Reimagining Whitebird Wood’s Catalogue With Realistic 3D Renderings
When a company’s quality of craftsmanship is the product, it is essential that the images the company uses to represent its product must be of similar quality. That was the problem that our client, Whitebird Woods, a manufacturer of high-end wood interior and exterior doors, brought to us. They needed renderings of their product as refined as the product itself.
The result was a total overhaul of their catalogue, with realistic renderings of every model, plus a series of new models, designed from the ground up.
The Challenge
High-end craftsman doors are defined by the details. Traditional product photography can do an excellent job of highlighting those key details, but updating an entire catalogue of models as orders come in would take far too long
Whitebird wanted modern images spanning their entire catalogue, and a means of showing off door models that don’t yet exist.
Our Approach
We started by building accurate 3D models of each door in SolidWorks. Working from Whitebird’s standard catalogue and reference materials, we started by creating modular, parametric start parts for stiles, rails, panels, glass inserts, and molding. Creating this library of components allowed each of the 60 standard Whitebird models to be created in an expedient manner.
From the base 3D models, we moved to SolidWorks Visualize to bring the designs to life. The HDR lighting environment was created, carefully positioning lighting elements to ensure each facet was accurately shadowed, in a way that shows off the level of detail present in the product. The models could then be imported into the environment and rendered in 4K, allowing prospective clients to appreciate the doors in a way that the legacy line art depictions didn’t.
Designing What’s Next
Beyond rendering the existing catalogue, we worked alongside Whitebird’s team to create a series of 20 new models. These range from winery-inspired designs, utilizing wrought iron speakeasy grilles and decorative clavos to create a full-bodied door model perfect for a speakeasy or vineyard, to sleek wood and metal hybrid pivot doors, perfect for a hyper-modern home.
The Result
Whitebird now has a unified series of images ideal for a printed catalogue for vendors to show off, or to add to their website. The benefits go far beyond having up-to-date visuals. Because the catalogue is modeled in SolidWorks using modular components, modifications and alternate configurations can go from concept to shop drawings and renderings in a matter of hours, not days or weeks, with no photoshoot required. This also means that the client can get a detailed idea of what they are ordering if it is a fully custom configuration.
