A Complete Introduction to

Architectural Rendering
The text summary (for lazy folks like you!)

Created by Andrew Price for The Architecture Academy: thearchitectureacademy.com

© Andrew Price 2013, The Architecture Academy – thearchitectureacademy.com

What’s the Point of Architectural Rendering?
1. To visualize an architect’s plan for investors (usually pretty sterile and boring)
2. To visualize a property for buyers (a focus on lifestyle, usually both 3d and 2d elements)
3. To make pretty pictures (90% of the architectural renders online today). Simply to create an
attractive image for your portfolio.

Why should you care about Architectural Rendering?

1. Very strong industry, with lots of job opportunities
2. Skills can be applied to other industries (environment creation, lighting etc.)
3. If done well, looks great in portfolio

Is formal education necessary?

Short answer: No.

Quotes from artists in the industry:

 “…you do not need an architecture degree or background to work in arch viz, though it does
help.”
-Michael Simmons, Archiviz Artist for 3 years
 “Just make sure you have a solid portfolio of what you can do, and the lack of a arch degree
will be quickly overlooked.”
-Travis Schmiesing, Dream Think Lab
 “…when they see amazing work by someone without a degree in architecture, this
requirement goes out the window.”
- Samuel Conlogue, Infusion Studios Inc.

Even legendary artists like Alex Roman and Bertrand Benoit, have had no formal education.

Fundamentals Pyramid
To get good at Architectural Rendering, it’s fundamental that you have a solid understanding of
these core design aspects:

Post
Processing

Camera
Lighting
Interior Design
Designing Architecture
Let’s study each step in more detail…

© Andrew Price 2013, The Architecture Academy – thearchitectureacademy.com

1- Designing Architecture
The art of designing new buildings from scratch

5 Tips:

1- Design a building for a purpose

2- Beauty comes through purity of function
3- Never add pointless ‘doodads’
4- All buildings should share a connection with nature
5- Shape rooms for their intended purpose

2- Interior Design
Designing attractive rooms

5 Tips:

1- Design for a specific individual

2- Ensure harmony of all elements
3- Use predominantly neutral colors
4- Balance the room with equal weight
5- Keep colors and patterns to a minimum

3- Lighting
Designing appealing lighting, for interior and exterior scenes

5 Tips:

1- Four light purposes: Accent, Task, Decorative, Ambient

2- Don’t light everything
3- Use shadows to cast shapes and patterns
4- Humans most comfortable around 2800o kelvin
5- Great exterior lighting is during the “blue hour”

4- Camera
Capturing the building or room in an appealing way.

5 Tips:

1- There are 3 styles to Architecture Photography: Documentive, Artistic, Abstract

2- Focus on telling a story
3- 35mm is most comfortable to human eye
4- Every image needs negative space to ‘breathe’
5- Read (literally) any book on photography!

© Andrew Price 2013, The Architecture Academy – thearchitectureacademy.com

5- Post Processing
Adding the finishing touches to an image

5 Tips:

1- Mimic the camera

2- Have a reason behind every post processing choice
3- Use color grading for changing the mood
4- Don’t blindly copy others effects
5- Post processing is not necessary for every scene

© Andrew Price 2013, The Architecture Academy – thearchitectureacademy.com