What to Have Ready Before You Commission Visuals
Good inputs set the quality and the schedule. Here is the list, and what is good enough to start.
Mikita Dasiukou Founder, Untrue Studio · 5 min read
Most delays in a visualization project are set in motion before the first image is started. A finish schedule that has not been decided. A drawing set that turns out to be two revisions old. Five people who each believe they are approving the work.
None of that means you have to wait until everything is perfect. You will rarely have a complete design during presale, and that is normal. What you need is to know which things are decided and which are not. A good studio can work with an open question. What costs you time and money is an open question nobody mentioned.
The list
| Input | Why it matters | Good enough to start |
|---|---|---|
| Current drawings | Everything is built from these | Plans, elevations and sections from a set with a date on it |
| Unit mix | Decides which plans to show | Plan types, counts, and which plan you expect to sell most |
| Finishes | Drive how interiors look and read | Standard selections, even if some are still placeholders |
| Site and context | Decides what surrounds the building | Site plan, orientation, photos of the site and neighbors |
| Landscape | Shapes every exterior image | A concept plan, or a clear description of the intent |
| Dates | Set the order of work | Launch date and the milestones that follow |
| Decision-maker | Keeps comments from colliding | One named person, with authority to approve |
| Use | Decides format and quantity | Where each piece will appear: website, gallery, print, signage |
The rest of this article goes through the items that cause the most trouble.
Drawings: send the current set, and say so
Nothing wastes more effort than working from a set that has already been superseded. Send the drawings with a date, and say plainly that they are current. If a revision is coming, say that as well, and say what it is likely to change.
CAD or BIM files are useful if you have them, because they save time and reduce modeling errors. PDFs will do if you do not. If the architect is not used to sharing files with a marketing vendor, sort out the permissions early rather than the week before you need them.
Unit mix: decide what to show first
You probably will not render every plan, and you do not need to. Tell the studio which plan you expect to sell most and which ones are different enough to need their own material. For townhouses, say which homes are end units, and whether the same plan changes between one position and another.
This is the decision that most affects the budget, and it should be made by someone who knows the sales strategy, not by whoever is sending the files.
Finishes: placeholders are fine, if they are labeled
Interiors depend on decisions that often come late. If your finishes are not final, give the studio your current direction and name what is likely to change. Physical samples or manufacturer codes are better than descriptions. “Warm oak” can mean many things.
Also say what standard includes and what counts as an upgrade. If you plan to show upgrades, that decision has consequences for what a rendering is allowed to promise, and it should be made on purpose.
Site and context: show the studio what is really there
A render artist who has never seen the site is working from guesses. A set of phone photos helps a great deal: from each direction, from the street, and of whatever is next door. Add the site plan with north marked. If you have a survey, drone footage or photos from upper floors of a neighboring building, send those too, particularly if views are part of what you are selling.
Mention anything likely to change around the site, such as a neighboring project. That also affects what your view images can honestly show.
One decision-maker
Choose one person to collect comments and give approval. Other people can have opinions, and they should send those to that person. This does more for quality and schedule than any other item here, because it stops contradictory notes from reaching the artist. How to review a rendering covers how to run those rounds.
Also check who else needs to see the work before it is public. If a partner, a lender or your counsel will want a look, build that in now rather than discovering it the day before launch.
Write down your open assumptions
Before work begins, write a short list of everything that is not final. Do this with your studio. A simple format works well:
- Open: kitchen island stone. Assumed for now: the standard selection. Decision expected: next month.
- Open: neighboring lot. Assumed for now: shown as it exists today. Owner: project manager.
- Open: roof deck furniture. Assumed for now: generic. Decision: not needed for launch.
That list protects you twice. It keeps the work moving, because nobody has to stop and ask. It also shows you, when the images arrive, which parts are safe to publish and which ones are still provisional.
If you are missing some of this
You can often start anyway. A set of drawings, a launch date and one decision-maker are the true minimum. Everything else can follow, as long as the gaps are named. A short conversation early on is usually worth more than waiting for a complete package that never quite arrives.
How we work with this
Untrue delivers projects for residential developers: a 360° tour, the stills needed to market it and marketing floor plans. We also host the gallery that buyers walk through before the building exists. If your project is at the stage where this list is starting to matter, send what you have. A stage and a unit count are enough to begin the conversation, and you will not need a finished package to have it.
