3D renders, video tour or real-time tour: which does your project need?
Each format shows a project in a different way. Here is what each one does well, where it works, and how one 3D model can produce all three.
Romain LenarduzziArchViz 3D Artist · · 3 min read
Most projects start with 3D renders, because everyone knows the format. A video tour and a real-time 3D tour answer different questions. The right choice depends on where people will see your project, and what they need to understand before they decide. This article compares the three main formats of architectural visualization.
3D renders
Still images, one view each, sharp enough for print. People look at them.
Video tour
An edited film along a route chosen in advance. People watch it.
Real-time 3D tour
The space in a web browser. Each person moves and looks where they want.
Where each format works
| 3D renders | Video tour | Real-time tour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brochures and print | Yes | No | No |
| Planning applications | Yes | No | No |
| Social media | Yes | Yes | No |
| A screen in a sales office | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| The project's website | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Renders are the right format when one image has to work on its own. A set of interior and exterior views, in daylight and at dusk, covers most needs. Our 3D rendering services page shows what a set usually includes.
Start from where people will see the project. The right format follows from that.
360° tour or real-time 3D tour?
360° virtual tour
Photos
Taken from fixed points, so the space must already exist.
Real-time 3D tour
3D model
Built from the 3D model, so it works before construction starts.
In a real-time tour, a person can move into the kitchen, turn to the window and check the view. It runs in the browser with nothing to install, on a laptop or on a large screen.
One 3D model for all three formats
When the project is built as one full 3D environment, the renders, the video tour and the real-time tour all come from it. The materials and the light match across the three, and a change to a finish appears everywhere. For a development, the same model can also power a sales website where buyers choose a floor and see which units are available.
Once you have chosen, our article on how to brief an architectural visualization studio lists the files to send. Every format starts with a greybox review.
Questions
What is the difference between a 3D render and a video tour?
A 3D render is one still image, from one angle. A video tour is an edited film that moves through the space along a route chosen in advance.
Do I need a finished building for a real-time 3D tour?
No. The tour is built from plans or a 3D model, so it works before construction starts and while it is under way.
Can renders and a video tour come from the same 3D model?
Yes. When the project is built as one 3D environment, the renders, the video tour and the real-time tour all come from it, with the same materials and light.
