When night falls, everything feels a bit more magical. The sky shifts from blue to deep indigo, and starts to create a calming atmosphere. For architects, nighttime scenes in 3D renderings can highlight lighting design and add a sense of mood and depth to projects. It’s a great way to showcase how a building comes alive after dark. Scenes set in nighttime often give off a different mood and ambiance that is unmatched during daytime.
Night settings seem to have this mystic appeal to them to the extent that people see things in a different light, so to speak. It’s also interesting how nighttime scenes seem to highlight key features often overlooked or even ignored when seen with the sun high up in the sky. This is more than enough reason to include 3D nighttime scenes architectural renders. These nighttime scenes offer a unique point of view that can take the aesthetic, emotional, and functional appeal of a project to the next level.
Cad Crowd has worked with leading designers and architectural firms to close deals and make an impact through project presentations. What we’ve noticed is that the adage, a “night and day difference” holds especially true for 3D renders. Let’s take a look at what we’ve learned.
Table of contents
RELATED: Creating lavish real estate listings with 3D services and 3D real estate rendering
Daytime renders
To master the art of nighttime scenes in 3D rendering services, you first have to learn about daytime scenes. Daytime scenes are most normally used in 3D settings to show projects during the brightest times of the day. Daytime scenes show clear blue skies between 11 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. The primary source of light in daytime renders is the sun. As a result, it’s important that proper positioning is always observed here. Scenes set during the daytime look best when they feature large bodies of water as well as reflective surfaces.
Oceans, ponds, and swimming pools mirror the sky, light, and the environment in renders almost to perfection. The same effect is also achieved in projects where there are window walls or windows, particularly in skyscrapers and huge buildings. Daytime renders are recommended for high rises in coastal areas, structures on water, multiple housing developments, residential buildings with minimal exterior lights, outdoor areas with bodies of water, and structures in bright white color.
Nighttime renders
Nighttime renders are used to visualize projects after sunset. Although the light sources may replicate the street lights and the moon, most of the lighting still depends on the project’s external and internal lighting. This is why you have to factor in a building’s external and internal light fittings and whether these are suitable for a nighttime 3D render or not. It’s no secret that you can see better from inside the building when darkness has fallen outdoors with the lights switched on around and inside the structure.
RELATED: How to include people in 3D architectural CGI Projects: Benefits for Companies
Even this tiny detail included by the 3D architectural rendering expert can give a unique sneak peek inside the structure. It gives the render a touch of real character. Since several smaller sources of light are used, the light can also have a significant effect on the smaller and other nearby reflective surfaces such as windows, vehicles, or even small bodies of water. Nighttime renders work great for high-car-traffic areas, contemporary or dark homes, high-end houses, and buildings with extensive use of lights, both inside and outside.
Suppose you still haven’t been using 3D nighttime scenes as part of your marketing materials and project presentations. If so, take a lot of the main reasons why you might want to consider adding a touch of the dark of the night into your next architectural renders.
There’s something special about nighttime scenes
Nighttime 3D visuals are uniquely atmospheric, don’t you think? Scenes set at night may showcase any of the following:
- A bright, cozy building with interior lights installed tactically
- Parties or holiday festivities
- A warm, inviting house with a snow-covered landscape around it
- The northern light,s with their magical glow
- Vibrant city lights at night
RELATED: How to render architecture: tips from an architectural rendering company, Los Angeles
3D nighttime scenes can induce strong emotional responses during any of these scenarios. They don’t just inform in this case. If your goal is to make your potential investors or clients form a deeper connection with your project, nighttime 3D visualization services will help you achieve this exact objective.
Exterior lights look more appealing at night
Aesthetic designs can never do without exterior lighting. Most of the time, it even makes or breaks the visual appeal of the project as a whole. Nighttime renders can be used to highlight those lovely lights outside a building or home. These renders clearly show the design of the exterior lights, which can showcase architectural features and emphasize the details across different structures and surfaces.
Materials look different during nighttime
Materials always look different under different lighting conditions; your project presentations should reflect that. Nighttime scenes in 3D will let you show the changes in the appearance of the colors and textures under artificial lighting. It can significantly impact animations that feature timelapse transitions from daytime to nighttime. These visuals from 3D architectural animation firms allow the audience to see and understand the interplay of light and materials. This can make your project presentation not only more informative but also more appealing.
