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How do you go about creating a product render? Firstly, we either collect reference imagery and overall sizes from the client, or we go and photograph and measure the products
“It’s been a great opportunity for us to introduce our 3D services and show them an alternative to the traditional photoshoot”
in person. Using that imagery, we build all the furniture in a piece of software called 3ds Max.
An Orbital render featuring Hartman UK’s Julia resin chair
The building stage is probably the most time-consuming part of the job, as we spend a lot of time getting every piece of detail spot-on – including all the little imperfections which make all the difference when it comes to a build looking real or fake. Once we have built the furniture, we render these out as a white-out, so the client can sign off the overall shapes (the reason we don’t apply any fabric is so they can focus purely on the shape). Once the builds are signed off, the next step is mapping. This is where we set up the product so fabric can be applied, and we dictate how it sits on the frame. Next, we look closely at the fabric – for us to get the best results we treat the fabrics as a separate job, and how we build the fabric is dependent on the type we’re dealing with. For instance, we will photograph most simple cottons – but with more complex fabrics that are made up of different layers and weaves, we will actually build them in 3D. This is the same for velvets. It is impossible to photograph a velvet properly because of how the material reacts to light – it can look light from one angle and dark from another – so we create all our velvets in 3D. This, I feel, is where we truly stand apart from our competitors, as we spend the time perfecting the fabrics so they look real once wrapped on our 3D builds. Now we have our product built and mapped, this can be rendered out in every different fabric option, at any camera angle (even 360o). But for most, the next step is to situate their product in a roomset. Like any photoshoot, we start by putting together a moodboard of what look we want to achieve, and which accessories to use and colour scheme to go with. From here, we build everything from the ground up, unique to that client. One of the benefits is that clients can use the same roomset again for their next project, by simply changing out the accessories, walls and floors to make it look like a completely new room. Finally, there’s the rendering stage. All our projects are set up to batch render, so at the click of a button we can render an entire line of products in a full fabric range of different colours. Everything is rendered in high resolution, so can be used in print, PoS,
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An Orbital white-out build of Hartman UK’s Julia resin chair
26/04/2019 12:31