Crafting 3D Home Renders That Honor the Natural World for Lloyoll Prefabs
You know those idyllic, cozy, yet modern wooden houses that are so airy, full of light, and surrounded by breathtaking nature?
We all scrolled through Instagram and stumbled upon such posts at some point. Then we probably paused, imagined ourselves there – just curled up beside the fireplace, gazing through the magnificent window walls. Nothing but green trees, fresh air, and the sound of birds chirping.
Now back to reality.
Most of us probably work from home in pajamas, thinking about whether or not traveling will ever become normal again due to the pandemic.
But what if you could actually “go from dreaming to fluffing pillows”?
Well, Kaiserbold had the awesome opportunity to work with Lloyoll Prefabs, a company from Nova Scotia (Canada) that helps people achieve just that. Lloyoll Prefabs designs and builds amazing modular homes from natural materials. They do so impeccably, with an environmentally sensitive approach.
How We Started Working With Lloyoll Prefabs
At Kaiserbold, we believe that the relationship between us and the client has to be based on trust and transparency. Not only that, but our clients need to have a similar mindset as us; at least that’s what we’ve identified as the secret ingredient to our most successful projects.
We love working with bold brands who aren’t afraid to think outside the box. It’s as simple as that.
Now, most of our clients come to us thanks to word of mouth. They recognize the value of our work, they understand what’s our deal, and they appreciate all the stuff that makes us different from other global CGI studios. But with Lloyoll Prefabs, we were the one to approach.
We were very impressed with Lloyoll Prefabs’ portfolio of sustainable homes. You could see their attention to detail, the love they have for their craft, and their commitment when it comes to including future homeowners in the design process. To us, it seemed like a great opportunity to work together.
Luckily for us, Caralee Lloy, Vice President & Creative Director of Lloyoll Prefabs, felt the same:
“Kaiserbold contacted us with a presentation of samples similar to our own projects. Modern Prefabs settled into nature, on a mountainside, or nestled into the shoreside. We were intrigued by their portfolio and felt it was a great fit.”
Before you know it, we hit it off.
Understanding How Lloyoll Prefabs Does Business
Each time we’re about to start working with a client, we invest an effort to understand how they do business and how our work can best support their goals.
Remember how we said that Lloyoll Prefabs loves to include their potential customers into the process? Of course, you do, that was literally two paragraphs ago.
Well, the thing is, Lloyoll Prefabs has successfully made shopping for home feel like a fun, exciting, and interactive experience – just as it should be. But it’s still a huge decision in everyone’s life. With their custom-made Build & Price configurator, potential buyers can customize their future homes and get a price estimation at the end. They could personalize everything from the exterior to interior finishes.
The aesthetics and functionality are equally important. That’s where Kaiserbold entered the picture. Lloyoll Prefabs needed architectural renderings to promote their new prefab homes online and our CGI team was more than ready to answer the call.
Caralee says:
“Our new configuration tool empowers customers to Build & Price their Prefabs online much like building and costing a Land Rover or Porsche. We provide North American home buyers customization and craftsmanship through a curated and intuitive online shopping experience. We desired realistic, high-quality renderings to inspire outdoor enthusiasts. Kaiserbold’s quality was a great fit.”
You hear that? Our quality was a great fit.
Overcoming Challenges
The biggest challenge Lloyoll Prefabs was struggling with at the time was the quantity of renders. They simply didn’t have the resources to cover everything that was on the roadmap.
However, the company also wanted to have control over the output and preserve quality. That’s how they provide the best user experience to their customers, says Caralee:
“We are continuously improving our Build & Pricing Tool and there are thousands of renderings in the back end. We needed to produce thousands of renderings in a short period of time and could not do this all on our own.”
We can all agree that outsourcing is a tricky business, especially if you never hired a third party for a specific project before. But at Kaiserbold, we honestly have nothing to hide. Like an open book.
We stood our ground, did our best work, and Caralee was relieved:
“Not only did Kaiserbold deliver high-quality renderings, but the team was very professional and responsive. We were impressed with the turnaround time. Kaiserbold has excellent service quality. They provided Lloyoll Prefabs with efficient, quick, and friendly professional services, plus they were on time and on budget. We built a strong relationship together which gave us the opportunity to grow and prosper.”
The 3D Renders We Did for Lloyoll Prefabs
As for the actual project scope, we were commissioned to do three exterior renders. It was a 2 Bedroom Cuboid that’s offered in three different Styles: Skáli (Mountainside), Sitka (Lakeside), and Salti (Seaside).
Here’s how we began the project.
We first started working on the house called Skáli. Our job was to create a new exterior based on their mood reference. We received the inputs, the 3D model of the house, and the reference they were using at the time.
Based on the reference that was on the Lloyoll Prefabs website, we were tasked with creating the environment. Speaking from the technical perspective, it was a house render of poor quality glued to the background that was basically a Shutterstock photo.
We had an important task – to meet the quality standards of Lloyolls Prefabs and help them get what they needed from our 3D render.
Btw, here’s the behind-the-scenes video if you’re curious to see how we created the Skáli visualization:
We approached the project systematically, first by optimizing their 3D model for our workflow. This was a necessary step that enabled us to properly use 3D geometry and materials. Just like with any other project, we had two correction rounds and then we came up with the final solution.
Lloyoll Prefabs was very pleased with the final version of the render. That’s what got us to the next exterior project, which was Sitka.
Sitka had a very similar house geometry to Skáli, but its front was made from other materials. In addition, its surroundings were a bit different.
After delivering the 3D visualization for Sitka, we were commissioned for Salti.
The environment for each house was done from scratch in 3D. Looking at the timeline, the project took approximately 1 month to complete and included 1-2 revisions per render.
However, you have to bear in mind two things:
1) Each house had different materials
2) We created different variations of these materials in 3 separate environments
It was very important for us at Kaiserbold to understand the emotion Lloyoll Prefabs wanted to convey on these archviz renders. Taking the time to explore what’s the vision of the client and what they want to achieve is a good practice that helps us 1) minimize the revision cycle and 2) increase the quality of our end results.
Because Lloyoll Prefabs is such a strong brand that communicates its values in a compelling and easy-to-understand manner, we had a pretty good idea of what they are looking for when it comes to 3D renders.
Caralee was very helpful with the initial brief:
“We required each style to inspire outdoor enthusiasts. Each Style was to blend in with their surroundings and portray an outdoor adventure for each landscape. Surfing and SUP boarding for Salti. Water sports for Sitka, and Hiking or Skiing for Skáli. I feel that we achieved all of the elements we were looking for.”
This made it crystal clear to us that we want to capture the harmony between people and nature on these renders and hook the attention of a customer group marked by a specific lifestyle.
Looking for CGI Services? Heyo!
If you like the work we did for Lloyoll Prefabs, we have an important message for you: that could be you, but you’re playing.
For real now.
If you need someone to help you out with 3D rendering, whether it’s architectural or product renders – we got your back.
But just as you choose your outsourcing partners wisely, we choose who we’ll work with carefully. This is not us playing hard to get, but underlining that trust is a two-way street. We could be amazing together, but we’ll never know unless we chat.
In case you think we might be a good fit, drop us a message to find out what makes us different.
Thank you,
