Sunday 7 April 2013

Rendered or Reality? How 3D Imagery is revolutionizing your Shopping Experience

The next time you look for clothing online, flip through a catalog for furniture or shop for a vehicle, the images which you see might not be photography, but rather a collection of image pixels assembled by a graphics artist on a computer street.

Last year August, the Wall Street Journal carried a briefing about a major furniture retailers efforts to shift a quarter of its catalog illustrations from conventional photography to computer-generated imagery (CGI) by 2013. The savings made from this technological breakthrough could be staggering. The retailer would print around 208 million copies of its catalog which spans more than 300 pages. In one of Europes biggest studios, close to 300 employees work round-the-clock photographing and creating room sets which would make up the catalog. The costs associated with this venture would constitute two-thirds of the retailers total marketing budget.

What propels a premier global brand to drastically alter the manner in which it markets its products?

When it comes to marketing products, computer-generated imagery (CGI) is changing the game altogether. The Journal article offered a rare glimpse into this booming business which is expected to exceed $1.5 billion in global sales by 2015. The retailer we discussed is just one among a vast list of companies which are realizing the benefits which CGI could bring both economically and creatively. The auto industry was quick to adopt this new discipline. For nearly a decade, computer graphics companies in Detroit have provided CGI solutions to major automakers.

There are several advantages of using CGI with respects to both costs and creative inputs:

-CGI extends the contours of what is real. For instance, you could be photographing a car against a wall which is not long enough. Digital artists could recreate the landscape as per your liking

-No geographical restrictions: A photo shoot of a car against a lake backdrop could prove to be costly. With CGI, the company could send just a single photographer to any geographical location to capture the landscape and lighting for that environment. Then, back in the studio, the car could be digitally placed within that setting.

-There are no more issues with weather delays which could ruin a photo shoot. If you are not happy with the way the sky looks in your ad, it would be swapped with one with fewer or more clouds. Sunlight, rain or snow could be brought in upon request.

-There is no need to wait till the expensive prototype arrives. A car company would be able to advertise its concept car without having to actually manufacture it, which could cost several millions

If you are looking to create computer-generated imagery, you would need to employ the services of a render farm. A render farm is a cluster of computers built to render imagery generated by computers for visual effects in movies and television series. 3d render farm service is provided by quite a few companies. If you are thinking about the render farm price, you can find reputable services for as low as $30 per node per day.

Fox Render Farm is a reputed provider of online rendering farm service.

No comments:

Post a Comment