How Long Does 3D Rendering Take?

Still images: how a typical set is scheduled

For a set of exterior and interior stills, the 5–7 business days divide up roughly as follows, assuming mark-ups come back within a day of each draft. Larger schemes, such as a long street of housetypes or a site-wide aerial, take longer, and the quote states the date in writing before work starts.

• Day one: the brief and drawings are checked, gaps are flagged and the fixed quote and delivery date are confirmed.
• Days one to three: the building, the site and its surroundings are modelled, then materials and lighting are applied.
• Around day three: a draft render with materials and lighting close to final arrives for your mark-ups.
• Days four to six: revisions of your mark-ups, one consolidated round at a time.
• Final day: high-resolution rendering and post-production. Finals at 4K.

When rush delivery is realistic

Rush delivery takes 48–72 hours (rush surcharge applies). It works for one to three stills of a house, a flat interior or a single elevation, when the drawings and finishes are complete on day one and someone can approve the draft within hours rather than days.

It does not work for an aerial over a large site, a long street scene or a film, because modelling and rendering time cannot be squeezed that far without the quality showing it. If a deadline is tight, mention the date in the first enquiry. It is often possible to deliver one priority view early and the rest of the set on the standard timeline, which covers most press releases and portal launches. A rush surcharge reflects that the job jumps the queue, and the quote states it before you commit.

Virtual staging, floor plans and animation

Virtual staging of an empty room that has already been photographed is the quickest job we do, usually 24–48 hours, because there is no building to model, only furniture to place and light to match to the photograph.

Floor plans are also quick. A furnished single-level plan normally comes back well inside the stills timeline, while multi-storey houses or a range of apartment types take a little longer, and the quote gives the exact date.

Architectural animation is the longest deliverable. A short film typically takes two to three weeks across three stages: a storyboard and camera path for approval, previews with materials applied to check pace and framing, then the final render, edit and music. Treat that as a typical range rather than a fixed promise, since it depends on the length of the film and on how quickly each stage is signed off.

Photomontages depend on your photographs

Photomontages and verified views take longer than standard CGIs because each one has to be matched to a real photograph, not modelled alone. You photograph each viewpoint and note where you stood, the lens and the time, we align the camera in the model to features visible in the frame, and the quality of those photographs usually sets the pace of the whole job.

Weather, access to private land and the season all affect when photography can happen; a scheme assessed in winter, when trees are bare, looks different from the same view in full leaf. If the authority asks for survey-verifiable views, the survey is yours to commission and its date then sets the programme, and the method is documented alongside the images so the planning authority can see how each one was made. Once usable photographs are in hand, modelling and rendering follow a timeline much closer to standard stills.

What slows a job down

Almost every late delivery has one of five causes, and all of them are visible at the briefing stage; our briefing guide shows how to head each one off before the job starts.

• Late drawings: modelling cannot finish while a section or a landscape plan is still to come.
• Unspecified finishes: a vague material becomes a revision once the right product is named.
• Design changes after the draft: moving an opening or changing a roof means remodelling, which is scoped and scheduled separately.
• Scattered mark-ups: comments arriving from several people over several days, sometimes contradicting each other, stall a round until someone reconciles them.
• Slow sign-off: each day a draft waits for comments is a day added to the end date.

Planning backwards from a launch or committee date

Start from the fixed date and count back. For an off-plan launch, the marketing agency usually needs images some weeks before the campaign goes live to lay out the brochure, website and hoarding, so agree that lead time with the agency first. Add the rendering time, then a margin for finishes decisions that are still open. In practice, the time to brief is the moment the specification is locked, not the day the agency asks for pictures.

For a planning application, the visuals go in with the submission, so they need to be finished before the application is made rather than before the committee meets. The standard period for a decision is 13 weeks for major development and 8 weeks for other development, or 16 weeks where an Environmental Impact Assessment applies, and longer periods can be agreed in writing. If the scheme is likely to go to a planning committee, leave room after submission for a request for an extra view or a presentation version.

How revisions fit inside the timeline

Revisions are built into the schedule rather than added after it. Every image includes up to 4 revision rounds, and the 5–7 business days figure already allows for them, assuming mark-ups come back within a day of each draft. Changes to colour, planting, styling or sky are usually quick to turn round. Camera adjustments belong in the first round, which is why the first draft already carries materials and lighting. Anything that changes the design itself is scoped before work continues, so the end date stays honest. The quickest projects are the ones where the approver blocks out time on the day each draft is due.

Looking for prices? Every published figure is on one page: 3D rendering cost in the UK.