There’s no denying the appeal of hiring freelance 3D rendering artists to help with professional-grade visuals and animations for your architecture, interior, or industrial design firms. They represent an on-demand flavor of employee who won’t jam up the bottom line but will be there to perform their skills at a moment’s notice.

However, for firms who don’t already have a reliable team of freelancers to pull from when the time is right, looking for these particularly useful individuals can seem like a daunting task. You’ll want to be sure you’re hiring the best of the best who won’t completely drain your design budget within an inch of its life. This is, afterall, a visual representation of your business and your brand, and if it doesn’t showcase the merits of your designs in the best possible light, you might as well be throwing mud on the wall.

This article is designed to help small and mid sized design firms wrap their heads around the process of finding and hiring professional 3D rendering artists. These websites and resources should be used to vet the best in the business, and slowly build your rolodex of freelancers you can rely on for years to come.

Easy Render

If it’s freelance 3D rendering artists you’re looking for, Easy Render should be the first place you go. The job finding service is not only incredibly easy to navigate, it is set up as an online marketplace where artists can establish their portfolios and connect directly with potential employers.

Firms and offices looking for artists can browse portfolios with a few clicks of the mouse and quickly have a small collection of people to contact about current and future work. Better yet? Every piece of work produced by an artist through Easy Render is 100% quality guaranteed. You won’t pay a dime until the agreed upon work is delivered up to the standards promised by the freelancer.

ArchiCGI

If you’re project has a big enough design budget to support investing in state of the art renderings and visualizations, ArchiCGI can deliver just that. You won’t have to spend any time searching for individual artists because the already are being employed by ArchiCGI - and they are some of the best on the planet.

Simply contact them through their website and engage based on their established prices and schedules. You might not always have the resources to use ArchiCGI, but they are a good contact to have in the back pocket in case the right project comes along.

Craigslist

While not always the most reliable option, Craigslist shouldn’t be discounted as a way to find 3D rendering talent. If you’re a human being, chances are you’ve used Craigslist once or twice in the past (that Mickey Mouse clock isn’t going to sell itself), but it can actually be quite an effective tool for finding high-quality, local freelancers.

Why is local important? Well, architects are control freaks by nature, so being able to physically meet with an artist before giving them the keys to the visualization castle. This solidifies the relationship and gives the firm better overall control on the final deliverables. Also, you should be able to find someone who can work within tight budgetary constrictions.

Cad Crowd

Cad Crowd is set up a lot like Easy Render, promising online rendering and visualization help on demand. However, where Easy Render is tailored more towards architecture and interior design firms, Cad Crowd covers all flavors of 3D artwork, modeling, and design. They provide a jack-of-all trades interface that includes architectural rendering within their greater umbrella of services.

Cad Crowd presents a slick interface and even lets you set up mini design contests where artists can submit work based on a prompt you set up. This can be a great way to sift through freelancers and choose a few to keep on your radar for future projects.

UpWork

UpWork has quickly climbed the ranks to the top of the job-finding services mountain. It connects offices and firms with a wide variety of talented individuals, including 3D rendering and visualization artists. And while you might feel weary using a service that skims so much off the top (20% at first), rest assured you’ll be able to find good help at a good price with UpWork.

UpWork is popular for a reason, and takes much of the stress out of finding good help in the 3D rendering department.