BIM and rendering: an advantage for architecture?
Can a 3D BIM design combined with rendering facilities truly make the architecture of your project more appealing? The Big names in architecture say "yes!"
Going back a few years, designers would present their work to customers by producing plans, cross-sections and elevation views and more generally by expressing ideas in 2D drawings. In rare occasions some would build balsa wood models, sketches and watercolored paintings.
Today things have changed: designers now make use of advanced software technology and often use photo-realistic rendering.
Why choose a BIM software with integrated Real Time rendering
The designers world is currently split in two: a handful of professionals prefer the traditional way of presenting their work avoiding to use renderings whereas on the other hand, a continuously increasing number have started to make this technology part of their work flow; some as the likes of Zaha Hadid and Tom Wright (WKK) to name a few.
Here you'll find a a couple of references to their work:
Why is photorealistic rendering becoming so important
At this point, the question is: how important is the use of photorealistic representations for visual art or other sector specialists?
A survey conducted by CGarchitect in collaboration with Unity3D on a sample of 967 architectural visualization specialists and architects from 95 different countries (including US, UK, India, Brazil, Australia, France, Germany, Mexico, Canada and Spain) highlighted some interesting data:
65% of professionals use visual tools "Often" or "Very often" during their presentations/proposals to communicate ideas (eg. Rendering engines, real-time, mobile apps, etc.)
93% of the interview sample believe that the visual technology will become more and more integrated into their workflow
and 84% of professionals plan to invest in visual technology in the next two years.
"The graphics visualisation field is a particular case [...] computer processing capabilities are continuously increasing year after year and will soon remove the barriers such as those encountered in today's rendering technology and allow creative professionals to meet and make design decisions much quicker than before..."
The human being is strongly influenced by the sensory perceptions.
The way in which we can understand and adapt is based on the ability to perceive, see and conceptualize thoughts and ideas. Technological advances have accelerated the desire to focus on visual representations. A detailed picture is one of the most effective ways of communication and has therefore become a "must" in the world of architecture. The client needs to see clear images of the model to approve it and evaluate it, to understand what the real effect will turn out to be even before starting to build it.
Architectural design using BIM: the customer requirements
Whoever is involved in the design process helps the customer to change various aspects of the design concept in real time. HELMUT Kinzler, associate at Zaha Hadid Architects says: "[...] with a fast, real-time rendering engine, we can immediately see the results and test some of the time wasting issues such as materials, sizing, lighting, functionality and the overall composition of the drawing[...]".
The customer finds it much easier to accept and approve a project if it is represented in the correct way. To get an exact idea on the basis of a 2D CAD drawing of and then imagine the final result is difficult and could even compromise the choices made.
Here's a video that demonstrates how easy, intuitive and appealing it can be to create images and video of an architectural project.
Click here to download Edificius, the Architectural BIM Design software
