Gateway Tower by Gensler © Tomorrow

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A RC H I T E CT U R A L V I S UA L I Z AT ION T E C H NOL OGY R E PORT
CONTE NTS
2017 ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION TECHNOLOGY REPORT

Executive summary 3

Survey participants 4

Industry changes & challenges 8

Virtual reality 12

Cloud rendering 17

Report summary 23

About Chaos Group 27

2
Executive summary
In September 2017, global computer graphics technology firm Chaos
Group conducted an online survey of architecture and architectural
visualization professionals. The questionnaire asked about the types of
technology in use at their firms, the challenges of their workplace, and their
attitudes and expectations towards the future of the industry.

The survey reached 5,769 respondents from over 70 countries, reflecting

the global scale of today’s architecture and architectural visualization
practices. Those surveyed included everyone from freelancers and
employees at small studios, to multinational firms with thousands of staff.

The objective of the report is to provide a current snapshot of the

technology trends in architecture and architectural visualization, and to
identify the innovations that are rapidly changing the industry.

Key findings
• Fast changing technologies, including the widespread adoption of BIM
and VR, are having a profound impact on the industry
• A majority of architecture and architectural visualization firms will use
VR in 2018
• Cloud rendering usage expected to triple in 2018
Peninsula Place by Calatrava © Uniform

3
S U RV E Y PA RT IC I PA N TS

4
Survey participants

Firm size: # of Architects

Number of architects Percent

Freelancer 56%
1 - 10 30%
11 - 100 10%
101 - 1000 3%
1000+ 1%

Firm profile: Project types

Project type Percent

Architectural Visualization 45%

Interior Design 43%
Residential
37%
Commercial 34%
Master Planning
10%
Urban Planning
10%
Government
10%
Historic Preservation & Restoration
5%
Other
9%

5
Survey participants

Job positions
Job positions Percent

Architect 35%
Visualization Specialist
23%
Interior Designer
11%
Director of Design Technology
6%
Intern Architect
6%
IT Director
2%
BIM Specialist
2%
BIM Manager
2%
Other
13%

Popular software combinations

Popular software combinations Percent

SketchUp + 3ds Max

25%
Revit + 3ds Max
16%
SketchUp + Revit
16%
SketchUp, Revit, 3ds Max
14%
Other
29%

6
 25%
16%
Survey participants 16%
14%
29%

Popular software applications

Popular software applications Percent

V-Ray
55%
SketchUp
51%
3ds Max
50%
AutoCAD
47%
Adobe CC
37%
Revit
31%
Rhino
21%
Renderer other than V-Ray
17%
Maya
10%
Grasshopper
9%
ArchiCAD
9%
Dynamo
5%
BIM 360
3%
Vectorworks
3%
FormIt
1%
Other
6%

Winter Afternoon © Van Tran

7
I NDUSTRY CHA NGE S &
CHA LLE NGE S

8
Industry changes & challenges

Increased reliance on technology is the biggest change in architecture and

architectural visualization in the past 3 years.
Respondents from companies of all sizes confirm the most noticeable 70% of those surveyed noted that the increased reliance on technology is
change in the last few years is the increased reliance on recently the #1 change in the industry over past three years, almost twice as many
introduced technologies such as BIM and VR. as the 36% who stated an increased demand for sustainable designs.

Key industry changes in architecture and architectural visualization

Key industry changes in recent years Percent

Increased use of technology in design & construction

70%
Increased demand for sustainable design
36%
Consolidation of architecture firms to remain competitive
24%
Merging of private & public sectors
20%
Other
3%

9
Industry changes & challenges

Challenges architects face today

Top challenges that architects face today Percent

Tight project deadlines

53%
Budget restrictions
51% The demand for
Demand for high-end & photorealistic content
43% photorealistic
Increased competition
34% content is the 3rd
Employee training in systems & software
29% biggest challenge
Available materials
26% in architecture
Sustainable design
25% and architectural
visualization.
Other
2%

While tight deadlines and limited budgets are always top concerns, 43% of respondents noted that the increased
demand for high-end and photorealistic content is also a major challenge.

