Interior design has always been a lucrative niche. However, as of recently, the interior design services market has become even more attractive. Only in the US, the interior design services market size was $40.7 billion in 2020, and the global market is expected to reach $255.4 billion by 2027.

It simply means that the market attracts more interior designers, which automatically leads to a bigger crowd and harsher competition.

How do your designs cut through the noise? Is there a way to stand out from the crowd? Actually, there is – 3D rendering holds the answers to all of your questions. It can help you improve your designs, step up your presentation game, attract more clients, and maximize profits.

Below you can find everything you need to know about 3D rendering and what makes it a must-do for all 3D interior designers.

What is 3D Rendering?

3D rendering has gone a long way, from delivering simple 3D objects to producing stunning and realistic visuals. However, no matter how fast 3D rendering advances, one thing will always remain the same – its definition.

Every 3D rendering process revolves around taking the information in a 3D model and transforming it into a 2D image. The quality of a 2D image depends on a variety of factors. Some of these factors include the rendering settings, the details in the 3D model, the point of view, and lighting.

Most of the 3D rendering done in the entertainment industry is popularly called non-realistic. In design, especially in architecture, most of the designs are photorealistic. An interior 3D design render is photorealistic when a viewer can’t tell if it is a shot of an interior design that exists in the real world or a 3D rendering.

Why 3D Interior Design is Growing in Popularity

Will the computers, tablets, and 3D rendering software replace the old proven methods used in interior design? Technology has helped replace pen and paper across industries. Interior design is also going through a digital transformation, and 3D interior design is growing in popularity – but why?

It appears that 3D interior design benefits both designers’ businesses and their clients. Thanks to 3D interior design, designers can now literally bring their ideas into reality. No matter how complex an idea, the modern 3D rendering tools can support its transition into a 3D render.

It also enables designers to communicate their ideas to clients effectively. With streamlined communication, designers’ businesses can get more projects and ensure repeat business.

Clients are also in for their share of benefits. Whether it’s a small or a massive interior design project, 3D interior rendering enables clients to see what they will get. It doesn’t only refer to floor layout and the furniture placing. Thanks to powerful 3D rendering software, interior designers can not create a rendering that contains textures, a variety of materials, and sophisticated lighting effects.

Finally, 3D interior design streamlines the sales process for both designers’ businesses and clients. On the one hand, agencies can communicate even the most complex design ideas, and on the other, clients can easily decide whether to buy in or not.

The flexibility of 3D Rendering

To completely understand the flexibility of 3D rendering, you have to take into account the other tools designers have been using for decades. In the past, designers were solely locked into their process. They needed to complete the interior design drawings to communicate with the clients. If anything was not according to the client’s wishes, they had to go back to the drawing board.

Unlike the old workflow, 3D rendering introduces a lot more end-to-end flexibility. How come? Because designers and clients have access to a lot more technologies nowadays. With access to modern project management tools, designers’ agencies can now bring in their clients onboard from the very start of the projects.

With no pen and paper involved, clients and designers can exchange their ideas even before the design process has started. Depending on the project arrangements, designers can send regular progress reports to clients to ensure that everything is going according to plans.

What’s most important is that the designers have complete control of their design via 3D rendering software. If a client makes any demands, they can easily open the file, make the required edits, and have it rendered in no time. 3D rendering offers unparalleled flexibility that reflects the entire workflow.

3D rendering also streamlines collaboration so that all stakeholders involved in the design process can easily share their ideas. The design process can be broken down into stages for ultimate flexibility and shared responsibility.

Presentation Renderings

In the fast-paced world we are all living in, you have to display quality work and do it ever so efficiently. Presenting interior design ideas with sketches, drawings, or prints won’t be enough when the competition comes with these fancy 3D renders.

More importantly, basing every presentation on a sketch or complete drawing can lead to huge time delays due to excessive amendments that take so much time to complete. Going back to the board to make changes can frustrate clients or even make them drop the ball and go to another designer’s agency.

Presentation renderings are a much better solution. The unique process of 3D interior design enables the designers to tackle all the challenges that might come up during and after the presentation.

First of all, changes can be made really fast. Then, there’s the ability to completely convey the ideas behind every one of the design decisions. And, finally, showing the final design is extremely fast. Designers can share the completed render with clients via cloud storage or simply email it to them.

At last, the 3D interior design process enables the entire in-hose 3D team to work together. When designers work hand in hand with visualizers and project leaders, they can complete the projects according to the requirements in time, delight clients, and maximize the profits for the agency.

