10 Factors to Consider When Outsourcing Architectural 3D Visualization

There are various reasons Architects, Interior design agency, and real estate developers resort to outsourcing their business functions.

The outsourcing industry has evolved from a pure cost-efficiency model to new innovative value creation models.

Building a seamless working relationship can be started by asking the right questions, comparing your business requirements against different vendors’ pros and cons. This eventually will optimize your focus on core business activities and as a result augment your firm’s operation.

Here is a small guide covering key factors one should consider when planning to outsource 3D architectural visualization function.

Cost Efficiency

Not the ultimate goal but bringing the operational costs down is surely one of the primary factors when considering outsourcing a business function.

Unlike outsourcing, where one pays only for the required services hiring an in-house talent requires more time to train and involves higher salaries. In addition, the firm has to spend significant amount of time and money on factors such as payroll, employee benefits, infrastructure etc.

So, you need to evaluate and consider outsourcing a function that would enable you reduce your spend on resources as compared to carrying it out in-house. Of course, you need to maintain the quality of services provided by the outsourced rendering studio.

What to outsource

As a small business, outsourcing allows you to get more done without having to grow your full-time team in a significant way. Moreover, it allows you to keep your costs under control, increase efficiency by focusing on the business activities that you enjoy doing and are good at.

Architectural 3D Rendering, Architectural Animation, 360 Architectural Virtual Walkthrough and CAD Drafting are few functions that you may consider outsourcing. Once these processes taken off your plate – not only reduces the cost but more importantly allows you to focus on the vital internal functions and growth activities for your business.

Transparent Pricing

Get the quotes from shortlisted architectural visualization studios. Lowest pricing sounds good at first, but we recommend comparing the pricing as well as what you will get for the same.

In many instances we have seen the clients finding visualization studios offering lowest pricing have charged extra for revisions, support, expedite delivery, special library charges and some other ridiculous reasons.

At Viz Kingdom we understand nobody likes surprises with pricing. Hence, we will quote with the price you will pay. No gimmicks. No hidden charges.

Technical Expertise

Look for the technical capabilities – compare it against the skill sets that are not available at your firm or where you feel shorthanded. You also need to look for the availability of skills and technology that align with your project requirements.

The vendor should be technologically well-equipped in terms of the infrastructure, hardware, software, communication etc. to support the function you plan to outsource.

India has many well-equipped architectural visualization studios housing skilled and experienced 3D artists. Depending on the size project and how frequently you need to outsource – you may choose working with small to mid-sized vendor.

Who leads the team?

A great team without a vision may fail to deliver even if the team is expert at what they do. You should talk to the person who will be leading your projects. Ask questions on challenges he/she may have faced when working with clients on their architectural visualization projects. Try learning things about the team and the lead who will be assigned for your projects.

You will be spending most of your time dealing with the leader, so it is essential that the person in lead position has ample experience in architectural visualization industry at the leadership position. He/she should be the one on whom you can rely upon for your arch viz projects.

Ability to meet deadlines

When sharing your requirements on deliverables, it is particularly important to understand the vendor’s ability to meet deadlines for completion of the projects. When working with a lowest bidder, chances are, the vendor’s hands may be full, and your project may not be delivered on time due to same.

Failing to meet deadlines can lead to major bottlenecks. This would destroy the whole purpose of outsourcing. Check with outsource vendor about their backup plans to mitigate the risks of missing the deadlines.

Consistency in Quality and Delivery

In the world of outsourcing where the costs, pricing, contracts etc. are critical, you need to find a vendor who competes on their ability to produce high-quality 3D renderings. This ability could be measured based on timely delivery of immersive imageries.

Ensure that the vendor you decide to work with have high-success rate in delivering the architectural visualizations as promised. Checking the quality through portfolio and start with one or few small projects to evaluate how the arch viz studio handle those.

Reputation

When evaluating studio’s past work, you will get a good idea on whether the architectural visualization services match your expectations and whether you see that maintained across their portfolio.

Doing the due diligence on the vendor’s reputation will allow you to understand how easy or tough working with them could be. This could be measured at the scale of number of happy clients, consistency in the quality and on time delivery.

Select an architectural visualization studio who have worked with offshore clients for a reasonable period.

Flexibility

Working with right architectural visualization studio gives you a greater control over managing the costs as well as flexibility through strategic resource management options.

There are various reasons such as unexpected turn over of staff, work force reduction, 3D rendering demands created by new project acquisitions, special projects requiring specific skills/experience, when outsourcing makes sense.

A studio who can work with you in alignment to your need to scale-up or down and position your resources strategically in timely fashion is the right fit.

Communication

Agile communication and seamless collaboration is an essential element to a business relationship that ensures your projects remain on the track.

A clear process with constant communication through channels such as emails, calls and/or chat keeps you updated before, during and after the project completion.

Depending on the duration of the project – you should receive weekly or daily status updates to share drafts and get feedback.

We at Viz Kingdom would love to hear what you think about this guide. Feel free to drop an email if you think we should add something to enhance the guide to outsourcing Architectural 3D Renderings.

Viz Kingdom is an Ahmedabad, India based architectural visualization studio specializing in crafting high quality imagery of architectural and interior designs. Our 3D visualization solutions comprise of 3D Rendering, CGI, Walk-Through and 360 Virtual Tour.

At Viz Kingdom, we aim to transform ideas of architects, property developers and interior designers into photorealistic 3D renderings and virtual experiences.