In this post we discuss how 3D modeling is used in advertising with better promotion, using 3D rendering services. There is no denying that images, animations, and videos are much more effective for marketing purposes than words. A picture is worth a thousand words, after all. Although some say the adage is nothing more than a cliché, you will find it difficult to come up with a better expression to describe today’s product advertising approach.
Photography and illustration, in addition to TV ads, are the dominating forces in the marketing industry. If photography and videos deliver a glance of what the products are all about and how they look in real life, illustrations offer a bit more of an artistic approach in the visuals. Unlike photography and videos, pictures do not have to show specific people, situations, or even real images of products.
Advertisers may also use abstract illustrations to evoke curiosity on consumers’ part and potentially express many different meanings. In other words, photography and videos strike viewers’ senses more directly, while illustrations are more open to interpretation. In the past decade or so, there has been a steady shift in the marketing industry from conventional illustrations and photography to the adoption of 3D modeling services. Advertisements have become mind-blowingly diverse with the rapid development in technology, particularly computer-aided design (CAD), to give much more freedom for advertisers – as well as designers – to convey information about products.
One might argue that professional photography or videography will produce the same quality of advertising pieces as 3D modeling. While the assessment is not entirely wrong, at this point of development, it’s impossible to deny that many aspects of 3D modeling are simply superior to the alternatives above. For example, if you want to take the perfect picture of a chair, you need elaborate lighting in all the right positions, a background to complement the frame, excellent composition to highlight the primary object, and some decorative items on the side. And that is only from one particular angle. With 3D modeling, it’s possible to print the rendered image in many different angles using just one model.
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A professional modeler can manipulate everything from lighting and shadows to decorations and backgrounds using CAD software. Although the same person can argue the result is more or less the same, there is simply much more flexibility with the 3D modeling approach. You don’t have to set up and take different photographs only to change colors, positions, viewing angles, or even the basic shape of the chair.
Things get more interesting, and the superiority of 3D rendering becomes more apparent when the end-products are displayed on a screen. Most conventional ads on TV feature both people and products within a scene in which the products become useful or make life easier. This approach applies to almost all kinds of products including but not limited to home appliances, gadgets, electronic devices, cars, medicines, tools, and clothing. Many times, you see different storylines to tell more or less the same narrative.
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Advertisements using animated 3D rendering essentially try to send the same message. Both are marketing pieces, after all, intended to convince potential consumers to buy goods or services. What makes animated 3D rendering different is the way the narrative is presented to the audience. If conventional videography on TV ads almost always features people, products, and their interactions with each other, animations can be made either simpler or much more complex depending on the technical capabilities of the modelers.
3D modelers, equipped with advanced CAD software, are currently changing the paradigm in the advertising and marketing industry. Both big and small brands have been welcoming of the shift, realizing the need to present a different creative way to get their products in front of consumers. It is true that traditional methods are still widely used, but people also crave for a somewhat unusual form of product presentation in advertisements.
They search for details in similar products and make a proper comparison of every aspect including price and design. Educated consumers can be either beneficial or disastrous for companies. If you have quality products, they should be interested. If you cut corners, your products need more than just endorsements from popular celebrities to generate sales. The key is how you present the products in advertisements.
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Jumping on the bandwagon of 3D rendering services after spending a long while with traditional marketing approach is not always an easy step for companies to take, but the market now has a lot of talented modelers to help make the transition smoother. A lot of 3D modelers are even willing to get involved in the marketing process from the start. By the time the product is ready to hit store shelves, the ads are also ready to deploy as well.
A lot of product design services have great ideas, and they understand how to transform those concepts into reality. They know what engineering process is required, where to acquire the best materials for the product, and how the products should perform or function for the benefit of consumers. However, it is only common that designers find it difficult to communicate those ideas to managers, clients, engineers, and developers. Thanks to 3D modeling and rendering, designers have just the right solution to present the ideas in a much more detailed and understandable way.