Combining Traditional With Digital Presentations

Not all ideas can be quickly brought into reality during the design process. Both traditional and digital presentations come with a few constraints. Solely relying on each one of them can potentially cost the designers a fraction of the profit. What is the solution? Can these two opposing approaches to interior design presentations be reconciled? The answer is – yes.

There’s nothing wrong with printing out the designs or having copies of sketches and drawings. Handing them out during the presentation can help but only if mixed up with digital materials. Designers’ agencies now have access to advanced whiteboards and digital flipcharts. Thanks to these devices, they can bring to life their ideas right in front of their clients.

What makes these digital flip charts even more attractive is their capacity to enable collaboration in real-time, open digital files, and provide image editing tools. Using such devices during team meetings and client presentations can help designers in so many ways. For instance, they can update the design ideas as a client wishes right there during the meeting.

Challenges During Designs and How Rendering Can Help

The interior design process has become more complex over the years. It’s not because the designers have to use more tools, but because the concept of the home has evolved.

The modern interior designs feature more details, have to be carefully planned, and work towards maximizing the usability of space while maintaining greater visual effect. Some spaces will always be more challenging to design for than others too.

These are some of the challenges of modern interior design. The others include efficient communication with clients and team members. 3D interior design rendering can help with these challenges.

As we mentioned earlier, the client can be brought on board early on. The same applies to all stakeholders involved in a project. It can be advantageous during the pre-design stage, which encompasses a lot of brainstorming, ideas exchanging, and communication with team members and clients.

Approved pre-design 3D interior renders can be used as a starting ground for building the final design. Remember, designers always have their 3D design file they can open, make the necessary changes, render the image, and send it to the client.

It brings us to the turnaround times. Designers rarely work on only one project. Keeping up with deadlines, edits, and detailed client requests is challenging, especially on a tight budget. 3D rendering simplifies the workflow and enables designers to stay focused on what matters the most – completing the project before the deadline.

3D Rendering Shortens the Whole Project

Due to the specific workflow, interior design might be more consuming than other design efforts. To maximize profit, an agency must be able to efficiently complete projects. At the same time, you mustn’t make any trade-offs in terms of the quality of deliverables.

So what is it like without 3D rendering? If you have worked on an interior design project before, you know how much time-consuming it can be to work from an illustration to delivering a physical model. Do you remember how many mood boards you had to create before your client was finally happy with one? With the traditional approach, you are simply pinned for one project for too long.

3D rendering can help you shorten the whole project and make yourself available to other clients. It automatically means more profits. 3D rendering enables you to minimize the number of revisions, if not thwart them completely. Say goodbye to mood boards, countless revisions, and frustrated clients.

How They Increase Profitability

As you can see, there are many ways 3D interior design can increase freelancer’s or designer’s agency profitability. Let’s outline the most noteworthy ones:‍

• ‍Build and improve relationships with clients – being able to attract new clients and retain old ones is essential for any business success. To do it, interior designers have to adopt the best practice from other industries. One of them is customer relationship management and one of its essential efforts – customer experience. With 3D rendering, you will be able to personalize the look and feel of your designs according to the client’s specifications. More importantly, you can turn your 3D models into great visualizations your clients can explore and even interact with.‍
• Offer competitive prices – moving away from traditional interior design methods and adopting 3D rendering means that you will spend less time on your projects. It also removes the need to invest in materials and build models and mood boards. You’ll be able to offer your services at competitive prices, land more projects, and increase profitability.‍
• Delight clients – with a little bit of practice, you’ll be able to create photorealistic scenes that are both breathtaking and stylish. Your work will delight clients and ensure repeat business. Due to the quality of your deliverables, you will be able to charge more and improve your profitability over time.

The Process of Creating 3D Interior Design Renders

The process of creating 3D interior design renders is quite simple once you know what you are doing. It consists of five steps that give structure to your workflow, enabling you to understand what’s coming and how much time you will need to spend to complete every step.

1. Examine the project documentation – go through project details and look for any specific requirements.
2. Use 3D rendering software – use a 3D rendering software of your choice to create an early version of the scene you can render and to a client for review.
3. Create a model for the client – after the client reviews the model, you can add various materials and work on lighting. Once you have finished, you need to send the model to the client for final approval.
4. Render the final scene – after you have a green light from a client, you complete your 3D interior design by adding materials, textures, decorations, furnishing, furniture, and other elements as required by the project specifications. Finally, you render the scene.
5. Post-process the image – before sending the 3D rendering to your client, you can adjust colors or add a background.

Conclusion

Creating 3D interior designs can be challenging if you haven’t done it before. Backed-up with new technologies and software tools, it is a new approach to interior design. It can help delight the clients, improve communication, shorten turnaround times, and increase profitability. You should consider using it to transform your design practices and future-proof your career as an interior designer.