy and makes animations the most effective way to understand a new project.
3D Animation Process
The process to creating a stunning 3D animation for the real estate industry is very iterative and has multiple steps that require both the client and visualization company working together the entire time.
1: Story
The first stage to the process starts with a conversation and storyboard session. We listen to your version of the story and take the key points that you are describing into our version of the story. We’ll then sketch out each scene by hand so we can quickly confirm we are on the right path.
This is where the fun happens. Once the storyboard is approved, our team of visualization designers get to work and begin to build the 3D environment and apply materials throughout the scenes. You have until this phase to get us your drawings, material selections and staging for all surfaces and scene.
2: Modeling
After the story is approved, we will model the scenes we both agreed on to showcase. Whether it is a home, a new venue, or something from another planet, we can bring your story to life through 3D modeling and visualization. The modeling portion is important to ensure that the base environment is being built accurately to the design and vision of the client. It is best to review screenshots of the model at this stage.
3: Materials
This will then allow our client to start to seeing the final product come together. The purpose of this phase is to confirm the materials and staging we are creating is accurate to the story. Wedding chairs are very specific, and the best animations are those that have every little detail showcased accurately. Every addition to each scene must go back to the story.Our team begins to map the materials taking into account texture, shadow, bump, and lighting.
Rough Cut
Now it starts to come together and start discussing movement through the environment or around the objects. A rough cut is a feature length video, in 3D Computer wireframe. See video above. This is an efficient way to showcase camera movements and overall path through the environment. Then, compiling all the clips into a video with music gives the client an expectation of whats to come. Accompanying the rough cut, will be a photorealistic rendering of that scene. This is to confirm all the materials and staging were inserted correctly. We can still make minor modifications to the scene without losing too much time.
This phase will not have any textures applied to the surfaces. It is only for confirming the movement through the environment or around the objects. After the 3D mock animation has been completed and approved, we cannot go back and change the camera placement without additional cost.
Rendering: Sending it to the Render-farm
The strategic advantage that we have for our clients is our in house rendering farm. We have a product from boxx technologies which helps our gpu based renderings come out at efficiently and at lightning speed. This doesn’t change the price we charge clients, but it allows us to view our visuals quicker, make minor adjustments, so the finals look that much better. Our render farm has over 36 High-Powered Nvidia Graphics cards to deliver high quality visuals and animations.
We have to render out our scenes individually, which means we will not send through an entire 1 minute animation. We may send it through in 8 second increments. This gives us more flexibility during video editing. Once these views are all rendered we assemble in a video editing software.
Post-Production
After the 3D clips are completed rendering, there is still work to be done. The process of making an animation is like making a film: it’s a lot of “pictures” compiling at 24 frames per second to create a “motion picture”
We add in final text, music, voice over, in order to get to the final product. If there needs to be changes it is limited to music, text, transitions, and speed only.
3D Animations get the conversation started, but architectural animations show the specific details that one would expect in a finished building. The ability to create custom 3D environments allows us to model those details in a fast and high-quality fashion. So in the end, you are experiencing a to-scale digital model of the project exactly per the architectural drawings.
If you would like to learn how we might be able to assist with your upcoming project click here!
Virtual Real Estate Walkthroughs
3D Animations allow us to tell the story beyond the project. We set the stage to align with the prospective buyers’ market, or you can even add your own custom touch! Diagrammed through aerial imagery and contextual site modeling, we show the home buyer what they get outside of their property. From large commercial site flyovers to a walk through of a new home, 3D Animations help our clients experience and understand the project as a whole.
- Animations are used to showcase an entire Real Estate Development project showing custom materials and design.
- Business Simulation videos also used 3D Animations to create prototypically, and sometimes futuristic, conditions for a business of any size.
- Immersive content, music, and storytelling give users an emotional response to space. For generations, we have learned through the power of storytelling, that is communicated on deeper levels with our audiences.
- Each project is one-of-a-kind and can be used for almost any visualization purposes!
We hope you learned all there is to know about 3D animations and virtual real estate walkthroughs. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to reach out to learn more!