# AI for architects - visualization software for buildings and interiors Source: https://www.raya.design/en/for-architects Language: en --- Raya is AI visualization software for architects and architecture studios. Upload a view of your building model, a screenshot from Revit, ArchiCAD or SketchUp, or a hand-drawn concept sketch, and the AI returns a photorealistic architectural visualization in under a minute - no materials, lights or cameras to set up in a render engine. Show your client the house at golden hour and in winter, the facade in three material options and the ground-floor living room - all from one account and one pool of credits. The model, plans and documentation stay in your software; Raya takes over the image. [Try it free](https://www.raya.design/en/login) - 20 credits to start, no card | [See visualization examples](https://www.raya.design/en/examples) ## Software for visualizing buildings and house exteriors In the generator you choose the Architecture scene and upload a view of the massing: a screenshot of your program window, an export from the model or a draft render without materials. In this mode the AI is instructed to leave the building itself alone - its massing, number of storeys, roof shape and pitch, and the position and divisions of the windows. It changes what is on the surface and around it: finishes, sky, light, planting and paving. That is why this house exterior visualization software shows your design, not a similar house from a catalogue of ready-made plans. The perspective stays as it is in the view: vertical and horizontal lines are not straightened or corrected, so the frame you set up in the model is the frame of the visualization. ### AI facade visualization software You describe facade materials in the Textures field: off-white render, larch cladding, standing-seam metal, clinker brick. In advanced mode you mark a specific surface on the image and assign it a material, so the timber goes on the gable wall rather than the whole house. When you want a particular mood, upload a photo in the Match style field - Raya will carry over its lighting, materials and atmosphere. You download the finished image in 2K or 4K. For a competition board or a banner on the site hoarding, enlarge it with the upscale tool from 4 credits, without generating the visualization again. [Generate a building visualization](https://www.raya.design/en/generate) ## How do you visualize a house in AI software? Your first building visualization takes three steps in the browser. You install nothing and prepare no scene: the view you already have in your model is enough. 1. **Upload a building view** - A screenshot from Revit, ArchiCAD or SketchUp, a draft render without textures or a photo of a sketch. What matters is readable massing and perspective, not finished materials. 2. **Set up the scene** - Choose the Architecture scene, the lighting and the season. Optionally describe facade materials and switch on the exterior lamps that are in the model. 3. **Generate and download** - In under a minute you have a visualization in 2K for 2 credits or in 4K for 4. One detail not right? You fix only that part. You can generate the same view several times with different settings. Every version stays in your account history, so you can go back to it without searching your drive. ## AI architectural visualizations at any time of day and year You can generate the same building view in five lighting options: sunny, cloudy, golden hour, dawn and night. The Architecture scene adds the season - spring, summer, autumn or winter - so you can show the house in snow and in high summer without changing anything in the model. A night shot only makes sense when the building has something to light it. The Turn on lights toggle switches on the exterior fixtures that are in the model - facade wall lights, path bollards, garden lighting - and adds no new ones. Lamps you did not design will not appear in the visualization. In advanced mode you describe the light in your own words, for example “low sun from the left and long shadows across the lawn”. This helps when thinking about sunlight at concept stage, although the visualization shows mood, not the result of a simulation. ## From a hand-drawn sketch to an architectural visualization At concept stage there is often no model yet. The starting point is then a hand-drawn perspective sketch or a quick drawing on a tablet: the AI reads the massing, window rhythm and roofline from it, and fills in materials and setting from your description. Such an image works well at a first meeting with the client and when comparing two design directions before either goes into the model. The clearer the sketch, the less the AI has to guess: closed lines, a clear perspective and a marked ground line make the biggest difference. ## Architectural visualizations in several options without re-rendering Clients rarely choose a facade from a single proposal. Render or timber, graphite or white, tiles or metal - each option is a separate generation for 2 credits, not a material swap in the scene followed by another full render. When a comment concerns one spot, you do not generate the whole image. In visualization editing you select an area - a balustrade, a fence, a driveway - and describe the change, while the rest of the frame stays as it was. Editing in 2K costs 2 credits. You can also upload a photo of a specific element as a