What to send your rendering studio, and what happens next
The six things a studio needs to start, the order the work follows after that, and the three things that delay a project most.
Short answer: the drawings, the finishes, the landscape and context, two or three images you like, where the renderings will be used and the date you need them. With those six things, a studio can quote in a day and start right away. Here is what each one means.
The checklist
1. Drawings
Floor plans, elevations, sections and the roof plan, plus the site plan with the grading. CAD (DWG), Revit or SketchUp files save time, but dimensioned PDFs are enough to start. Say which version is final, and send the whole set rather than single sheets: details that seem irrelevant often decide a camera angle.
2. Finishes and materials
The finish schedule, product links for anything visible (flooring, countertops, fixtures, cladding) and the color schemes. If the plan has elevation options or finish packages, list the ones that will be shown.
3. Landscape and context
The landscape plan, or references for the planting. Photos of the site and of what surrounds it, and drone photos if you have them. And the north arrow: we place the sun where it really is, so the light in the image matches the site.
4. Two or three images you like
Renderings, photographs or paintings, with one line on what you like in each. The mood matters as much as the building; the Atmosphere Notebook shows seven moods with a real image of each, if you want a vocabulary for it.
5. Where the images will be used
Website, listings, brochure, social media, a billboard or the construction fence. Each one asks for a different format and size, and a vertical crop is easier to plan before rendering than to invent after.
6. The date, and who approves
The day sales start or the event the images are for, and the name of the person who approves. One decision maker is the single biggest time saver in a project.
What happens next
- A 20-minute call to go through the project. You get a fixed quote within one business day.
- Deposit and kickoff. The deposit books the production slot, and we confirm the list of views.
- Camera views in clay. Simple gray previews to approve each framing before any rendering time is spent.
- First renderings. The art direction is approved on the first images; the rest follow the same language.
- Two revision rounds per image. You comment right on the image, online.
- Final files in 4K, sized and named for each channel, released when the balance is paid.
The three things that delay a project most
- Missing information. A finish nobody chose yet stops a room. Mark it “to be defined” and we use a neutral option you can swap later.
- Design changes in the middle of production. They are normal, but each one costs time. Tell us early, even if it is only a possibility.
- Too many approvers. When five people comment on the same image, the comments contradict each other. Collect them and send one list.
Ready to send? Tell us about the project and attach what you have; we reply within one business day.
