The COVID-19 pandemic has been relentless and ruthless toward the world. Its deadly grip still doesn’t let go, tossing the entire world with all its industries and economies into a dangerous state of disarray. Businesses are shutting down by the dozens, and people are left without their jobs, stability, and financial security.

With most of the world population ordered to stay indoors and millions of others practicing safe distancing and other COVID-19 safety measures, the world employees are facing turmoil of epic proportions.

Companies are forced to practice remote working, and this new business model is spreading across every industry with the speed of light. The crisis has left many businesses with huge challenges, and the same goes for architectural 3D visualizers.

Like millions worldwide, these professional 3D artists are also forced to work from their homes. Since working remotely is now the new order of things in the business world, let’s see some of the best technologies and architectural visualization tools available to help architects, 3D artists, visualizers, renderers, and designers stay on top of things and maintain business continuity.

1.    Project Management Systems

Project management is crucial to your remote work efforts. It allows you to seamlessly execute all your projects, predict any delays to prevent them, drive faster decisions, accelerate your workflows with the power of automation, and so much more.

Therefore, the first and immensely useful tool you need when working at home is a project management system. It will allow you to have all your needs well-organized in one place. With such a system in place, you’ll be able to achieve global collaboration without any disturbances.

Enhance your delivery with an effective, centralized project management system that will allow you to exceed the expectations of your clients. This system should include the following tools:
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• Facilitative organizational tool – if you’re working with other team members on a project, it makes communication and reporting easy.
• Project planning – a tool that allows you to plan portfolios, programs, and projects.
• Project control – control all procedures and processes necessary for project execution.
• Project management information – manage your data efficiently and effectively and handle everything from knowledge databases to communication plans.
• Techniques and methodology – get all of the management science techniques necessary for project management under one roof.
• Cultural ambiance – if you’re working globally, you’ll cross paths with different cultures. This tool ensures all of your team members are on the same page with your company’s culture regarding the latest projects.

2.    3D Visualization Software

When it comes to the best 3D visualization software, we’re talking about enhancement, presentation, and ideation tools. Some of the 3D visualization software tools are:

• VRay – an architectural rendering software that took 3D visualization to the next level, VRay is known as the powerhouse rendering engine that allows you to create the most immersive animations and visualizations.
• Most top architectural studios use VRay as their main 3D visualization software. It’s easily integrable with other modeling programs. However, its most significant advantage is a massive library of output versatility, settings, and textures.
• Blender – pretty much every freelance architectural 3D visualizer tried Blender at least once so far. This open-source software is a true work of art. Aside from being one of the most potent renderers around, Blender is a completely free 3D visualization software capable of producing photorealistic images and everything else you need when working at home.
• Maxwell – one of the best rendering software tools on the market, Maxwell has been a preferred tool for 3D artists, designers, and architects for years. It’s fast and powerful, with the biggest strength being top real-life lighting models.
• Keyshot – with an incredibly user-friendly interface and easy learning curve, Keyshot is definitely a software you should look into. Considered by most to be the future of 3D, Keyshot is a budget-friendly solution for 3D artists who work from home.
• Lumion 3D – Lumion doesn’t need any particular introduction; it’s a well-known and pretty powerful rendering software that is easy to use, and it produces top-quality images. It can help you take your architectural visualizations to a whole new level.

3.    Video Conferencing Tools

During these difficult times, it’s essential to stay in close contact with your team members, clients, and all other third parties involved in projects you work on. At Easy Render, we use tools like Slack as it offers multiple channels to organize strategies and share ideas.

This tool is available for free and comes with a wide range of useful features to help you stay connected with your team members. If you need a proper video conferencing tool for holding virtual meetings, we recommend Google Meet.

You’ll need a Google account to use it. For video conferences, the best tool is Zoom. It helps create a smooth interface between all team members. Video conferencing is essential for maintaining communication with your colleagues. It helps avoid misunderstandings.

As an architectural visualizer, you’ll be required to have regular video meetings, sometimes with more than just one or two people. It’s essential to have a reliable video conferencing tool so that you can keep all other parties involved in a project up to date with all that has been going on.

4.    Cloud Sharing Platforms

The best way to keep your most important files always accessible and reachable, as well as safe and secure, is to consider moving to cloud sharing platforms. It’s relatively easy to transfer your projects to the cloud. Nowadays, there is an array of top solutions and design systems that offer cloud-based support and services.

