Real Time Rendering in architecture

Here’s how to push your architectural creativity to the next level with high-performance Real Time rendering thanks to Edificius and its revolutionary Path Tracer technology.

The presentation of the project to the client is a fundamental aspect in the profession of a technician. This leads to a need of tools that can guarantee a good graphic quality and generate views in no time.

Real-Time Rendering is undoubtedly the best method to present your project to a client. The ability to immediately show the 3D model with photorealistic results makes this technology the most versatile in this environment, especially if “accompanied” by the Path Tracing rendering method.

Let’s see what Real-Time Rendering and Path Tracing are, what their usefulness is in the design and let’s discover together the new Edificius usBIM, the first software in the world to apply the revolutionary Path Tracer to BIM modeling.

Real-Time Rendering and path tracing

What is Real-Time Rendering?

Real Time Rendering is a process composed of two fundamental aspects:

Rendering – the process that allows you to obtain a photo-realistic image starting from a digital 3D model
Real-Time – indicates the immediate completion of a certain operation or process.

So, real-time rendering is a process of viewing 3D scenes rendered in Real Time. This enables the user to create visual content related to a 3D model without having to wait for hours to see the final result. It basically allows designers and clients alike to experience their projects as if they were already built.

You can certainly understand the great power of a dynamic integration of the 3D BIM model and real time rendering combined with photorealistic renderings that not only serve as a means of presenting your projects but also support the designer in choosing materials, objects and lighting solutions.
Everything is perfectly and dynamically integrated respecting the true BIM philosophy. The integrated real-time BIM integration is undisputedly a much more powerful technology compared to other solutions, where the rendering process is a completely detached activity from the creative design phase. Other rendering software that keep these phases separate simply act as a sort of post processing “beautification” of a project, with the later addition of materials, objects, and effects. This process presumes no interaction with the project itself.

Alongside the advanced and lightning speed rendering capabilities, you can also obtain other types of images and documents that you can use for project presentations, as the below:

professional video presentations
360° panorama images

If you want more information regarding this topic, simply jump to this great article: “How to improve design thanks to Real-Time Rendering for architecture”

What is Path Tracing?

Path tracing is defined by experts as “the most accurate method for producing a render” and “one of the greatest discoveries for real-time graphics in recent years“.
Path Tracing is a method used in computer graphics for physically accurate global illumination, the main purpose of which is to obtain 3D scene renderings which are far more faithful to reality.
The technology is based on a fundamental aspect: it traces the path of the emitted rays, from the observation point, from each pixel, to the point of illumination (artificial and natural light sources, etc.). These rays bounce off the objects in the scene and propagate in various directions. These bounces are of course highly dependent on the objects in the scene and their surface quality. After reaching the illuminating surface, the light rays are calculated in order to simulate how each object is affected, just as in reality!

Path Tracing is inspired by another rendering methodology called Ray Tracing. This method identifies the rays’ path that “connects” the light source, the illuminated object and the rendering chamber. It takes advantage of the same principle, only the detail is much higher, thanks to the presence of more light rays that provide more information on the elements present in the scene.

This brief explanation makes us understand what we are talking about and how it is important to optimize resources to get the best results without having to wait endless hours for image production.

The reduction of the time factor and, therefore, the optimization of the calculations are very important, especially when it comes to Real-Time Rendering.

Difference between different calculation methods used in Real-Time Rendering

What is the utility of Real-Time Rendering in architecture?

Real-Time Rendering in architecture is of fundamental importance for the presentation of a project. You can illustrate something that doesn’t exist yet, interactively and with great results.

You can also present the project to your client, make any changes and observe the updates immediately. This allows you to make assessments in real time and, therefore, save a lot of time.

Real-Time Rendering in architecture changes the concept of architectural rendering. It changes the way you present a project, it changes the way you design.

The end result is not a simple static image that shows a single shot, but becomes part of a dynamically integrated system, following the true BIM philosophy.

In practice, thanks to Real-Time Rendering you can:

view the project as if it were already completed, studying every detail and making changes in real time;
present your work to the client in a clear and comprehensive manner;
produce highly professional graphical content of the project (render, video, etc.).

Here are the many benefits:

reduction of design errors
greater control over design choices and details of the entire model
navigate through the rendered model
reduction of misunderstandings and misunderstandings with customers and companies about architectural choices
verification of the project at each stage of modeling
real-time model editing
processing speed of professional rendering and presentation videos
access library of photorealistic materials already integrated into the software
ease of use of the software
possibility of setting many realistic and artistic effects to make the model realistic and reproduce the real conditions of the context.

To learn more, you can check the page dedicated to Real-Time Rendering Software.

How to leverage Real-Time Rendering with Edificius?

Edificius usBIM is the first software in the world to apply the revolutionary Path Tracer to BIM modeling.

In Edificius, you can take advantage of Real-Time Rendering thanks to a dedicated environment that allows you to manage your 3D model for impressive client presentations. Enjoy photorealistic content provided with the advancements of Path Tracing.

This new technology goes alongside the current Ray Tracing mode providing even more high-performance creativity tools to bring your rendering capabilities to the next level.

You can continue creating photo-realistic snapshots and video presentations by setting parameters (contrasts, light, effects, lighting). You can also develop virtual tours inside the model to amaze, impress and convince your clients without any misunderstandings.

Thanks to the interconnection between the different views, you can edit the model in plan view or in 3D view and get updates immediately in the Real-Time view (or vice versa).