Render vs 3D model: what to send a client

A render shows one chosen view; a 3D model lets a client turn the space. Generate the image from the model, then export GLB, USDZ for AR or images.

INK TO BRICKUpdated October 7, 20264 min read

A card apartment model beside a drawing and material samples. — Editorial illustration made with Midjourney.

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Try an edit before bringing your own planMove an opening or furniture in this authored sample. Check plan and 3D, then undo. This is practice, not proof of conversion accuracy. No account needed. See your home in 3D before you pay; editing it needs a plan.

Try the sample duplex Use my own floor plan

A render shows the space from one chosen camera position. A 3D model lets the viewer turn it, inspect another room and compare the arrangement from different angles. Use the model to review the layout and a render to discuss a specific view or finish.

Which output answers which question?

The questionThe useful output

How could the finished room feel?A photoreal visualization from a chosen 3D view.

How do these rooms connect?A model the recipient can turn and explore.

Which furniture and finish direction should we develop?Existing saved directions or manually edited furniture and finish alternatives, compared against the neutral model.

How should this room be laid out?A saved arrangement with dimensioned furniture placed manually, followed by checks of door swings, clearances, and the walking route.

Which model produced this image?The source view and model revision linked to the image in the private project gallery.

What can a visualization collaborator continue working with?A GLB or glTF export, with the image alongside it to identify the intended view.

Two outputs from the same project, with different jobs.

Reference study, not a customer project: a floor plan and its model shown as an exploded drawing.

Design the room before you generate the view

Start with the model reconstructed from your floor plan and review the existing conditions. Use the project assistant to request supported changes when your account has access, or manual tools to place furniture and assign finishes on the same canvas. Review existing saved options when the project has them and keep an unchanged baseline. Keep alternatives separate so you can return to the arrangement you presented. The original drawing remains a separate reference while each editable model option changes.

Choose the view you want to present after those decisions are in place. Editors can generate a photoreal image from the current 3D view, and the captured view, camera, scene and materials guide the result’s composition and layout. Compare the generated image with the source view to spot changed details. The model remains the place to make furniture and finish changes; generating an image leaves its geometry alone.

How do you keep an image connected to its model?

The private project gallery links each generated image to its captured source view and to the exact model revision behind it. From there you can compare the original capture with the generated image, reopen the associated revision, download the image, or download the source GLB that produced it. A later revision does not have to become a guess about what an older image was showing, and every plan includes revision history and side-by-side comparison of versions.

The generated image and the source GLB are separate artifacts. The GLB contains the modeled scene that guided the image; it does not turn every detail in the generated picture into geometry. For a file handoff, taking a model into further 3D work explains which revision to download and what the recipient should check, and the route into Blender is the worked example.

What do you send: a file, a link, or an image?

For a presentation or listing, export PNG, JPEG, or WebP and identify it as a visualization of a proposed space. Default 1280 by 960 images are included on every plan. Custom camera views, lighting presets, layer visibility, and sizes from 16 to 4096 px per side require Pro or Team.
For a client who wants to explore the arrangement, review and publish a model release. Its public showcase page opens without an account once the profile is also published.
For someone continuing the 3D work, export GLB or glTF, and OBJ, DAE, STL or 3MF where their pipeline wants it. The viewer also offers its room map as JSON.
For AR on a compatible iPhone or iPad, export USDZ for AR Quick Look. Android uses a hosted GLB and a Scene Viewer launch link, not the USDZ attachment.
For a drafting handoff, export the plan as SVG or PDF, or as DXF, DWG or SketchUp SKP on Pro and Team. Those plans also include drawing layer, paper size, and scale controls from 1:10 to 1:1000.
For a later design decision, keep working from the associated model revision and generate a new view after refining the design.

Publishing a model release does not publish the private image gallery. Downloading an image does not publish a model. Keep those decisions separate when preparing a client proposal or property presentation. Which formats a plan includes is set out on pricing: Every plan includes SVG, PDF, GLB, glTF, OBJ, DAE, STL, 3MF, USDZ, JSON, CSV, XLSX and images, Pro and Team add export controls with DXF, DWG, SKP, IFC and STEP. The format guide says which one to pick.

What neither output establishes

Guided and Expert change the tools shown on the same model canvas. The project assistant shares that model when your account has access. Expert can add, move and remove walls, doors and windows, alongside furniture and finishes; keep the uploaded drawing available as a separate reference when checking those changes. A 3D model or 3D-view image export can be taken from the canonical model, the original model, or a saved presentation build, so a client sees the version you meant. Before publication, the project creator or an assigned customer Editor with an available seat can use the 20-format export library when the plan includes access. You can look at the public viewing experience in Explore before deciding which output your recipient needs, and floor plan to 3D covers what the conversion produces in the first place.

Send a matched pair for a layout decision

Export a model view and a generated visualization from the same saved arrangement. Label the option and explain which question each view answers. If the visualization changes an opening or object, show the model as the reference for that detail. Regenerate after a layout change so an older image does not become the apparent record of a newer design.

Inspect a reference in 3D

Orbit the model and zoom toward an opening. Which spaces does it connect, and what is hidden from the opposite angle?

Model capture of the authored Mediterranean sample duplex, seen from the garden. — Mediterranean duplex: a static export of the authored sample duplex; a reference for this exercise, not a reconstruction of your plan. It supports orbit and zoom; it cannot measure, edit walls or verify a saved revision. Image: model capture, not a photograph of a built property.

Open this model in 3D