How Fuchs & Vogel Create Outstanding Architectural Visualizations Animation Studio Fuchs & Vogel share their workflows and tips for creating photorealistic architectural visualizations using Cinema 4D and Redshift.
Workflows and Takeaways
Animation Studio Fuchs & Vogel begin archviz work by deciding on the project focus and recreating construction plans in Cinema 4D or using CAD data if available. Then they add details like doors, windows, and sockets, creating an empty model of a complete house. After setting up cameras and defining lighting using Redshift, they begin to furnish the room and create the final render. They emphasize the importance of image composition, lighting, materials, and post-processing to achieve cutting-edge archviz projects. Making use of asset libraries such as the Cinema 4D Asset Browser allows them to save time and work efficiently.
Fuchs & Vogel is a Munich-based animation studio known for its high standards and exceptional work in animation, visualization, and VR. Cinema 4D users might be familiar with the material packs or visualization project starter scenes the studio has produced for the Maxon community.
Fuchs & Vogel’s clients include high profile companies such as BMW, Lego, and Samsung as well as various real estate companies.
We caught up with Jörg Vogel and Christian Fuchs to learn more about the studio’s cutting edge work, how they achieve photorealism in architectural visualization, and their advice on how to get the most out of Cinema 4D’s asset library.
Tell us about some of the architectural visualization projects Fuchs and Vogel typically works on.
The projects in this field are very diverse. Sometimes we're simply depicting a single house, while at other times we're working on a manufacturer's entire line of prefabricated houses or even entire construction projects. This is why we don't have a “typical” project. We consider each project individually and strive to avoid producing our images in a uniform style, as if on an assembly line. This is how we put our own stamp on every project.
When aiming for photorealism in your archviz projects, which specific factors tend to have the greatest impact on the final quality?
Each factor is important in its own right, but when it comes to photorealism, it is crucial that they build on each other. The most crucial factors are obviously the image composition and the basic lighting mood. While materials and geometry details are important, if the image composition is unattractive or the lighting dull, even the best materials cannot save the image. On the other hand, very good materials can greatly enhance the image and make a decisive difference. Good, subtle post-processing is also crucial for achieving photorealism. Without this final touch, images appear unfinished. Finally, sometimes subtle glows in the right places can enhance an image.
What role do Cinema 4D and Redshift typically play when working on archviz projects?
Both Cinema 4D and Redshift are integral to our production pipeline, which is entirely built around these applications. We have been using Cinema 4D for over 20 years and have built up many helpful setups over this time. We switched to using Redshift exclusively for all our CGI projects back in 2018, and since then have built up an extensive library of models. For us, this is crucial for working productively.
Can you walk us through the workflow on a typical archviz project from your portfolio?
At the start of each project, we decide what the focus of the visualization should be. For example, when creating an application image for lighting manufacturers, we need a realistic room to showcase the lights. If the focus is on the property itself, however, the emphasis is on staging the entire room and implementing existing plans. Generally, the approach is similar: if there is a construction plan, we recreate it in 3D using Cinema 4D. In cases where CAD data is available, it streamlines the process by eliminating the need to build the walls from scratch.
Next, we add details to the model, such as doors, windows, sockets, baseboards, and radiators. Essentially, we first create a model of an empty, but complete house.
Once this step is complete, we set up the cameras and try to define a basic lighting mood using Redshift. Here, we can quickly create many variations in progressive mode with Denoiser.
We only begin furnishing the room once the lighting and camera positions have been defined. This approach ensures that our efforts are focused on elements visible in the final composition, avoiding unnecessary work on things that won't be visible in the final perspective, or that will only be a distraction.
Then it's time for the final rendering and post-processing.
The workflow is identical for exterior views: we determine the lighting mood and camera setup before designing outdoor facilities, adding terrain details only within the camera’s field of view.
Has your experience creating materials and assets for the Cinema 4D Asset Browser contributed to your workflow?
The project proved to be immensely valuable to us, as we had long wanted to create our own material library, but never found the time. This meant that we kept wasting a lot of time internally because materials weren't archived properly, and we didn't have a central collection in our studio.
Creating the materials gave us a unique opportunity to share our expertise in materials with a wide range of artists, while also enabling us to design them according to our own creative vision. We dedicated over a year to the project, holding ourselves to high standards throughout. This enabled us to address all the issues we encounter daily and resolve them not only for ourselves, but for all Cinema 4D users.
Overall, we have become much more productive, as we can now source 80% of our materials directly from the Asset Browser.
What is your advice to beginners on how to get the most value out of asset libraries?
It's simple: use them! The biggest mistake is assuming you have to do everything from scratch. Asset libraries are not only time-savers, they can also be used to learn certain techniques, which is particularly useful for beginners. Some of our materials have a complex structure, but they offer integrated solutions to problems such as tiling on large surfaces. So, it's definitely worth taking a look. When it comes to assets, I would recommend working with ready-made assets as much as possible. No one is going to pay you for spending hours modelling a couch. Using ready-made assets is essential to remaining competitive in the field of architectural visualization.
What’s next for Fuchs & Vogel?
We continually refine our workflows to achieve the best possible quality within technical boundaries. At the same time, we are also closely evaluating AI tools to determine which genuinely enhance our process and which do not. We believe that standing out from the crowd will be even more important than before, and leveraging ready-made assets plays a key role in this, as they give you the freedom to focus more on the creative process that makes your work distinctive.
Key Takeaways
Fuchs und Vogel advise artists to make extensive use of asset libraries, such as Cinema 4D’s Asset Browser, to remain relevant in the field of archviz.
They use Cinema 4D to recreate construction plans in 3D and add details to the model.
Redshift is their tool of choice for setting up cameras, defining lighting, and rendering.
Sebastian Becker is a senior writer at Maxon.