Entourage

Entourage is the supporting cast of an architectural image. People tell the viewer how tall a ceiling is and how a space will be used; trees soften hard edges and frame the view; cars, bicycles and furniture place the building in a believable street. The term comes from French and was used in architectural drawing long before computer rendering. Good entourage is chosen to match the project's context, climate and intended users, not just pulled from a library because it was there.

How it shows up in a project

• Scale first. A single figure next to an entrance does more for reading the size of a building than a crowd spread evenly across the image.
• Match the activity to the program. A school courtyard, an office lobby and a housing street each need different people doing different things.
• Keep entourage out of the important lines. Figures and trees should not cut across the corner, the entrance or the detail the image is meant to show.
• Stay consistent with the season and time of day. Summer clothing under bare trees or long evening shadows on cut-out figures with no shadow give the image away.
• In early stages, lighter or semi-transparent entourage keeps attention on the design.

In Rendair

Populate Render adds people to an existing render so a scene feels inhabited without starting over, and Fix People cleans up figures that came out distorted. For interiors, Virtual Staging handles furniture and objects in a room. If something is in the way, Remove Object takes it out while keeping the rest of the image.