RELATED: Leveraging 3D architectural animation to attract new clients in real estate
Projects gain a different context with nighttime scenes
3D nighttime scenes also help the audience view the project and its entirety in relation to its surrounding environment. The serene twilight in a peaceful neighborhood in the suburbs or the bright neon city lights can give the whole context a touch of real life. This can improve how viewers perceive the project. It makes it easier for them to imagine being inside or near the building themselves.
It’s cheap and fast to complete nighttime scenes
If your project doesn’t intend to highlight the nighttime scenes per se, you can produce them faster and cheaper than the main renders. Many 3D designers and artists today even offer discounts for more views after the initial 3D model is completed. It explains why 3D nighttime scenes are a more cost-effective solution that can make your presentations more substantially valuable.
Nighttime scenes show how lighting ensures safety
Lighting is there not only for aesthetic purposes, but also for safety above anything else. It is specifically important for residential complexes, public spaces, and commercial buildings. Nighttime scenes done in 3D can show the strategic locations of the lighting fixtures on walkways, hallways, staircases, and other similar areas. They help you convince stakeholders and clients that the designed spaces are safe and follow the local rules and regulations accordingly.
RELATED: The best architectural rendering companies and 3D rendering services
Some projects need nighttime scenes
Some buildings and structures are meant to be seen mostly at night. Good examples of these are restaurants and nightclubs. In these cases, it’s essential to showcase their designs using nighttime settings. A 3D nighttime scene will present these special projects in their natural state to show off their vibrant appeal after sunset. A 3D render like this can also be a great point of argument during contest bids or presentations, especially for projects that involve nighttime businesses.
It’s safe to say that nighttime 3D renders are must-have tools for architectural firms, designers, and real estate professionals. Thanks to these renders, viewers can gain a better glimpse of both the aesthetics and functional qualities of the design. Adding these nighttime scenes to your pitch will help make your project more visually appealing while offering a more holistic view.
Tips to master nighttime scenes in 3D rendering
The use of nighttime scenes in 3D renderings is a unique form of art that requires a better understanding of various sources of light combined with strict attention to detail. While there are lots of tutorials offering helpful tricks and tricks to improve your workflow, the use of high-dynamic-range images, or HDRIs, is still associated with a long list of misconceptions.
RELATED: 3D architectural rendering: pros and cons of creating presentations in-house
HDRIs are often used in 3D architectural visualization services to add more realistic lighting in 3D scenes, particularly for nature and outdoor environments. However, problems may pop up the moment these HDRIs produce light from different directions. This doesn’t happen in real life, though, where every source of light has its own angle and direction. This notable difference can lead to unrealistic and twisted results, especially in nighttime settings. What’s real here is that sources of light such as lamps, ceiling lights, or sunlight coming in through the windows can light up scenes from just a single direction.
Once you transition to 3D nighttime scenes, the use of HDRIs alone will strip the scene of its authenticity, particularly when the sun has set on the horizon. To address this issue and make the quality of 3D nighttime scenes in your project presentations much better, it’s a must to follow a unique approach to lighting. There are a handful of tips you can factor in rather than relying only on HDRIs. For example, you can add areas or spotlights in your renders.
You can try to play around with these to resemble realistic sources of light in your scene. You can also identify strategic spots for these lights to emphasize focal points and achieve the kind of ambiance you wish to create. You can also set the colors to a dark navy tone to mimic nighttime hues. You can also tweak a few things here and there produce a subtle ambient glow.
RELATED: Premier architectural rendering blogs to elevate your firm’s visual design expertise
With the strategic and insightful implementation of these changes, you can use the lights in your nighttime scenes to evoke a more visually pleasant and authentic atmosphere. These subtle nuances in the lights’ direction and their intensity can have a significant impact on the overall feel and look of your 3D renders.
How Cad Crowd can help
Planning to add a different touch to your project presentations? Cad Crowd boasts a network of professionals excelling in 3D rendering built through years of experience working with the best design firms. Why not get in touch with Cad Crowd today? We will help you find the best freelancers who can strategically use nighttime scenes and turn your presentations into enticing works of art!
Contact Cad Crowd today for a free quote.