A combination of still images and animations, built digitally to make accurate depictions of the end-product, is the perfect tool to determine whether an idea is technically-feasible and competitive enough in today’s landscape. The same thing applies after the product is ready to launch. In a similar fashion that designers create a 3D rendering of ideas and concepts, marketers can also utilize the same process to present the products to potential consumers. On a closer look, designers and marketers face the same challenge.
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Simply bringing an amazing concept is no longer enough to amaze the audience – it is imperative that they communicate the concept via the most effective medium available. You need to stand out and fascinate the audience from the get-go, and only then will they listen and pay attention to everything you need to say. 3D rendering is the method of choice to convey and deliver information about a lot of products in marketing, and it does not seem that the practice is going to go away anytime soon. In some key industries, as follows, 3D rendering has revolutionized marketing.
As long as you sell manufactured goods, 3D models are the best advertising pieces to inform consumers about what your products are all about, regardless of the industry. Great photos taken at the right angle will show consumers how nice the product looks, but the photos do not stand a chance competing with 3D rendering.
Take, for example, an image of a flash drive. With 3D modeling, the device can be presented in a detailed exploded view to expose the parts piece by piece with specific annotations, telling viewers what each part is and what it can do. Any product from sophisticated pieces of electronics to simple everyday items can be drawn in details with CAD software.
It does not matter if you are selling car engines, dishwashers, or tweezers, marketing pieces drawn in 3D delivers excitement, seriousness, and to some extent, a playfulness that consumers love. Especially if the product has a lot of mechanical parts, you can use animated 3D rendering to showcase the product in action. The best way to convince consumers to make a purchase is to show them how the product functions in real life.
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Even if 3D modeling is not particularly ideal to showcase the products (certain beverages, personal care, cosmetics, spices, etc.), it still does an excellent job of highlighting the packaging. It is quite difficult to convey the concept of product packaging design through words; you are not selling the package, but the product to consumers. However, this outer layer can play an essential role in appealing to consumers’ emotions with graphics, colors, and shape.
With animated 3D rendering, you can display the entire product from all angles on a clear white or black background. When displayed on the screen or a digital billboard, the animation can also properly highlight the brand name or company. Added with playful lighting and viewing angles, the advertisement piece should look more attractive and eye-catching than conventional videos.
Unlike most other products and markets, the real estate industry has a pre-existing challenge that designer/developers cannot always evade: location. You need to show that the house is for sale to potential consumers. The problem is that some likely prospects are just too far away from where the house is located. The workaround to this issue is 3D rendering.
For an existing building, it may take a little bit more effort to get the level of details that meet clients’ expectations unless you use a sophisticated 3D scanning software and hardware. The good thing is that such technology is available and at a reasonable price. Some of them can be used on computer tablets, but there are stand-alone alternatives too.
Scanning will provide raw 3D images to be converted into CAD files for further editing on a computer. The result is a detailed accurate representation of a building layout, which can be converted again to more common formats such as videos or pictures. You can send the converted files to clients so they can enjoy virtual reality tours inside the property.
Freelance architectural services can also use 3D rendering to plan for a project. In addition to the conventional blueprint, CAD software helps draw the plan in a more complex format easier to see and understand. Architects can get the model done and showcase the creation to developers or clients even before the building exists in real life. It is just like creating a blueprint, but on a computer and in a three-dimensional view rather than using pencil and paper.
Because 3D rendering can be edited fairly quickly, making changes to unapproved plans (or part of the building) is no longer an annoying problem. With conventional blueprints, it may take days if not weeks to make a single major adjustment to the building layout. Thanks to CAD software (run on a reasonably powerful home computer), editing and rendering takes just hours, not days.
