3D Models and Animation: An Effective AEC Marketing Tool

Content Provided by Srikanth Burm

Every company in the AEC Industry is facing huge challenges from their competitors. Each company is expected to be responsive and agile in this tough competition. Being proactive is the requirement of the hour for every organization facing these market challenges. Even customers needs have become very selective. They are opting for products which are customized and available quickly.  The current market situation has become very competitive and every organization is coming up with new strategies to present them in a better way to attract customers and deliver their products to customers.

Today even small contractors can be tough competition for big companies in the AEC Industry. Each company is looking for a way to present their products in a unique way to attract their clients. Moreover, it is of very high importance that companies in the AEC Industry should present their products in such a way as to capture the interest of the customer. Marketing strategies of these companies are continually developed to create an impact on customers’ thought processes and encourage customers to buy their products.

Customers want to be impressed with the products provided by the company and companies are looking for ways to impress customers. Gone are the days of 2D drawings where the customer can only see lines and dimensions of the AEC structure. Expectations of customers are increasingly high. They want to have a firsthand feel of what they are going to get. Customers are looking for companies which are very dynamic in nature and which can provide very flexible designs to them. Companies are coming out with innovative strategies to show that they can meet these high expectations of customers. One such strategy to impress customers is to provide a complete 3D Model and further this can be improvised to add animation to special effects.

The 3D Model with special animation effects enables customers to visualize what the company is providing to them. It also gives a complete idea if it meets customer’s requirements or not. Most of the companies today market their products using 3D Model images. These images cannot walk through a complete Model. But by adding Animation as the special effect it enables the customer to visualize a complete walkthrough of the model. This animation emphasizes not only on exteriors but also interiors. The main advantage of this 3D Model animation is it gives out a complete picture of what customer is going to get when he selects a particular product. He can easily mark the changes before the actual product is delivered. Creating such model with animation makes it high in information. Information regarding dimensions is stored in 2d Drawings. Information such as colors, Patterns, Interiors can be provided with the 3D animated model to the customer.

Most of the companies are not well equipped to create these 3D animated models. They need to hire a team who are specialized in developing such models. This team can become a cost center to the organization and even the focus on the core competence of the company is deviated.

Outsourcing this job will not only reduce the costs for the companies but they also allow the companies to work full fledged on their main business.

Content Provided by Srikanth Burma

How are these 3D animated Models are developed?

A Hand Sketch or a Designing Drawing is provided as an input. With the input a 3D Model is developed in dwg format is developed. This 3D model with dwg format is imported into selected 3D rendering tool. Using the rendering tool materials, textures, colors are applied to both exteriors and interiors of the model. Once rendering is done then animation is added as special effects.

These 3D Models can be widely used by Designers, Architects, BIM Professionals, Construction companies. 3D animated visualization has redefined the AEC industry for better marketing.