When choosing a 3D visualization company, architects may not know what to look for to find the right one. They must first decide on the type of 3D company. There is a wide range of companies of different sizes on the market. Let us take a look at all the available solutions and weigh all the pros and cons.

Some architecture professionals choose to work with freelancers. While this seems like an easy solution, there is no guarantee that the work will be done on time. Moreover, freelance 3D artists cannot easily manage large projects due to lack of time and technical capacity.

In addition, when working with freelancers, consistent render quality cannot always be expected. Of course, there are highly skilled 3D artists who go freelance, but it’s incredibly difficult to find them without a lot of effort. Also, the cost of 3D rendering per hour is quite high for such artists, so there are no savings for them anyway. There is also something called project and client responsibility. Freelancers quickly realize that they need a steady source of income and opt for some form of employment or collaboration with a limited number of clients.

Then there are small 3D architectural visualization companies with up to 10 employees or more. These can offer strong guarantees in terms of turnaround time and quality of work. However, they will not be able to provide visualizations for large projects. Besides, famous boutique studios are usually booked months in advance, because professional 3D architectural rendering takes time.

Finally, an architect may choose to work with a large firm. In general, this is the optimal choice for projects of any size. There are enough top experts for any project – from visualizing a country house to designing an entire city. Also, large 3D companies have access to rendering farms, which helps speed up the delivery of results. This is something a freelancer will charge extra for.

Large studios not only have top-notch human and technical resources, but also always-available customer service. This makes them perfect long-term business partners. An architect can work with the same 3D architectural rendering team over and over again, saving a lot of time on explanations, because 3D artists know the preferences and specifics of each regular client’s work.

Moreover, large companies offer a wide range of 3D services, such as visualizations, animations, custom furniture modeling, etc. This basically means that an architect can get everything he needs in one place. And with all this, the client does not have to worry about a single aspect of the process.

After you have selected a few architectural rendering companies, it’s time to take a look at their websites. By looking at their portfolios, you can easily determine if the quality of their work is good enough. Special attention should be paid to the lighting, composition and quality of the 3D model. Also, reviewing the portfolio will help you better understand the specialization of the company. For example, if there are several beautiful renderings of skyscrapers, it is quite safe to order another one.

Then the architect contacts the selected companies. At this point, it is important to ask the right questions to make sure everything goes as expected. First of all, one should ask about the cost of 3D rendering, how exactly the project cost is calculated and how much time is needed for a particular project. Professional studies are always ready to give definitive answers to such questions and also provide a preliminary quote. They also warn and give their opinion on things that might cause delays or cost increases.

Then it can be helpful to ask about the company’s experience with specific projects and the market in general. They should be willing to give their recommendations and show relevant cases if a potential client is interested. Finally, it is also good to find out how many have 3D architectural rendering experts and what software they use.