So far I’ve only come across European firms like Xoio, MaarDigital and BOCO Studio. I’m looking for a firm(s) who can create animations at the level of those companies, but in the United States.
Thanks for any help.
I moved thread to “Architectural Visualization”, you should get more answers there 
None, that I am aware of, sorry 
Most of what i have seen coming out of the US is still unity based. All of our UE4 stuff is being done in house at the moment, but we’re an architecture firm, and not a viz studio.
UE4 is still pretty new, but I am sure some of the bigger rendering houses in the US are working on it. Maybe contact one of the larger companies and see if they will be wiling to work on something with you for a reduced fee, etc.
Thank you, I was afraid of this. I was clued in when all of the companies making the ultra realistic UE4 architectural animations on youtube seemed to be European. What larger U.S. companies might you recommend I try?
Well, we use dbox and neoscape a lot for offline renderings and animations. They are both large and well established in the US.
Hope this helps,
Chris
I recommend an US local rendering studio , they provide fantastic images and service too.
UE4 is not suitable for the large exterior project ??
I’m from DES Architect and Engineers part of the graphics team. We actually started using Unreal Engine a while back and started integrating it in our pipeline. Our team is quite happy with the results that we had so far. Here’s one of our projects translated into the Unreal Engine.
Hello PhillyArchitect
Is there a reason why do you strictly need a US-based firm? Cause they would take more money, pay more taxes, and in the end - will outsource the work to EU-based firms anyway
The world is globalized, and everything can be done in any point of the world, in the most efficient way.
So I recommend you to not narrow down your search to only US firms, and better look at their portfolio, work ethics and pricing conditions.
We’re a global firm: cgcloud.pro and will be happy to offer our UnrealEngine architecture services to you.
P.S. And we also have US agents in Chicago and Miami.
Hello PhillyArchitect
Is there a reason why do you strictly need a US-based firm? Cause they would take more money, pay more taxes, and in the end - will outsource the work to EU-based firms anyway
The world is globalized, and everything can be done in any point of the world, in the most efficient way.
So I recommend you to not narrow down your search to only US firms, and better look at their portfolio, work ethics and pricing conditions.
We’re a global firm: cgcloud.pro and will be happy to offer our UnrealEngine architecture services to you.
P.S. And we also have US agents in Chicago and Miami.
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I agree and we use folks from all over the world. Just depends on the project…sometimes if you are working on a government, or highly sensitive projects, all consultants have to to be US based contractually.
P.S. Your work looks great!
Hello PhillyArchitect
Is there a reason why do you strictly need a US-based firm? Cause they would take more money, pay more taxes, and in the end - will outsource the work to EU-based firms anyway
The world is globalized, and everything can be done in any point of the world, in the most efficient way.
So I recommend you to not narrow down your search to only US firms, and better look at their portfolio, work ethics and pricing conditions.
We’re a global firm: cgcloud.pro and will be happy to offer our UnrealEngine architecture services to you.
P.S. And we also have US agents in Chicago and Miami.
[/QUOTE]
I think communications would be easier, if they were close enough I could visit their office for face to face meetings and if actual materials were needed, they could be sent cheaper. However, I have gotten some messages from people who are interested in helping me so I will consider them and cgcloud.pro too!
Thanks.
I wanted to bump this thread back to the top. I had found a firm which looked really promising – Maardigital-- but I’ve heard they closed. Unreal Engine can be amazing but I’m looking for ultra real animation and not really finding firms who can do that.
So I’m casting out the net again. I got some good leads initially but are artists like Koola simply in a league of their own?
Koola does not do arch-viz tho. He does great environments (he’s/was a game environment artist), with close up shots, Depth of field and clever composition. Don’t expect anyone to build an airport with the level of detail Koola put in his small test scenes!
Unreal is still very limited for arch viz because of the weak refraction/reflections and most 3d models are really not optimized for Unreal. Revit/sketchup models must be almost perfect otherwise it’s a plain nightmare to transform them for unreal.
My guess is we’re going to continue to see unreal being used for interior design but for architecture (medium-large scale projects with exterior renderings) it’s not ready yet.
Just out of curiosity, what kind of building you would like to have made in Unreal?
Hi,
I’m in the US (Los Angeles) and as mentioned I think the exterior rendering in UE4 leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to say Vray. That said I can handle Interior work for you - PM if you would like to discuss, I have 40 years in the Architecture field with Gensler, Walt Disney Imagineering and others.
I’m just trying to get a master bath modeled and animated with realistic stone tiles and plumbing fixtures. Maardigitial created an awesome living room kitchen animation and a bath one as well. I really thought they were onto something and then they closed shop!
I really felt Maardigital’s UE4 was pretty exceptional:
Drapery excepted.
Unless you’re doing a real time walk through there is no need to do an animation of such a small project in UE4 - if quality is your concern just go with Vray and 3ds Max.
From what I’ve seen of Vray, its animations and renderings live in the uncanny valley – almost real but not really. UE4 is a game changer because there is something about it when done right that fools the eye. The Maardigital living room is virtually flawless in terms of natural light and material rendition; that is what makes it seem real. The drapery and fire are give-aways but other than that, it’s pretty much photo realism. For whatever reason the best UE4 animations come from Europe, as if they’ve had a five year start.
As for Koola, someone said he creates “environments.” Isn’t that what architecture is about? His short animations are EXTREMELY architectural.
As an architect, I can’t even bring myself to look at the UE4 walk thrus. They are almost comical in their video game feel – not how architects generally want to represent moving through space.
Yes he makes some architectural environment I agree with you but the geometry is very basic and the scene are pretty much empty. In that case he can get away with all dynamic and not even bother baking some of his scene!!! At the same time I prefer it that way but I have a feeling that it’s not what’s most architects want when they ask for renderings. Or maybe it’s the thing of property developers to ask funky stuff. I started doing a scene of a Neue nationalgalerie in Berlin. It’s going to be fully dynamic with superb materials. I think for that particular project, it will work. The big open space will allow me to get away with the baking. I work with a huuuuge sketchup 3d models of about 4500 objects and Unreal is handling it like a pro!
I also agree with you concerning the video walk-through. They are boring as hell to look at. That and the shallow interactivity…open a door, close a light, meh…
I personally want to use unreal to make architecture DIRECTED movies and VR for the design phase. I mostly see interior design here and on most arch viz forums and it’s making me sick. You know, the white room with designconnected pre-made assets…
I hope i’ll meet more architects like you in the future Phillyarchitect!!!
*it’s funny tho because it’s the 1st time I hear someone say ue4 looks better than vray! What do you think about refraction/reflection laking quality compared to vray/corona/octane?
I have noticed that Unreal does not do mirrors, chrome or glass that realistically, but given what it does so well – material/texture mapping and lighting – I’m okay with that. If you can link me to a VRAY clip as good as Maardigital’s living room, I’d like to see that.