3D Exterior Rendering

Types of exterior render we produce

Most projects need a small set of views that do different jobs. The hero is the three-quarter view that sells the scheme in one frame. The streetscape shows the building in its row of neighbours at pedestrian eye level — the view a planning panel and a nervous neighbour both care about. The dusk render, with interior lights on and a warm sky, is the emotional image for social media and the display suite. Aerials and site views explain a masterplan: stages, roads, open space and how the scheme meets the water or the park.

• Hero and three-quarter views for brochures and hoardings
• Streetscape and verified pedestrian views for planning submissions
• Dusk and night renders with interior lighting
• Aerial, bird's-eye and masterplan views, including drone-photo composites
• Facade and elevation studies for material and colour sign-off
• Alfresco, courtyard and rooftop amenity views

Exterior renders for houses, townhouses and apartments

The brief changes with the building type. For a volume or custom builder the job is a range: one design shown in every facade option, then placed on a real lot. That is what our display-home renders are built around, with the camera at the driveway or the street, the brick blend and garage door taken from the specification, and landscaping that matches what the buyer will actually receive.

Medium-density work is judged on the row rather than the single dwelling. Townhouse developments need a streetscape that shows the rhythm of the frontages, the setbacks, the driveways and the planting, plus one frontage view per dwelling type, all drawn from a single model so later colour variants and planning views stay consistent.

Apartment buildings are the largest exterior jobs. The hero view, the street-level podium and entry, the rooftop and the dusk image all have to agree with the interiors and floor plans sold from the same building, which is why we produce apartment renders as a connected set rather than as separate orders.

Who orders 3D exterior rendering and what they use it for

Home builders use these images to sell a design before the display home is built, to show every facade option consistently on the website and to place a home on a specific lot for a quote. The image has to match what is delivered, so the brick blend, roof colour and garage door are taken from the specification rather than guessed.

Property developers use them across the life of a project: first for planning and investor presentations, then for the hoarding and the brochure, then for the portals once sales open. One model serves every stage, so the image on the hoarding matches the building in the planning set.

Architects use them to settle materials and massing with a client and to support a development application. Real estate agents and project marketers commission them for off-the-plan and land campaigns, where the building does not yet exist to photograph.

Facade renders and material studies

Facade renders are the working tool of the design phase. Before a builder orders brick, cladding, render finishes or window frames, the architect and developer want to see the combinations side by side on the actual elevation in the actual light. We produce facade studies as a set — the same view repeated with alternative brick blends, cladding colours, balustrade types or roof profiles — priced as variants of one image rather than as separate renders.

The same studies double as the images that accompany a development application, where a council or panel asks for a visual.

Aerial and development renders

For large sites we produce aerial renders in two ways. A full-CGI aerial models the surrounding streets and buildings from survey and satellite data — useful when the site is still a paddock. A drone composite places the modelled scheme into a photograph taken by a licensed drone operator, which gives real context — neighbouring roofs, the coastline, the city skyline — and is the more convincing option for established suburbs. Both are used for masterplan marketing, staged land releases, industrial estates and council presentations.

Aerial and masterplan renders start from A$795 per image because of the extra context modelling involved.

Developers staging a land release or a multi-building scheme can see how these views fit the sales and approvals sequence in our guide for property developers.

Context, landscaping and entourage

A building alone on a grey plane sells nothing. We model the site from survey and Nearmap or Google Earth data, place neighbouring buildings at their real heights, and build the landscape from the landscape architect's plan using Australian species where they are specified — lilly pilly, lomandra, eucalypts, frangipani — rather than generic library trees. People, cars and street furniture are added at real scale to give the image life without distracting from the building.

Verified views for planning applications and appeals

When a render will be relied on in a planning process, it has to be defensible. For verified views the camera position is surveyed by your surveyor or one we arrange, we match the lens and height to a photograph taken from that position, and composite the model into the photograph with a documented methodology. Tell us at briefing if a render is for a DA, a planning permit application, a panel hearing or a court process, and we will produce it to follow that process.

Software and file formats

We model in 3ds Max, SketchUp, Revit and ArchiCAD, render in V-Ray and Corona Renderer, and finish in Photoshop. Send DWG, PDF, RVT, PLN, SKP or IFC files; we can also work from scanned hand drawings for concept-stage imagery. Finals are delivered at 4K as standard, and at 6K–8K for aerials and hoardings, as JPEG and TIFF.

How to brief an exterior render

A good exterior brief is short and specific: the drawings, a materials schedule, the site address, and a sentence on where each image will be used. Our briefing guide sets out the full checklist, including which camera angles matter most for each use.

Time of day, season and the style of people and cars are worth deciding up front, because they change the mood of an image more than any modelling choice does. We confirm the delivery date with the quote, and the turnaround guide explains what moves it, so a launch or lodgement date can be planned around the render rather than against it.

3D exterior rendering prices

Exteriors start at A$445 per image, whether for a house, townhouse, apartment building or small commercial building. Very large or complex scenes are quoted per project from your drawings. Aerials and masterplan renders start at A$795. Facade variants of an existing view, and dusk versions of a daytime render, are priced as variants. Sets of five images or more are priced as a package.

Payment is 50% to start and 50% on approval of drafts. The full breakdown of what moves the price is on our 3D rendering cost guide.