Architectural 3D Animation Guide for Companies and Firms Creating High Quality Drone Videos

Today’s post attempts to provide a quick architectural 3D animation guide for companies and firms about creating drone videos. Have you heard of camera tracking? Unless you’ve been living on a far-flung island, you might have likely encountered the term ‘camera tracking’ at one point. It is among the newest and most prominent techniques used for 3D animation services in the architectural industry. It is the blend of the 3D models of a proposed building and the drone-captured real-world videos of its location.

The innovative technique can make 3D animations more appealing and downright realistic that viewers will find them engaging. However, there’s a little catch here. The effects of camera tracking are still reliant on the overall quality of the drone videos. Footages captured with great care can considerably improve the viewing experience and present the planned building as best as possible.

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Drone videos for your firms: Cad Crowd’s insider secrets for architectural 3D animation for your companies

Prepare the requisite files and information

An architectural visualization studio needs a few things to produce 3D animations with drone videos.

360-degree panoramas

A 360 degree panorama rendering expert can create several 360-degree panoramas to get a complete view of the project site. Shoot in the highest resolution possible, preferably in HDRI, to guarantee flawless quality of architectural 3D animation using drone videos. If there is a change in the weather conditions during the shoot, you can also make a few additional panoramas. It will allow archviz artists to maintain the consistency between frames for a smooth and realistic final 3D animation. 

Varied camera movements

Drone videos are powerful storytellers, but this is only possible if the movements of the camera used fit the storyline. This means that movements should be captured in a way that shows the site of the project from every angle and perspective there is. There are several types of movements that can be shown during drone video production:

• JIB or crane that mimics a crane’s motion moving downwards or upwards

• Flyover 

• The low altitude highlights details of immediate surroundings and terrain

• Orbit or circling the point of interest 

• Panorama curve

• Plain straight

• Pullback or gradually widening the site’s view

• Tilt down

• Tilt up

• Top-down or bird’s eye view 

• Tracking of a specific moving object 

Shooting the above movements using a drone gives the 3D architectural rendering experts the materials they will need for the task. You can then choose and blend the different perspectives to produce the most informative and appealing architectural 3D animation.

RELATED: How 3D animation services help architects showcase new properties & buildings

Technical specifications of the drone 

You can produce drone videos that capture meaningful details, only if the device itself meets the specific technical criteria required to create footage of 3D animation-quality. It must be able to record in ultra-high resolutions such as 8K or 4K. A high frame rate, ranging from 30 to 60 FPS, is critical to capture motions smoothly. This is a must-have to capture dynamic scenes and minimize motion blur in frames that move faster than normal. See to it that the model of your drone and the above technical details are all part of the brief. 

Points for transition shots in windows

You may also consider shooting interior scenes with the outside world in full view to add a realistic touch to your drone videos. Shooting with drones here will produce views from the windows that mimic real-life scenes. 

Drone camera orientation 

The right orientation of the drone camera is a must. The footage’s horizontal line should be horizontal to prevent distorting the views. These will only affect how the final animation looks. The horizon should also be aligned when shooting drone videos. 

Altitude of the drone flight

It’s a given to align the flight altitude of the device with the floor’s real height. Doing so will replicate the future view in the 3D animation as seen from the said window. For the 3D architectural animation professional to reach the correct shooting altitude, multiply the specific floor’s number by three meters. This is the average height of floors. This formula is the secret to producing drone videos from this particular point of view. For example, the position of the drone for a window on the 10th floor should be approximately 30 to 35 meters. 

Location of the drone shoot

The location of the drone shoot can also influence the information and quality of the final 3D footage. Everything will be easy if there are not a lot of construction projects present nearby that may potentially block the flight of the drone. In these scenarios, the drone should fly directly over the construction site. It will ensure that it captures the exact perspective as if you’re looking out from the windows of the future building. 

Urban areas with large crowds may present a few difficulties. It’s because it might be a bit challenging or even next to impossible for the drone to fly hastily above the site. The floor plan projections are more applicable here. These require 3D visualization services or drawings depicting the location of the rooms of the proposed building. They will help you pinpoint the exact location where the drone should fly to capture the views desired. 