Home buyers appreciate a realistic view of the buildings they want to purchase. Virtual 3D tours allow them to inspect every room and corner on a computer with ease. Photorealistic wood textures, floor patterns, stones, walls, and the surrounding environment make the presentation even more meaningful and easier to remember. Clients can always go back to inspect more details anytime they want and ask more specific questions. A visit is not necessary to begin with – as sellers can send the file directly to clients or store it in the cloud for easier access – so distance should not be an issue. Marketing becomes much more practical because you send the same file to multiple prospects at the same time.
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Practical products from hand tools, home appliances, medical equipment, cars, and everything else in between require more elaborate explanations of features, even more so if the products are new inventions in the industry. Product designers can build prototypes for a small number of investors, but not for consumers at large. Diagrams, blueprints, and schematics of the design should be helpful for marketing, but technical drawings can be overwhelmingly difficult to understand. Thankfully, 3D rendering technology is here to help.
Using CAD software, architectural design freelancers can transform early sketches and diagrams into 3D objects. Two-dimensional blueprints of the product suddenly become a precise representation of what the product will look like in the real world. The shape, colors, and materials are accurately drawn to appear as realistic as possible on a computer.
For example, the schematic of a new four-wheel drive car system is pretty complicated for the general public to understand, but 3D modelers can build more familiar-looking objects based on the specification to show consumers how the system works. Animated 3D objects should show the driving system in action. The purpose is to make consumers understand and consider making a purchase. The same principle applies to other engineering solutions. The animated 3D objects used in marketing help make the products look familiar and easier to understand.
To make more sales, advertising pieces must tell a narrative that consumers can relate to and understand. No one knows that better than marketers do. Every product on sale needs to generate an emotional response, both curiosity and excitement, on consumers’ part. Your product can be too complex or too simple to deliver relatable narratives, but the good news is that 3D rendering freelancers handle just about everything equally well. When photography is bland and videos are ordinary, now you have another method to spark interest.
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With 3D modeling and rendering, the advertisement pieces are still delivered as still images or videos different from the traditional photography and recording. It is more imaginative yet realistic, sophisticated yet familiar, and complex yet practical. Think of it as a new marketing medium to achieve the same old target for making sales. It is effective because:
Some animated 3D models displayed on a computer screen or mobile devices are actually interactive, albeit to a limited extent. Users can play with the objects using pan-tilt-zoom control. Some objects can be rotated to 360-angle, allowing viewers to see the product in its entirety. Consumers can enjoy the more intense experiences with the product, even if it is just the digital version of it. When posted on social media or company websites, the ads are easier to share as well. If the advertisement is interesting enough and filled with a good narrative, people are more inclined to share the link or videos with families, colleagues, and friends.
3D rendering is flexible in the sense that you can change everything around it (in the scene) without altering anything in the actual object itself. For example, you can use the same rendering of a chair but change the rooms and backgrounds as you like. You can put it in a big decorated room, futuristic house, or in the field depending on the narrative you want to create.
Some goods and services are just not photogenic or camera-friendly enough to put on ads. Frozen foods, electrical components, and hygienic products are few of many examples that fit into the category. You can change the perception using 3D rendering by incorporating attractive animation or 3D models. Professionals can digitally build the object and show only its best parts or features.
One aspect where 3D rendering is far superior to traditional videography is the way it can bring just about every product to life. You can attach legs and hands to a candy bar and make it dance or add a mouth and eyes to a washing machine and let it speak. More importantly, you can broadcast such creative ads on TV to stand out from the crowd.
Let us not forget about computer-generated imagery (CGI) too, with which 3D graphics or special effects can blend with footage of real-life objects or person seamlessly on screen. This is the same technology utilized in movies such as Jumanji, Shrek, Jurassic World, and many more. This can be a more complex process and it takes more time to build good quality ads. Done poorly, the overall result may appear unrealistic, which reduces consumers’ interest instead. Created professionally, your ads can present unique narratives and great graphics just like in popular films.
If you’re in the process of planning a marketing campaign for your new product, or simply need a 3D design of a product, Cad Crowd can help. We have a network of pre-vetted freelancer designers who have created designs for leading brands. Contact us today for a free quote!
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