Thanks for coming, participate and read this thread.
I am Jose, an Architect from Venezuela/Mexico and an evangelist(self given tittle)of UE4/5 in Architecture industry. If you’re here you are either an architect or have some interest for architectural/Archviz business.
I created this topic because I want to create a small community to talk about uses of Unreal Engine in architectural business.
As an architect I’ve been working with still images (Archviz renders) for so many years. This practice has become very cheap in the international market with people offering their services for even 20 USD per Image and because of that I wanted to move forward and search for new services/opportunities using Unreal Engine.
So far in my experience independent architects still wants to use still images as a compliment for their services and don’t see a true cost/value between these and Interactive walkthroughs/architecture services. I’ve been thinking about moving to real estate but then I came with the idea of opening this small space so we can all share experiences, thoughts and ideas about this topic.
Everyone is welcome to participate and feel free to share. Let’s create a great community
I worked as an Architect for some time in Germany. I used Unreal Engine 2 once for a walkthrough of an old building in Potsdam. The client liked it. It was very basic but at that time no one had ever seen anything like that (around 2000 ?).
2004 I needed a break from Architecture and it happened that I started working in a game studio in Sydney. I ended up working 11 years in different studios in Australia.
Then I needed another break from game developement and I started working with Unreal for Property Developers in a Arch Viz studio. It was super chaotic. Game Developement can be chaotic but this was another level of chaotic. Everything rushed and a lot of time wasted.
Traditional Arch Viz is a dying art form. Not many companies want to spend much time on it or any money. Architects started to do their own animations.
I think Unreal should be used by Architects as a design tool. I used it a few times like that. Just using a rough sketch and then create the building in Unreal. Then do the drawings when you’re happy with the design.
I wish Architects would see the potential. Some probably do but most studios don’t want to change their workflow. I gave up convincing anyone. I think they should be eager to use something like Unreal. It would make Architecture better. During my time in games I improved my visual style a lot and I think I became a better Architect.
I’m creating tools that I sell on the marketplace for other people to use in Unreal. The tools similar to what we had in game studios to improve the workflow. But for Architector. Like doors, railings on splines, or UI just to name a few.
This is an interesting POV which I´ve been exploring a lot. I’m trying to make visualization services for architects so they can improve their services and offer more value.
So far the issue is that 90% of my clients are sticking with Still rendering a animation/visualization video. Which is making me think that I’m on a dead end.
I was watching some of the Unreal Fest content 2022 and this got my attention
Great video. It shows exactly why investing in technology can give you an advantage in the long run.
Yes - Developers would have the funds to afford an Unreal project. And those projects make sense in Unreal because there is a lot of repetition. A 100 unit development will have less than 10 variations in most cases. It would make sense to spend a bit more time and money on something that is present 10 times or more. Instead of having a showroom on site they could have a virtual one.
We live in a time where every advertisement promises more than it will deliver. It’s not easy to get through with new ideas. Especially if you don’t already have a client base. You’ll need someone to take the risk. Then the others might follow.
Yes, this looks great. Railings that actually look architecturally realistic. Good work. I’ll add this one to my list for when I get to railings work.
Anything for wall baseboards or moldings in particular? You should come up with something for this. I don’t think there’s anything else on the market. Right now, I just create them using static meshes in-editor and mash them together.
, but I’m still in doubt.