Modern 3D modeling and CGI are a bit part of online and offline marketing already. Offline, we see visual representations of structures that are due to be built (and are for sale), and we see the technology used to “Jazz up” marketing material. Modern 3D architectural visualizations are yet another tool in the graphic-designer’s/online-marketers arsenal. Plus, online adverts and demonstrations have become a lot easier now that 3D rendering has become cheaper and easier to produce. Not to underplay the impact of 3D visualization on the architectural industry, but the tools are now so commonly used that it is odd if a marketing or design team “Doesn’t” use them.
Showing What One Could Only Imagine
In the old days, you had to say, “Imagine this” and then describe your building. You would have to show hand-drawn pictures and models. Nowadays, you can show people rendered designs. If you wish, you can show people photo-realistic views of things that don’t even exist yet. The designs can be placed into photos of locations so people can see what the building will look like when it is built in its desired location.
If you are dealing with clients who are likely to spend a lot of money, then you can create a series of very impressive visualizations of upcoming projects. You can show them as photo-realistic entities within photo locations, or you can go a step further and set up an AR (Augmented Reality) program so that people can use their phones to see what the buildings will look like when they are built. Alternatively, if you have the time and programming skill, you can create a VR walking simulator where people walk around the structures and locations that you are developing. You can show the finished products while they are still in the planning phase.
It is an Immutable Tool
When we went from typewriter to word processor, we didn’t look back because anything less than the current development would be counterproductive. The same is true for 3D visualization and the architecture industry. Now that we have 3D design and rendering, why would you go back to drawn images and blueprint plans that laypersons cannot visualize?
There are industries set up around 3D modeling and rendering tools. For example, you don’t even have to buy servers anymore. You can have your rendering and processing completed by cloud computing companies. You create your design, you send it off to RebusFarm and they send back the finished product. Modern 3D modeling and design are now part of the industry itself, so it stands to reason that the technology is used across different disciplines, from design all the way to marketing.
Look at What You Lose
Rather than continuing to “Try” to prove that 3D architectural visualization is important in real estate marketing, let’s quickly examine the impact of these tools disappearing. We have to go back to traditional graphic design without the depth or impact of 3D-modeled objects, elements and text. We would also have to go back to rendered out CAD plans, to drawings and models when trying to sell an idea.
Plus, if the tools were stripped from the architectural industry only, but remained in every other industry, then it would make architecture and real-estate marketing companies look antiquated. It would be like going into a dentist’s waiting room and seeing that they have one of those old analog TVs with the big back part. It just wouldn’t fit. Modern 3D visualization is important because it is already here and it is here to stay. Removing it at this point would be like taking the wheel off a car and hoping it still drives as fast.