Will AI replace archviz? Four AI render tools tested by Oliver Higgins

Oliver Higgins is an archviz artist who learned to make realistic renders the traditional way. In this video he compares several AI platforms, Rendair among them, by running the same set of tests on a Blender model of a coastal house. Each tool gets a score for output quality, ease of use, consistency with the input, and time. This is a multi-tool comparison rather than a Rendair tutorial, so here we focus on how Rendair did in each round.

What you'll see

1. A massing model with basic colors turned into a finished render. In Rendair he uses 3D Model to Render with a realistic style and medium image strength.
2. A line drawing from Blender turned into an architectural sketch. In Rendair he picks the artistic sketch style with a high image strength.
3. Changing the time of day on a finished render. In Rendair he uses Render Variation with a low image strength and a lighting prompt, which today you could also do with Change Time of Day.
4. Upscaling the final render with Upscale at 4K, adjusting image strength and texture.
5. Turning the still into a short clip with Image to Video.
6. A final scorecard comparing all the tools across the tests.

Takeaways

• On the massing test, Rendair was the weakest result for him. It read his simple model too loosely, added a resort feel he did not ask for and changed the fireplace. He thinks a more detailed input image might have helped.
• The sketch test went the other way. He found Rendair's artistic sketch output hard to tell apart from a real ink drawing and gave it full marks for quality and consistency.
• For the time-of-day change, he got exactly the lighting he wanted, with only small issues around the kitchen island.
• The upscale kept the image intact and simply sharpened it, which is what he wants from an upscaler. Rendair was slower than the other tools in these rounds, though he says the results made up for it.
• He could not use Rendair's video output. The lighting shifted in an odd way and the scene became unstable. His wider verdict is that AI tools are a shortcut that can save days of work, but the key design decisions still sit with you.

Try it yourself

To recreate his strongest Rendair results, use Render Variation or Change Time of Day for lighting options on a finished render, and Upscale for a sharper final image.

Recorded with an earlier version of Rendair, so some screens and app names look different today.