If the objective is to capture views from the 10th-floor window, for example, the precise location of the said floor in the building should be determined. The drone should fly over to that height then capture the necessary footage. The said approach will ensure that the camera of the drone will be in line with the expected view as can be seen from the window. It provides an informative and realistic footage that can be used to create 3D animations for the architectural project. 

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Moving elements

Factor in the dynamic elements you wish to fit in into the final video when planning the shoot. These may include people as well as moving vehicles. Let the 3D design team in on this. They put Google Maps to use to give you guidelines on how to plan effective trajectories to do the shoot. 

Best time to shoot drone videos 

Choosing favorable weather conditions and time for shooting drone videos is important. The shoot should be scheduled in clear weather conditions. This way, the drone videos will be consistent, informative, and appealing all at the same time. Never shoot on days when the weather may be hard to predict because this will affect visibility and lighting. 

When is the best time to shoot drone videos, though? You can have the shoot planned either for early evening or late afternoon. It will allow you to capture the site in diverse lighting conditions to make visual material richer with views of the sunset and full daylight. Presenting the site under varying lighting conditions can also boost the emotional impact and aesthetic appeal of the architectural 3D animation. 

Drone video management and submission 

As a result of the high frame rate and resolution of drone videos, files are understandably large in size. Managing and transferring these files should be done in an efficient way, then. The files of the drone videos should be uploaded to a trustworthy cloud service. It will give the 3D animation provider easy access to it so they can work their magic on it as needed. 

You can have these files organized in whatever is most convenient for you. For example, a series of videos or just a single file can exist. Any of these two is good enough. However, you have to take into account that your drone files aren’t subject to any conversion or post-production. These should have all the original data in the file properties. 

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Why architectural 3D animations need drone videos

Drone videos are almost a staple for architectural 3D animations for the following reasons:

1. Cost savings 

Building and animating locations in 3D uses up lots of resources due to the complexity of the rendering and texturing involved. Drone videos can do away with the need to produce 3D scenes completely to help cut down production costs for 3D animation. It is a godsend for realtors and architects with limited budgets. 

2. Superior presentations and marketing materials

Effective and clear communication with the target audience is the secret to make your marketing campaigns shoot through the roof. Architectural 3D animation or 3D architectural visualization services featuring drone videos are just what you need for this. These can serve as compelling promotional materials with enhanced realism. It can also hasten the creation of visual content. The streamlined production of great video ads can lead to saving a bigger chunk of the marketing budget and ensuring better engagement among the audience. 

3. Enhanced realism 

One of the main perks of drone videos is the realism they can endow to architectural 3D animation. Since the actual video serves as the foundation, the 3D artist only has to produce the building’s digital model complete with its surroundings. It contributes to a lifelike experience. it lets viewers get a better glimpse of the expected appearance of the project in the current location. 

4. Better engagement among stakeholders

Using drone videos in 3D animation is also a good tool to keep investors and clients engaged. Compared to animations developed in 3D alone, this one offers a deeper understanding and familiarity of the project. This also allows people to visualize the final result in the context of the actual location. It gives them a better understanding of the project’s visual impact. The clarity leads to a more informed and confident decision-making process. 

5. Efficient use of time

Drone videos incorporated in architectural 3D animations can produce visual materials in a snap of a finger. This technique cuts down on the technical and labor resources necessary to reconstruct virtual environments. The use of actual drone videos as the background can cut down the 3D architectural modeler’s time required to finish the 3D modeling process. It is important for projects where large-scale and intricate surroundings are shown. Architects can then save time without jeopardizing the visuals’ quality. 

How Cad Crowd can help 

Would you like to get your hands on quality drone videos that will make your architectural 3D animation soar to greater heights? Cad Crowd will connect you with the best team of professional 3D artists who will put those drone videos to good use to create stunning 3D animations. Get a free quote today!