5 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD INVEST IN REAL-TIME RENDERING FOR LANDSCAPE DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE

Current technology has elevated rendering from an industry once reserved only for computer geeks to an expanding field of artists, designers, architects, engineers and landscape designers. But there are limits to most rendering engines that have those professionals running into walls when it comes to learning 3D visualisation. Engines like V-ray and 3DS Max tend to be hard to learn and complex to use, resulting in a greater cost of time and money, and making it impractical for designers to get good idea across to a client or audience.

So, what does real-time rendering solve and how can you use it?

Real-time rendering is exactly what it sounds like: animations and visuals that are rendered so quickly that they appear to be generated in real-time on your computer screen.

Real-time rendering in software such as ARCHLine.XP ‘Live’ from CAD International or Lumion makes it easy to synchronise your visuals with your CAD model, creating striking visuals and generating immersive walkthroughs for your clients.

The process is fairly straightforward: load up your model in SketchUp or ARCHLine.XP and sync it directly with ARCHLine.XP ‘Live’ and see your design changes rendered in real-time.

1 | DESIGN AND 3D VISUALISATION AS A FEEDBACK LOOP

The design process is often a loop of trial and feedback, trial and feedback – until you’re either up against a deadline or run out of money. The ability to drag and drop objects and materials into your model allows designers to add layers of depth and output that can be changed in real-time, cutting rendering time down significantly.

In effect, this also makes presenting your ideas to a client easy, since you don’t have to wait for renders to process. You and your client can easily go through this simple process to test concepts and ideas, and ultimately develop a fully realised design that exceeds client’s expectations, all without needing to pay an expert visualiser hundreds of dollars for a single still image.

2 | DRAG AND DROP MODELS

ARCHLine.XP ‘Live’ contains a big library of trees, plants, people, effects, objects, furniture, people and cars that can be dropped into your model in seconds, helping you save a lot of time and money that can be dedicated to important tasks.

For Landscape Design, you can select a continuous placement which allows you to ‘paint’ your landscape with your selected plants.

3 | IMMERSIVE WALKTHROUGHS

The ability to navigate your design in an immersive environment helps both you and your client understand the use of space and materials as if you were walking through the model yourself, picking and choosing parts of the design you want to change.

Creating your design in a plan and seeing your design realised in real-time are two different ends of the spectrum, especially when trying to communicate your ideas to a client quickly.

4 | ANIMATIONS & VIRTUAL REALITY

ARCHLine.XP ‘Live’ allows you to create animations and 360 Panoramas. On top of being able to create beautiful videos showing all the best parts of your design, you can also experience your model in virtual reality.

Staying ahead of the technology curve without having to be a computer whiz is definitely a plus.

5 | LIVESYNC FOR SKETCHUP

Live Sync and View Synchronisation helps you feel the beauty and life of your design project while simultaneously enhancing your workflow. ARCHLine.XP ‘Live’ is fully compatible with SketchUp and others.

With the click of a button, you can instantly update the corresponding model link to ARCHLine.XP ‘Live’. This feature is a great time-saver since you don’t have to re-import your model every time.

CLICK HERE to find out more about ARCHLine.XP 'Live' for SketchUp or to get a free trial