Importance of 3D rendering
for winning projects Percent

Very important
49%
Critical
36%
Somewhat important
7%
Depends on project
7%
Not important
1%

10
Industry changes & challenges

85% of respondents
85% of respondents state that 3D rendered imagery is “very important”
state that 3D
to
“critical” for winning projects. rendered imagery
is “Very important”
to “Critical” for
winning projects.

Ambassador Office by Andrzej Chołdzyński © Nmachine

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V I RTUA L R E A L IT Y

12
Virtual reality

The rapid adoption of virtual reality

in architecture
Using VR or plan to use VR in the future Percent

Yes
28%
Not yet. Currently experimenting.
28%
Not yet. Plan to in next 6 months.
8%
Not yet. Plan to in 7–12 months.
4%
Not yet. Expect to in a year or more.
13%
No. No plans to use VR.
10%
Not sure
9%

Over two-thirds of architecture and architectural visualization

professionals plan to use VR in 2018.
While 3D tools have been mainstream for architects and visualization
artists for some time, the introduction of virtual reality offers new ways for
them to experience their designs.

More than half of those surveyed have used VR or are currently

experimenting with VR on a project.

Station © Eva Saghegyi

13
Virtual reality

Number of
VR projects completed Percent

1
20%
2–3
36%
4–5
14%
5+
30%
80% of VR adopters are using it on multiple projects. Architecture is fundamentally spatial, and
Of those already using virtual reality, 80% have used it on multiple all its visualizations, from facade plans to
projects, suggesting that VR is beginning to play a more significant role in animations, have been two-dimensional so
architectural design and visualization workflows.
far. VR is the first medium that can transmit
the spatial qualities of a building. Now
the industry must figure out the means of
communication in a new medium which is a
dimension bigger than familiar platforms or
products.”

Attila Cselovszki,
Brick Visual CTO

14
Virtual reality

Large firms are leading the adoption of virtual reality

Using VR or plan to use VR in the future Percent of large firms (100+ architects)

Yes
62%
Not yet. Currently experimenting.
21%
Not yet. Plan to in next 6 months.
3%
Not yet. Plan to in 7–12 months.
2%
Not yet. Expect to in a year or more.
5%
No. No plans to use VR.
4%
Not sure
3%

15
Virtual reality
Most large architectural firms are already using VR.
Large architecture firms have embraced VR at a much higher rate than
smaller firms and freelancers. 62% of large firms are currently using VR,
Popular software for VR content creation
and more than half of those have already used VR on five or more projects. Software used to create VR Percent

V-Ray 59%
Number of
Unreal 27%
VR projects completed Percent large firms (100+ architects) Unity 18%
Lumion 15%
1
5% Enscape

IrisVR
9%
6%
2–3
23% LumenRT 1%
1%
14%
Revizto
4–5
Other 11%
5+
58%
Large architecture firms are using VR on multiple projects. According to the survey, V-Ray is the most used software for VR
95% of the large firms using VR have used it on multiple projects. creation in architecture and architectural visualization, followed by
Unreal and Unity.

16
CLOUD RE NDE R I NG

17
 76%
17%
Cloud rendering 17%
6%
A majority of rendering remains in-house.
Although the current industry standard is to render using an internal render
Cloud rendering usage is on the rise
farm, a combined 34% of respondents use external render farms and cloud
services to complete their projects. Cloud rendering adoption Percent

Current rendering hardware

Currently using cloud rendering
9%
Rendering hardware Percent
Plan to use cloud rendering within 6 months
12%
Internal render farm
76% Plan to use cloud rendering within a year
12%
External render farm
17% No plans to use cloud rendering
39%
Cloud
17% Not sure
28%
Other
6%

18
Cloud rendering

85% of respondents
Cloud rendering usage could triple in 2018. state that 3D
rendered imagery
According to the survey, cloud rendering demand could increase significantly in 2018, with the potential for 233% growth by mid-year, and up to
is “Very important”
367% growth by the end of 2018. These numbers could grow even further if any undecided respondents try cloud rendering in 2018.
to “Critical” for
winning projects.

