nterview with Jordan Smith of MOrenders

by Daniel | May 14, 2020 | Case Studies

In this interview, associate architect Jordan Smith of

Kansas City, MO, talks about his experience starting an
architectural visualization company, and how Lumion has
helped along the way.

Country cottage practice render, rendered in Lumion 10 by

MOrenders; model by Demilune.

During the day, Jordan Smith works as an associate

architect at J. Price Architecture, Inc., but that’s only
where it starts.

In addition to graduating with a Master’s Degree from

Drury University and pursuing his licensing, Jordan runs
his own architectural visualization company, MOrenders,
creating beautiful renders with an eye for realism and
story. Follow along as we talked with Jordan about his
company, his process and how he started using Lumion in
the first place.
First things first. So why did you decide to start an
architecture visualization company?
JORDAN: Actually, it started as a hobby. I’ve always been
into rendering and all throughout school I used Lumion for
my projects. We actually started using a student license in
2016, so I think that was like Lumion 6 or 7, and I’ve been
hooked ever since.

When Lumion 9 came out, I really started getting into it,

and that’s why I made MOrenders about a year ago. As a
foot in the door to see what might happen.

Then, I had a friend who is a realtor in Nashville and I

started doing a lot of houses for them. It’s been easier to
take off with this start; with a portfolio, it’s a lot easier to
get clients.

Render 1
Real 1
12345678
A few before and after images showing renders made in
Lumion and their real-life counterparts. Renders made in
Lumion 10 by MOrenders.
What types of clients are you usually working with?
JORDAN: Usually, it’s single-family homes from realtors or
builders that are looking to get renderings for pre-sale. Or
I’m working with people renovating their homes, and they
want to see how the renovations will look before work gets
started.

Preliminary practice image, rendered in Lumion 10 by

MOrenders; design and 3D models from the SketchUp 3D
Warehouse.

I’ve also done multi-family and a couple of commercial

buildings, and I want to start getting into urban planning
and city planning, more large scale developments instead
of just singular buildings.

Urban landscape design, rendered in Lumion 10 by

MOrenders.

What types of clients are you usually working with?

JORDAN: For a typical project, once I know who the client
is, I’ll usually ask them about what views they want.
Interior? Exterior? I’ll also ask about the scale of the
project, how many views they want.

It depends on how I’m getting information about the

project. Some people will just read me out the
measurements they took of their house, and then I piece it
together (having to make a few assumptions).

Minimalist, rendered in Lumion 10 by MOrenders.

Other people give me a full set of construction documents,

which makes things a lot easier. I even had one person
who already made a SketchUp model, and all I had to do
was plug the model in and get started. That saves them a
lot of time, and money.

Nine times out of ten, I’m making a SketchUp model too.

I’ll go off the construction documents and have them pick
out the material palette they want. After that, I can match it
with the Lumion materials as closely as possible.

Modern farmhouse, rendered in Lumion 10 by MOrenders.

I love how you can copy the hex values of Sherman
Williams paint colors into Lumion; that’s been really great
because people send me color selections for the paint on
their house, and it really speeds up the process instead of
making it a guessing game.

How do clients respond when you send them your

renders?
JORDAN: It definitely depends. Some people take what I
give them, they love it and they send it off and that’s the
end of it. But I tell them at the beginning that I’ll make any
adjustments for free. If they get a rendering and it’s not
what they envisioned, I’ll go back and tweak a few settings
and adjust the views in Lumion.

Usually, I’ll send a lower quality test image with a

watermark on it. Instead of rendering a print quality image
in Lumion, I’ll do a draft quality and send it out to them.
And we’ll go through the image and I’ll ask questions like,
“Is this the view you want? Are these the materials you
want? Is this the lighting you want?”
Practice rendering in Lumion 10 by MOrenders; design
and model by Mike Brestel.

And then I’ll make the final rendering and send it out.

Can you describe your situation before using Lumion?

JORDAN: Before I started getting into rendering, it was
hand sketches or Photoshop, and that was it, at least for
me.

I love hand sketching and still do it today, but there is a

certain amount of time and perfectionism that comes with
it. If you have to redo a hand sketch, it’s going to take
days, while if you have to redo something in Lumion, it’s
going to take minutes or an hour or so. And that really
helps speed up the process.

With Photoshop, you can make some really great

renderings but, again, you’re taking a ton of time making
huge files and using all these different JPGs and PNGs
from Google to make the perfect image, when you could
just place and object and render it in 30 seconds.
So, I think the before and after, the biggest impact is the
sense of realism you get and the time you save. And
time’s money, especially in this field.

In your opinion, what are the benefits of architectural

visualization for your clients?
JORDAN: I guess the obvious and primary role of
visualization is how it allows someone to experience a
space before it’s even built. I mean, you can show
everyone a floor plan or an elevation or a section, and I
think some people will understand it but a lot of people
won’t.

Showroom floor, rendered in Lumion 10 by MOrenders.

If I showed a floor plan to my dad or my mom, they would

have no understanding of the space. But we can all read a
picture. I think Lumion and other visualization programs
are great for communicating the design to people that may
not be able to otherwise understand architecture.

Does visualization help with your own processes?

JORDAN: Absolutely. I think it definitely does.
When you’re doing things in 3D alone, it really puts your
head into the design and gives you a feeling for how
you’re going to experience a building.

Contemporary cabin designed by KDDesign, rendered in

Lumion 10 by MOrenders.

With an elevation plan, for example, you can get a general

idea of how the building will look, but you never truly
understand it until you see shadow lines and the way the
light hits, the reflections and all the different materials.

Has Lumion’s speed ever saved you in a pinch?

JORDAN: Actually, it has helped quite a bit at JPA. We
had just got Lumion and one of my bosses came up and
asked me if I could make some preliminary renderings that
would go in a magazine. He said he needed them by 3:00
p.m. and it was 2:45.

Thankfully, we already had a SketchUp model, which I put

into Lumion and then threw in a bunch of trees, a street
with some cars and some of the outline people. To make it
look like a preliminary render, I threw on the outline effect
and I got an image out in like 12 minutes.