Such solutions are Graphisoft BIMcloud and Autodesk BIM 360. It’s also possible to mirror your home computer with your workplace computer’s screen through intuitive apps such as Splashtop. Many programs and apps are also trying to recreate the sketch rolls and sketchbooks that defined and shaped the design process of ground-based offices.

One of those solutions is Morpholio. It comes with Board and Trace apps that allow 3D artists to sketch, design, and present ideas for clients and each other. Finally, the best solutions for moving your folders and files to the cloud are Google Drive and Dropbox. They allow for free sharing and storing of information in the most secure way.

5.    Time Management Tools

As someone who works in a creative industry, you know how easy it can be to get lost in time, carried away with your creative process. Since time is crucial in the world of 3D arts, you’ll need proper time management tools when working at home.

The best tool for prioritizing projects and assigning tasks is a job management tool like WorkflowMax. Aside from allowing you to collaborate with your team seamlessly, this tool will enable you to tap into the creative process itself and see what’s been going on across projects.

You can use the tool to view the project pipeline, track project status across different stages, schedule deadlines, assign tasks, and more. There are also simple tools that allow you to track time and eliminate any inefficiencies that may interfere with your workflow.

What makes WorkflowMax so valuable is that it can be easily integrated with payroll and accounting software, document management, and CRM systems so that you can create a personalized app ecosystem that perfectly matches your business needs and requirements. Time management tools are also very effective when it comes to reducing distractions.

6.    Freelance Platform

Freelance platforms are the best way to ensure a steady inflow of business offers regularly. In case your company goes out of work, having an authoritative presence on such platforms can help you find work and continue with your life. On the other hand, freelance platforms are also an excellent way to outsource your projects and find top talent at the most affordable prices.

Aside from our platform, Easy Render, we’re going to mention a few more you should know about. Easy Render is probably the most user-friendly, streamlined, and intuitive 3D freelance artist finder on the internet at the moment.

Countless design and architecture firms are using our services to find top talent in the architectural visualizer field. UpWork is also an excellent platform where you can find thousands of freelancers from every industry in the world. UpWork is also known as one of the most trustworthy job-finding marketplaces on the internet.

Aside from 3D artists, you can also use UpWork to find web designers, marketers, creative writers, and professionals from pretty much every existing industry. We also recommend you check platforms like People Per Hour and Indeed.

7.    Security Tools

Remote teams can be vulnerable to a range of cyber attacks and other kinds of threats. Even more so if a company still isn’t ready to make the transition to remote work. Their employees could be using unsecured devices and connections that can only expose them to more risks and threats.

That’s how data breaches and malware infections take place. Hackers have social engineering tools that allow them to hack into entire data systems, not to mention phishing attacks. To ensure you manage your remote work securely, we recommend you get some security tools, such as:

• Secure means of communication – even when working from home, you should still use your company email over your personal one, especially when sharing confident and valuable data. If you’re using messaging services, use apps with end-to-end encryption like Telegram, WhatsApp, and Signal.
• VPN – a virtual private network is an excellent security tool that allows you to encrypt your incoming and outgoing traffic, hide IP address, change your location, prevent tracking and monitoring, ensure more privacy online, and more. It’s also an excellent tool for bypassing geo-restrictions.
• Firewall – even though a firewall does little to keep you safe, it still is the first line of defense against malicious programs and malware.
• Password manager – there are many tools for managing your passwords in the best and most secure way.
• 2FA – two-factor authentication is a necessity if you need an additional layer of security.

8.    Online Payment Options

Finally, we come to the last tool you need in your remote work arsenal – an effective payment option for your clients. We have several recommendations for you:

• PayPal – a ubiquitous payment platform known worldwide, with 24/7 customer support; PP is easy to use, allows you to send and receive money and purchase goods online.
• Venmo – Venmo is owned by PayPal, which means that it’s also a secure and multipurpose platform that is convenient for exchanging funds.
• Zelle – this payment option includes no fees at all and is directly linked to your bank account, which means that it allows for almost immediate transactions. The platform is connected to major credit unions and U.S. banks, and it takes only a phone number or an email address to send or receive money.

There are many more options on the internet, but we can safely say that these are the best options on the internet at the moment. If you need more options, we recommend that you also check out Google Pay and Square Cash.

Conclusion

Now that you have thorough information on the best tools every architectural 3D visualizer needs when working at home, you can create your own little ecosystem and start doing what you do best without wasting any opportunities.

It’s true that the outbreak of the coronavirus has forced the majority of the population to stay indoors, but that doesn’t mean your life and business have to stop. On the contrary, with these so9lutions at hand, you can easily continue doing your thing without any disturbances or interferences.