This is a guideline that will help you to avoid some of the common mistakes in architectural rendering.
- Wide Lenses
Everybody like to use wide lenses, because you are able to capture a whole of your scene. You spent hours and hours perfecting your render and want to show it off. But using wide lenses results in a visual noise for the viewer, because there are nothing to focus on. So it is better to use a zoom into something particular and focus on that. - No Personality
You need to be thinking about a specific imaginary character that is going to be living in that space, and all of the personality from this character will be reflected through furniture. - No Point
From the start you should have a clear goal and clear message that you are trying to convey, whether that be a mood, whether you want the viewer to desire to go to this place, or contradiction between the architecture and the nature. - Too Bright
A lot of people want to bright everything in the entire scene, but when you trying to light everything you get washed up looking scene, very low contrast, nothing punchy. Shadow is equally as important as the light, if no more so. - No Nature
Creating trees, plants is very hard to do, but for exterior shot you really can’t get away with not using trees to surround your building. The viewer is expecting to see it, it’s just natural. - Too Many Colors
General rule is to never use more than 3 colors per shot. If you have too many colors, your image will probably look better in black & white. - No Focal Point
It’s not about the focal point for what the camera is focusing on. It’s about something in the scene which your eye is immediately drawn to (striking fireplace, interesting artwork, pattern on a pillow). - No Harmony
You need to be thinking about how all objects will be fitting together with each other. You can’t just put your favorited objects, because the beauty will come from their relation to each other. - Too Diffused
The real world is actually highly reflective place. Every object has at least some level of reflection. Even the most diffused material you can think of, like an interior white wall, even that have some level of reflection on it. So use a texture to add a little bit of gloss to your walls. - Low Visual Interest
Visual interest refers to contrast, patterns and colors. You need to have some level of interest but don’t go overboard, it’s gonna look irritating. - Neglecting Composition
You can get everything else right: the lighting, the entire design, the architecture, but if you mess up the composition you mess up completely. So do some research on composition. - Boring Ceilings
Boring Ceilings happened because everything is stuck to the ground, and it doesn’t work for the composition. Think about different parts of visual interest you can add to the ceiling. - Tilting the Camera
Viewers only have the image to go off, they don’t know where the center of gravity is, or where the horizon is. It’s very important that you keep your camera completely level, especially for interior shot. Don’t tilt it and your viewer will thank you.
Source: Andrew Price YouTube channel
