Hello, I am Daniel Nagaets, the founder of render.camp and co-founder of Fortes Vision.
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Currently, I have 18 years of experience in commercial architectural visualization. My journey started as a freelancer, then I built a small company, and then I founded companies from scratch, and was engaged in partnerships.
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For over 10 years now, I have been imparting my knowledge to students in the Professional Visualization course, teaching them how to create professional architectural visualizations.
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In this book, I have compiled everything I consider essential and unspoken about architectural visualization. It covers creativity and technology, provides useful links and tips, delves into composition and optics, and many other topics.
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Not overly long, but sufficiently detailed.
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If you read this book carefully and follow my advice, you will undoubtedly produce not only visually appealing images but also enhance the quality and speed of your projects. More importantly, your experience with projects will become enjoyable, understandable, and predictable for both you and your clients.
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Enjoy your reading.

Preface

Commercial architectural visualization is a blend of four components: Architecture, Fine Art, and 3D, all multiplied by a Commercial task. Understanding this, breaking it down into its components, and honing skills in each of these areas can significantly ease the path of development in our profession. Starting with the most complex aspect, it's impossible to say "I have learned Architecture or Design." It's an endless process that includes knowledge of everything about everything: physics with the properties of materials and light, proportions and rhythms, Neufert's ergonomics, and an understanding of urban development, among many other things.

Just imagine trips with a camera for 3-4 days to iSaloni. Imagine Italy, Milan, spring, warmth – all legally because you're at a professional exhibition and conferences improving your visualization skills.

‍Fine Art sounds very romantic. Art, the golden ratio, the Renaissance. But we are pursuing our commercial goals. So, it makes sense to draw from the experience of the world - the vast crowd of people who, over the last 40,000 years, have progressed from the first cave paintings through Leonardo Da Vinci or Canaletto (top-notch arch viz artists) to modern photographers and videographers - everything they went through and realized about images can and should be taken and used.

The most foolish and primitive thing we can do is to simply ignore tens of thousands of years of experience and, in every project, seeking a good camera position - choose a front view with a high clipping plane. The idea is simple - an image on a flat surface can evoke emotions and therefore influence human decisions because emotions rule the world, including sales. And humanity already has this experience.

‍All knowledge about 3D is just a technical skill. Most importantly, one should not have excessive expectations of it. It's no more than the ability to type on a keyboard for a writer. Of course, it's important to be able to do it. But a beautiful and harmonious story is born in the head, in the imagination, not between fingers and buttons.

What is commercial visualization

Commercial architectural visualization, or commercial archviz, encompasses images, animations, or panoramas that serve a specific commercial objective for the client.

The formula is straightforward: your best worked-out visualization techniques that meet specific business needs.

‍Of course, you should have well-practiced visualization techniques, composition skills, and a collection of assets. It's wise to practice these in advance, like training before a competition. At the start of a project, it's crucial to brief the client to ensure a clear understanding of the task at hand.

And certainly, the renders must be attractive — otherwise, no one would buy an apartment, a house, or invest in construction. However, they shouldn't be creative in the sense of "sooooo beautiful but incomprehensible."

A deep understanding of the tasks associated with the images you're commissioned to create will significantly simplify the entire project, making it faster and more transparent for both the artist or studio and the client.

What we provide to the client

From the very beginning of working on any project, it's crucial to think about the specific number of images we will send at the end. The goal of the project is precisely these 5-10-20 frames, not just a developed model from which to later select beautiful shots.

Why mention this? Because from the start of the project, at every stage, you should be moving towards its conclusion. During the client briefing stage, you can already establish what these shots should convey by asking: "What is important to you?"

‍If your client is an interior designer, then you definitely have a layout.

You can directly mark the important areas that the client emphasized on it.

The next step is to find the best obvious camera position considering the "90-Degree Rule".

Notice how the goal of each shot becomes a specific area of the interior. This approach makes the frame easy to read and the project as a whole understandable, which is definitely beneficial for commercial visualization.

To showcase the living room area, we'll likely need to use clipping, and perhaps move a wall, just as we would for the bedroom. For a shot focusing on a round table, hiding an island or using clipping might be necessary.

But maybe you disagree with these ideas and have some of your own. You know what happened? We've moved from blindly searching to solving a specific problem. And this saves more project execution time than even a computer that's twice as powerful.