With 3D animation, we managed to open up many new possibilities for the promotion and presentation of yet-to-be-built objects. That allowed investors to change the way they approach their projects as now they could start gathering finances before it was built.

How?

Well, through 3D virtual tours that are so detailed and realistic that potential investors can decide if the project is worth their money or not right from the get-go. Furthermore, it allows real estate agents to show off a space without getting potential customers there physically.

Virtual tours are a relatively new thing, and organizing a project to create one can be difficult to figure out, even if you are proficient at 3D animation. Let’s take you through some of the best practices for developing a 3D virtual tour.

Determine your goals

Not all 3D virtual tours are made with the same goals, so it’s essential to understand what yours are before you start working on it.

Are you trying to get funding for a building from investors? Are you trying to present the project to a board of directors for approval? Is this a real estate 3D virtual tour for an elite property?

Your goals will determine how you will organize this project and what the focus will be on.

Outline your scope of work

Like with any other project, you need to determine the scope of the project. That is so you can manage the time needed to complete it properly. Without taking the time to outline the tasks that need to be completed to finish a 3D virtual tour, you won’t have a clear idea of when you will complete the project.

Another upside of outlining the scope of the project is that you lower the chances that something will be added to the project scope, therefore pushing the timeline further back and complicating the entire process.

Make your viewpoints clear

The idea behind 3D virtual tours is to present a building or a property in the best light possible. That’s why creating crucial viewpoints is paramount. As most architects and interior designers would tell you, there is a focal point for each part of the design they present, around which the other elements “live”.

You should decide the viewpoints based on the goals and the type of design being presented. If this is done right, your tour will have a concept around which it revolves, and the whole tour will go smoother.

Of course, those to which you are presenting the project may ask to take a closer look at things that interest them, but your tour’s path needs to have predetermined highlights through viewpoints.

Add decor to your virtual tour

A technical drawing or even an architecture sketch can’t quite compete with the level of detail that a virtual 3D tour can provide. We can add furniture, plants, cars, people, and many other things to our tour. We can even show what the property will look like at different times of the day.

Dynamic lighting is one of the biggest weapons 3D animation has over the other presenting techniques, allowing us to show off a property as realistically as possible.

Choosing what decorations to put in will naturally depend on the type of project it is and what audience it is intended for. We should always pick the decor based on these two factors.

Do revisions

Even with perfect project scope and great attention to detail, a project like this one will always need revisions. Sometimes we catch mistakes or find better solutions for particular situations; other times, these revisions come at the request of the people for whom the presentation was intended.

Regardless, don’t let revisions surprise you and take them into account when organizing your project scope and plan. The goal of your prep is to limit the revisions to a small number of changes – not eliminate them altogether.

Plan in advance

This part refers to the resources you’ll need to complete the project. There are more than a few things you should account for to manage to complete this project on time. First of all, animators and architects are essential, and not every firm has those in-house.

Furthermore, specialized software for animating this is quite costly, and assets needed to speed the animation up can also add to the price tag quite a bit.

Finally, 3D virtual tours can be presented using a big screen TV, but the ultimate experience would be using VR equipment. That can also raise the costs of the entire presentation, but fortunately, these days, we can rent VR equipment for the occasion, which saves quite a bit of cash.

Conclusion

As you can see, creating a well-made 3D virtual tour is not an easy task – it takes a lot of planning, resources, and communication to do it well. Ultimately, when done right, these things pay for themselves as they can really leave an impression on the target audience.

They can be used as a motivational approach for investors, marketing material, and many other things. We recommend you consult professionals before attempting to pull one out of thin air, as there are many tricks of the trade that can save time and money that are not known outside the professional circles of 3D rendering specialists.

You can always hire a consultant to help you identify the path you need to take. Good luck!