How to Render Good Architectural Renderings?

Good architectural renders shall come through sketch design, modeling, continuous revision of rendering and polishing. The final finished products can be presented in a designer's brain; however, the client cannot picture it. Architecture render solves this problem. It can describe exactly the built architecture in a photo-realistic quality before completion. How to render a satisfying architectural render?

1. Rendering methods of architectural renders: placing camera

When viewers watch your architectural renders, you need to give an immersive experience for them, just like standing before the architecture. Place camera lens at the height of about 1.73 meters or within a height changing scope of 15.2cm, and it will bring accurate perspective effect to a man at average height. Except for proper height, you need to avoid camera tilt. If you want to protrude a detail at higher or lower place, it is better to adopt lens shift than camera tilt, so that you can get vertical line. In MODO, it is called aperture translation.

The other important parameter of renderings is focal length in MODO. Focal length at 28mm or higher one can reduce greatly perspective distortion in picture. In renderings, perspective distortion is very bad for expression, because it will reduce precision of space expression.

2. Rendering methods of architectural renders: think deeply like a photographer

To create outstanding architecture render, we must get into the stage of architectural photographer. Here are some basic rules that you need to know:

(1) Trichotomy

Trichotomy is one of the most basic rules for photography. The purpose is to create balanced composition. When using trichotomy, photographer will divide the picture into 9 square zones including 3 longitudinal and 3 transverse. Except for balanced composition, place the focal point at intersections of gridlines is to create picture center. When rendering architectural renders, you shall place the areas, which you want the viewers to focus, at the intersections.

(2) Golden ratio

Although golden ratio is not unique to photography, it plays a very important role in creating excellent images. Golden ratio frequently appears in architecture, mathematics and natural history. Just like trichotomy, golden ratio is also for creating balanced composition. It is an interesting subject, very complicated, and cannot be discussed in more details in this article. Spend some time to learn about it, you will improve the quality of architecture render obviously.

(3) Guide line

If you can tell others exactly the key points in your picture or rendering, isn't it wonderful? Guide line usually starts from the most obvious place of the picture, and ends at outer boundary. It is for leading viewers' eyes into some point. In architecture render, you can use guide line to lead viewers' eyes into one fireplace, which is a good method for helping them imagine that they are using the space.

Combining basic principles of photography and telling the story through pictures, make your render more vivid. When creating renders, thinking about these subtle details, which will make your picture different from the rest, is quite important. However, these rules shall not limit your imagination, and they shall be the firm starting point of any rendering works or pictures.