Contents: Digitizing materials for CGI
- What are digitized surfaces?
- How does material digitization work?
- What are the advantages of surface digitization?
- What are the challenges when digitizing surfaces in 3D?
- How can furniture and home brands improve material digitization?
- What are the current trends in the use of CGI in the furniture and home & living industry?
- Can I have materials digitized?
- Conclusion
- FAQ
Three-dimensional renderings are often created for marketing purposes in the furniture, home, and living industries. These renderings can realistically depict furniture, interiors, and decorative items to convince potential customers of a product's appeal.
Shape alone is not enough to create a convincing product image. Grain, texture, sheen, and small irregularities determine how a material appears in the image. These characteristics are processed during surface digitization for CGI.
Below, we'll show you how to digitize surfaces and why this step in particular is so important for 3D visualization in the home and living industry.
What are digitized surfaces?
When you visualize products in 3D, digital materials describe how they look under light. These include, for example, base color, roughness, and surface texture. They are distinct from the product's geometry.
A 3D model describes the shape. Textures and shaders add material properties. For wood, metal, or fabric, photographic capture, specialized scans, and manual material work may be used, depending on the source. A geometry scanner does not automatically capture all optical properties.
At Danthree Studio, we combine product modeling, material work, and visual design for furniture and home & living products. The data and samples we need for this depend on the material and the planned visuals.
A Comparison of Fabric Samples and Digital Product Views.
How does material digitization work?
A suitable material reference provides information for rendering on a 3D model. Depending on the method, this produces color, roughness, and normal maps, for example. They describe different properties; not every map is a direct measurement. Values derived from photos must be checked against the reference.
For visualizations of upholstered furniture, factors such as fabric scale, fiber texture, and the direction of sheen are relevant. Library materials can serve as a starting point, but they do not replace a comparison with the actual fabric. Adobe explains how to create material channels from images. This process alone does not guarantee a match with a manufacturer’s product.
A meeting at a laptop with a material sample on the table.
What Are The Advantages Of Surface Digitization
Why should you digitize surfaces? Find out here:
Show material details: Digital materials make grain and fabric texture visible, for example. Texture baking transfers selected information into textures; baked-in lighting is not suitable for every material or every subsequent lighting situation. Furthermore, such a material is not automatically a digital twin. An example project is Wittmann BELETAGE, featuring PBR fabric scans and CGI product images.
Preparing Variants: Existing product models and materials can be used for additional views or versions, such as in seasonal marketing. However, new fabrics, finishes, or product shapes still require their own review and editing.
Improved design capabilities: Designers and engineers can also use CGI visualizations to create new designs and experiment with different styles.
Visual Review: A product visualization can facilitate discussions about form and material. It is not a substitute for technical testing, production approval, or evaluating the feel of the product using a physical sample.
Reusing materials: An organized material library can make work on a collection easier. The effort depends on references, variants, and how closely the material is shown in the image; it does not imply a general cost saving. Our Tileable Textures Checker helps reveal repetition. It does not verify physical material accuracy.
Show Configured Products: For made-to-order products, customized visualizations can depict a planned design. An AR view also requires suitable models and a compatible application. The digitized material alone does not provide this functionality.
Rendering of a shiny faucet on a white sink.
What are the challenges when digitizing surfaces in 3D?
While digital surface scanning has many advantages, it also has a few disadvantages:
Appropriate Capture Method: The material, sample size, and intended use determine which imaging or scanning technique is appropriate. Not every surface requires the same setup. For fine fabrics, different details are important than for highly reflective metals.
Data preparation: Scale, orientation, tilability, and resolution must be appropriate for the application. A high pixel count alone does not guarantee an accurate representation of the material.
Shiny and transparent materials: Reflection, light transmission, and viewing angle all affect the image. These factors must be taken into account during capture and shader creation. A single photo cannot document these properties under all conditions.
Integration into existing workflows: Of course, new CGI technologies must also be explained to employees. This could require an adjustment of work processes.
Data security and privacy: When creating 3D visualizations, sensitive data is often collected that needs to be stored and processed appropriately.
Interoperability between programs: While there are established material models and exchange formats, there is no guarantee that the rendering will be identical in every application. Shaders, channel mapping, color space, and supported functions must be compatible with the target system. A test render is therefore part of the verification process.
Four texture views of a fabric showing color, normal, and grayscale information.
How can furniture and home & living companies optimize 3D surface renderings?
Furniture and home brands can improve material digitization by using suitable scanning technology and specialized 3D software. Working with experienced CGI specialists can also help improve the quality of materials and textures.
Agree on the reference samples, the scale at which the material will appear, and the views you need. Check color, texture, and reflection under defined lighting conditions. This makes it possible to discuss and correct specific differences.
Two light-colored vases with sculptural details in a 3D rendering.
What are the current trends in the use of CGI in the furniture and home & living industry?
Digital materials can be used in still images, animations, and interactive applications. However, the requirements for resolution, data volume, and shaders differ for 360-degree tours and augmented reality. A panorama tour is not automatically a freely navigable VR experience; an AR view does not have to be animated.
Can I have materials digitized?
Would you like to create photorealistic 3D visualizations of your products? At Danthree Studio, we specialize in visualizing furniture, home products, and interiors. We can handle the surface rendering process for your project.
We prepare materials for CGI. Show us your surfaces, available samples, and planned applications. Based on that, we'll determine what kind of data capture, material processing, and image production your project requires.
Conclusion
Digitized surfaces link the real material to its representation in the image. Form, material parameters, lighting, and color management must all align. A realistic impression does not prove complete material fidelity.
Clear references and agreed review views help when working with a CGI studio. If you are planning a collection, we can discuss material variants, image formats, and the scope of production with you.
Hands are feeling the surface of a turquoise fabric swatch.
