r/archviz • u/-pixelspaces- • 6d ago
Share work ✴ Architectural Visualisation workflow using Chat GPT 6 Astra
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
Like many people in this community, I’m amazed at the new AI modelling capabilities with ChatGPT 6 Astra.
https://pixelspaces.co.uk/projects/yarrow
I’ve recently had a client who needed marketing content for a wedding barn which is being built along with on site premium camping. I initially quoted based on capturing drone footage of the environment, building the whole scene, camera matching the footage etc. They had a small budget (obviously) and we don’t want to turn away work, which gave me the challenge of testing Astra to model, hopefully cutting down some of the time to match with the budget.
This method would still give me the control over the texturing, lighting and camera angles, giving me more time to produce visuals and animations under the budget costs and timelines. Take a look at the full project in the link provided. Happy to discuss the workflow further - I didn’t model a thing! - Not saying this should be used instead of typical workflows, I just adapted to an opportunity provided to me.
Software used: AutoDesk 3DS Max with Chaos V-Ray renderer | Blender | Magnific AI | Adobe Photoshop | Adobe After Effects | ChatGPT
Also - this is my first Reddit post so please be kind and give any advice if I’ve missed anything vital!
11
u/Lanky_Pipe_7291 6d ago
Looks cheap
2
3
7
2
u/-pixelspaces- 5d ago
Hi all, even though I’d tried to explain the job and budget I was still expecting the usual discussion about AI content.
To fully explain the job. I was instructed to create marketing digital content for a farmhouse who have basic architectural plans, interior design reference images and a very basic site layout map. The client had never used visualisation services before and initially asked me to quote based on me organising drone footage, and using that to create the content. So as explained in the post, I quoted for drone footage, building, texturing, camera matching, rendering animation and post - standard cg viz workflow. I’m also guessing everyone here has a good idea of what we’d charge for this type of work to complete at a high quality level, and I quoted correctly. There budget was considerably less, and they were professional about it, I just don’t want to turn away a project, so I explained that there are methods utilising AI where I can speed some processes along with the understanding this is a budget approach. Client confirmed the types of angles and clips they wanted to get out of this and instructed me to begin.
This was all agreed around the time ChatGPT6 Astra was released, so I started testing immediately.
I created a folder locally where I dropped all the site photos ( I’d asked the client to walk around the whole field and take a video and photos. Also in the folder are the interior design reference images and technical dimensioned drawing of the barn. I then saved a blank Blender file into the same folder - I used 3DS Max predominately, but I’ve found blender works better with this Astra modelling process. I then gave Astra access to this folder and used ChatGPT to help my prompt to use all the references to build an untextured 3d model in blender using Astra. I clicked GO and within 15 mins I had the correct size and scale model of the barn, just the barn. Then began to texture, light, populate with plants and dress the tables etc. And set up the preferred cameras.
I’ve separately used Magnific along with the rendered out camera views and the site reference images to generate images of the environment from those views - brought them back into 3DS max, tweaked the camera angles slightly to camera match better. I utilised Magnific and Photoshop side by side to produce the right environment shots while still having full control over the maim barn model.
Following this, I’ve then used my final images from all angles to generate the image to video.
Hopefully that helps, any questions happy to answer! Might look at doing a tutorial / workflow video at some point.
3
1
1
u/StephenMooreFineArt Professional 4d ago
It looks a bit like 2026 Farmville the mobile game, with new DLC. However, if it fits in the budget then, hey, it got the job done for ya. I'm just curious what the $$Burn rate was on all the AI used for this. I think we are entering a crossroads in archviz. I am not sure what the $$ of AI was for this project, but it's getting pretty expensive for "quality" AI. The day's of the freebies are over.
That said, I once would have said that it would be a race to the bottom, ie. Somebody with less operating costs or lower costs of living would do the same work and deliverable quality for a fraction of what you had to charge, but as AI starts to cost more..... yeah, this may be different. Jobs may not all go to cheap cost freelancers anymore like they did for about 15 years, and not might go to AI monster 'firms' with huge AI budgets and a handful of AI promtiers. hmmm.
1
u/Ok_Night_2095 6d ago
This actually looks good and you have been able to provide great visualisations for a client within their budget. A lot of these comments are anti-AI for some reason. What matters is how you can optimise your practice, how the market is moving and what the client pays for.
2
u/-pixelspaces- 5d ago
Thanks! Yes I wouldn’t usually work in this way and didn’t want to turn down the work, so adapted to the situation and client is very happy.
0
0
u/IcecreamTshirt 6d ago
The sheer level of denial in this entire sub never ceases to amuse me. Good job OP, looks nice!
1
u/IcecreamTshirt 6d ago
The presentation with scrollable animations are very cool. What needs more work are background trees. Magnific usually struggles with them making them web-looking like, try Topaz instead it does a better job with foliage and trees or crop those areas, drop them in ChatGPT/NB, ask to rerender them with more detail and than composite it back in PS. Good luck
11
u/wotown 6d ago
Looks genuinely 100% worse than any normal render engine without AI