Whenever I can teach classes about Blender and architecture, I get questions from students on how to start. A great way to build a portfolio is to use photo references from existing projects and reproduce them in Blender. By using Cycles or E-Cycles, you can get some impressive results.
A tool that can help you in such a task of recreating photos in Blender is the incredible fSpy. It allows anyone with an image reference to make a camera match in Blender.
Do you want to see an example? Here is an example from digital artist ArcHWiZ, which tried to recreate this scene from IKEA in Blender.
The artist achieved some impressive results in the project, and by using fSpy, the camera matching is nearly perfect, with only minor differences. That is an excellent example of something that any artist could do to improve their portfolio. You have starting points for things like:
- Furniture layout
- Materials
- Lights
From that point, you only have to try to achieve the same effects in Blender. It is easier than you think to get good lighting. The artist in this project uses an HDR texture only for lights.
Using Blender for architecture
Do you want to use Blender for architecture or render your projects using Cycles or Eevee? We have three books available that could help you!
They cover the use of Blender for producing architectural content and also all information you need to render projects in real-time:
- Blender 2.9 for architecture: Modeling and rendering with Eevee and Cycles
- Blender 2.8 parametric modeling: Drivers, Custom Properties, and Shape Keys for 3D modeling
- Blender 3.0: The beginner's guide
- Blender 2.8 for technical drawing
- Blender Eevee: The guide to real-time rendering with Blender 2.8
You can get them in both digital and paperback formats. By ordering those books, you will not only improve your skills with Blender for architecture but also support Blender 3D Architect.