Fog © Federico Ciavarella

19
 12%
39%
28%
Cloud rendering

Cloud rendering security

Security is not perceived as
Cloud rendering security Percent
a barrier for cloud rendering
adoption.
11——Not
Notaaconsideration
consideration 20%
While the security of cloud
22 13% computing is often a popular
33 14% topic, most of those surveyed
44 20% do not rank it among the major
55 16% challenges for cloud rendering
66
8% adoption.
77——Top
Topchallenge
challenge 9%

Cloud rendering costs

Cost is the #1 consideration for
Cloud rendering costs Percent
cloud rendering adoption.
1 — Not a consideration 7%
2 4%
3 9%
4 21%
5 20%
6
17%
7 — Top challenge
22%

20
Cloud rendering

Cloud rendering budgets

Though most cloud rendering
Cloud rendering budgets Percent
is budgeted on a per project
basis, a third of cloud rendering
Per project
50%
projects consist of unplanned,
Ad-hoc
33% ad-hoc usage.
Annual budget
11%
Quarterly budget
4%
Other
2%

Infestant © Tamas Medve

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Cloud rendering

Cloud rendering benefits

Reducing render time is the #1
Reduction in render times Percent
benefit of cloud rendering.
Over 50% of respondents
1 — Not a benefit
1 — Not a benefit
4%
consider shorter render times
2
2
3% as the main benefit of cloud
3
3
5% rendering.
4
4
15%
5
5
16%
6
6
21%
7 — Top benefit
7 — Top benefit
36%

Cloud rendering benefits

A majority of respondents
Ability to work on more
projects & more iterations Percent consider the ability to handle
more projects and more project
1 — Not a benefit 4% iterations as a key benefit of
2 4% cloud rendering.
3 8%
4 19%
5 23%
6
19%
7 — Top benefit
23%

22
R E PORT SUM M A RY

23
Report summary

Fast changing technologies,

including the widespread adoption of
BIM and VR, are having a profound
impact on the industry.

Increased demand for high-end photorealistic visuals and keeping pace

with new technologies have become major factors in a competitive
industry with tight budgets and quick deadlines. VR introduces a new
way to design, collaborate and convey architecture and architectural
visualization, bringing with it more opportunity for large architectural firms
as well as individual freelancers.

Ambassador Office by Andrzej Chołdzyński © Nmachine

24
Report summary

A majority of architecture and

architectural visualization firms will
use VR in 2018.

Today, virtual reality adds a new dimension to the mainstream 3D tools

used in architectural visualization. Because of VR’s unique ability to
represent space at human scale, it’s already playing a significant role in
architecture, and its usage is expected to increase rapidly in 2018. Though
firms of all sizes are currently working in VR, large firms are seeing the
most widespread adoption and using it on multiple projects.

Anima Visual © RPBW

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Report summary

Cloud rendering usage

to triple in 2018.

While most architectural visualization rendering is accomplished in-

house, there is growing interest in cloud rendering. The increased speed
of rendering and the ability to do more iterations on a project are the most
appealing aspects of rendering on the cloud. Depending on barriers such
as cost and ease-of-use, the use of cloud rendering could double mid-year
and even triple by the end of 2018.

Dongjiadu by KPF © Mozses

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About V-Ray
From architecture and design to visual effects in film and television, V-Ray
is the most widely used rendering solution in the world. Whether used to
showcase products at IKEA or bring the “Game of Thrones” dragons to life,
V-Ray has helped artists and designers visualize their best work for over 20
years, pushing the boundaries of imagery, animation, and virtual reality. In
2017, V-Ray was honored with an Academy Award for helping to facilitate
the widespread adoption of fully ray-traced rendering in motion pictures.
For a free trial of V-Ray visit chaosgroup.com/download-free-trials
About Chaos Group
Chaos Group is a worldwide leader in computer graphics technology,
helping designers and artists create photorealistic imagery and animation
for architecture, design and visual effects. Chaos Group’s award-winning
physically-based rendering and simulation software is used daily by
top design studios, architectural firms, advertising agencies and visual
effects companies around the globe. Today, the company’s research and
development in cloud rendering, material scanning and virtual reality is
shaping the future of creative storytelling and digital design. Founded in
1997, Chaos Group is privately owned with offices in Sofia, Los Angeles,
Seoul and Tokyo.

For more information, visit chaosgroup.com

Press contact:

David Tracy
david.tracy@chaosgroup.com

Copyright © 2017 by Chaos Group

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Chaos Group, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. All company names and artist imagery rights reserved by respective owners. 27