Table of Contents

Exterior Renderings

Architectural Accuracy

Doors

Doors should always include a knob or handle.  Most often the height of the knob will be 36″ – 40″ above the floor.

Gaps and Holes

No gaps or holes should exist unless shown in the DWGs.  These are commonly found under buildings, or at bottoms of doors.  Fill in the “ground” and/or move the geometry as needed.

Popouts

Window “pop-outs” generally project out 2 inches from the face of the building.  Sometimes at the top or bottom of the window, we might have a horizontal base or header, and often these are pushed out an additional 2″ (total of 4″ off the facade).

Long horizontal accent bands which often span the length of the wall, typically have a depth of 4″.  Check the ends of the building elevations to see if this detail is drawn.  It may also be indicated in the notes.

On tiled roofs, gables should have tiles.  Make sure tiles are overlapping in the correct direction, so that water will cascade down the roof, and fall to the ground.  Only the top tiles at the peak should be short, when needed.  Other tiles should all be the same length.

Roof Tiles: Ridges

Ridge roof tiles should not hang over the corners

Stucco Joints

Stucco expansion joints are generally .75″ wide, and .5″ deep, so they should not be too bold. Color is usually the same as the adjacent walls. These should only be “cheat modeled” with splines if the camera is far enough away to not tell the difference.  Care should be taken when reading cad elevations.  Do not confuse hidden lines (for the roof) as stucco joints.  Also, typically at outer corners, the joints will turn the corner and continue.  

Unwanted Elements

If you see any unusual elements or objects on a building, check the drawings to see if it exists and if it should be visible. Sometimes hidden lines in the cad end up visible in the 3D model.

Window Appearance

Windows should show HDR refections, and preferably have blinds behind glass for bedrooms.  We have a script that can make blinds en-masse very quickly.  (needs to be tested with newer versions of 3dsMax, though.  Also requires a particular orientation of the window geometry. )  See demo videos below, and ask John for the install file.

youtu.be/i-gA4oka4GQ?si=JSExf1siCCyl5SEN

youtu.be/EB7nKE3o66s?si=YmAZU4pq88e0tL85

Materials and Finishes

Materials Turn Corners

Most often a material will turn and continue at a corner. Generally material changes will occur on inner corners, NOT outer corners.  Often, materials like brick or stone will turn the corner and terminate after 1-2 feet.

Landscape Accuracy

Consistent Plant Sizes

Plant sizes should be randomized within 20%. For example, set the random scale to minimum of 90% and maximum of 110%, or 40-60% if that’s appropriate for the situation.  Generally, Any more than this and it becomes distracting and unattractive.

Empty Planting Areas

Check LS plan for any unusually empty areas for plants that may be been overlooked

No Hard Shadow Lines on Trees

These palm trees sometimes reveal this terrible shadow line if rotated a certain degree with the sun at a certain angle.  Try rotating the tree, or adjusting the bump map settings in the material to soften this shadow line.  If you see this on any other trees, and it’s clear the shadow line should be soft, seek similar solutions.

No Jungles

Avoid overly dense planting with plants/trees that are too large.  The result looks like a “jungle” and is unattractive.  

Species Resemblance

All plants should resemble the actual species. Brief seasonal colors and short-lived flowers should usually be ignored unless we get a special request from the client. If you are not already familiar with the species, search Google Images for examples using the scientific names.  Often, when a plant does have a bright seasonal color, the example images will highlight this.  So the bright color should serve as your red flag to learn if the plant only looks this way for 2 weeks out of the year.

We also will typically show trees “in their youth”, smaller and more transparent than when the tree is 20 years old.

Hardscape Accuracy

Backyard Fences and Gates

Make sure fences are located accurately and have no gaps. Gates should look like gates

Fence Posts

Fence posts should be logical. The Railing Tool in 3dsMax does not typically create an acceptable fence without extra work. Posts should be located at all corners, and between corners, posts should be equally spaced, or have some other thoughtful logic.

Hardscape Polygon Smoothing

Smooth surfaces should always be smooth, not faceted. For example, we often see a radiused curb with faceted sides. Set smoothing groups appropriately.

No Parking Zones

Make sure No Parking zones have diagonal painted lines

No Tripping Hazards

If you see geometry that looks like someone can easily trip over it, check the drawings or ask your supervisor

Sidewalk / Curb Chamfered Edges

Chamfered tops on sidewalks and curbs is a .5 inch radius.  Use script.

Sidewalk / Curb Concrete

Sidewalks and curbs should typically use the same concrete material. We have a preferred texture.

Sidewalk Ramps

Sidewalks should slope to pavement level where drawn in site plan, curbs to be modified appropriately.  The ramps are not always obvious in site plan drawings, but if the sidewalk appears to lead into a crosswalk, or it is obvious that pedestrian traffic would flow off the sidewalk, most likely we will need a ramp.

Site Theme Wall & Column Caps

Tops of walls and columns should be finished appropriately. Do not simply continue box mapping on the top surfaces.

Swimming Pools – Borders, Coping, Tiles

See example images for acceptable edges along swimming pools.

Swimming Pools – Realistic Depth Profile

Swimming pools should show realistic depths, and vary at logical locations

Swimming Pools – Soft Corners

Swimming pool basins to have radiused corners for softened appearance

Walk Surface Expansion Joints

Sidewalks and pool decks (unless built with pavers) should have expansion joints. Use maxscript.

Composition Quality

Crop Excess Environment

Excessive sky or foreground (grass, concrete, pavement) should be cropped out equally.

Omit Features that Block the View

If a tree, column, or other element is significantly blocking the view of something important, it can often be omitted. When in doubt, ask a supervisor.

Oversized Trees and Shrubs

Trees should not be too big so that they obscure the view of the buildings or other important details.  Shrubs should appear like they get trimmed every 2 weeks.  We should only show large shrubs as an accent, or to soften a large, bare wall.

Subject in Vertical Center

Subject building(s) should typically be located in the vertical center of the image.

Overall Beauty

Cars

Cars should primarily be black, white, silver, dark gray, with other colors in lesser amounts. Bright colors should be minimized or omitted, and not a distraction in the image.

Flowers / Leaf Vibrance

Flowers rendered using Forest Pack tend to look dark and dull. This can be corrected by going to the diffuse texture map and turning off the filtering. Then go to the Output settings and increase the values to brighten the texture.

GI Details in Shaded Areas

Try to make sure we can see details in shadowed areas. Example… brick pattern on the shady side of a building. Sometimes GI will obscure these details, but the right settings will reveal them.

Sky Quality

Skies should be photoreal. Not overly saturated. Little or no noise should be visible. Clouds should be “light”, not dark or threatening.

Sun Angle

Sun angle should be direct on 1 side of buildings, and shadow on the other. Sun should never be located behind the camera.

Appropriate Beings

Clothing and Appearance

Clothing, general appearance should match the project design. Casual? Dressed up? Athletic? Swim suits? Poor? Wealthy?

Distracting People

People should not be in distracting poses, or have facial expressions that attract attention from the viewer.

Human Diversity

In the U.S. it is important to show diversity in skin color and nationality. We can’t have all people with white skin and blond hair. Add African American, Asian, Indian, or Mexican people. Apply this to at least 30% of visible people.

People in the Foreground

People should generally not be placed too close to the camera, such that it becomes completely obvious that they are 3d models. It is possible now to use Stable Diffusion to enhance foreground people.

Social Activity

Small groups of people should appear to be socializing with each other

Regardless of who you are, the ultimate goal of a rendering is help sell your design. Digital-X knows how to turn your concept into a visual sales tool that is effective, persuasive, and powerful, and will enhance and strengthen that first impression.

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