reference, for example a garage door from a manufacturer's catalogue. This is how architectural visualization software shortens the road to a decision. The facade is chosen in one meeting, with three versions side by side, not after three rounds of revisions stretched over the following weeks. [Try visualization editing](https://www.raya.design/en/edit) ## AI for interior architects - interior visualization software on the same account A project rarely ends at the facade. The same generator switched to the Interior scene turns a view of a living room, kitchen or entrance hall into a photorealistic image, with the same lighting, texture and enhancement options. A studio that takes a building from massing to finishes does not need a second tool or a second subscription. Interior architects also get tools made for interiors: layout options for the same room, virtual staging of empty apartments and moodboards to start a project. We describe them separately on the page about [AI software for interior designers](https://www.raya.design/en/for-interior-designers). ## Architectural rendering software and Raya plugins Classic architectural rendering software such as V-Ray, Corona or Lumion gives full control over the scene, but it needs the scene prepared and a powerful workstation. Raya does not compete with them where every pixel of a final animation counts. It is useful where the visualization is needed today, at a working stage of the project, not after a night of rendering. Working in Revit, ArchiCAD, SketchUp or Rhino? You can generate the visualization without leaving the program you model in. 6 free Raya plugins work on the same account and the same credits: - [Raya plugin for SketchUp](https://www.raya.design/en/plugins/sketchup) - [Raya plugin for ArchiCAD](https://www.raya.design/en/plugins/archicad) - [Raya plugin for Revit](https://www.raya.design/en/plugins/revit) - [Raya plugin for 3ds Max](https://www.raya.design/en/plugins/3ds-max) - [Raya plugin for pCon.planner](https://www.raya.design/en/plugins/pcon-planner) - [Raya plugin for Rhino](https://www.raya.design/en/plugins/rhino) [See plugins for CAD and 3D software](https://www.raya.design/en/plugins) ### Architectural visualizations online, with no installation Working on a Mac or in a program not on this list? The browser is still there. You make architectural visualizations from a screenshot of the view, which any design program can save, on the same account. ## Video from a building visualization A finished visualization turns into a shot a few seconds long: the camera slowly moves along the facade, clouds drift over the roof, tree leaves move in the wind. The video lasts 4 to 8 seconds, comes in landscape or portrait format and costs from 4 credits. For architecture the most interesting ready-made effect is “Time of Day”: a timelapse in which the light on the building moves from morning to evening. The effect adds 2 credits and needs no description of the camera movement. Such a shot works in a client presentation, on a development's website and on a studio's social media, where a moving image holds attention longer than another static board. [Generate a video with AI](https://www.raya.design/en/video) ## An AI assistant for architects - what changes in visualization work An AI assistant for architects does not change how you design. It changes what it costs to show a design: time, hardware and the number of revision rounds. You do not type settings as a prompt - you pick them from lists in the panel, and the AI sticks to the massing and framing of the uploaded view. | | Classic rendering | Visualization in Raya | | --- | --- | --- | | **Scene setup** | Materials, sky, planting, lights and cameras set up by hand | A model view, the Architecture scene and settings from a list | | **First image** | From a quarter of an hour to several hours of rendering | Under a minute | | **The same house in winter and summer** | A second scene with different surroundings, snow and sky | A change of season and another generation for 2 credits | | **Revision after client feedback** | Back to the model, change the scene and re-render the whole frame | Select part of the image and describe the change | | **Hardware needed** | A workstation with a powerful graphics card | A browser - the image is computed on our side | The table covers the presentation stage. A classic engine always renders the same image from the same scene and reproduces every detail exactly as modelled - for final renders and fly-through animations it is still the safer choice. Plans, sections and documentation stay in your software. ## Who is this architectural visualization software for? Practices of very different sizes use the same tools. Each starts from different material and shows the image to someone different. - **Architecture studios** - Visualizations for concept and approval stages are prepared in-house by the person who runs the model. No outsourced rendering, no waiting for a slot, and facade options reach the meeting on the same day. - **Architects of single-family houses** - Private clients do not read plans. The house exterior in different seasons and a living room with a garden view tell them more than a full set of drawings - and let them decide before the building permit, not after it. - **Interior architects** - The same software handles interiors: a view from a room model, a photo of an existing interior or a sketch. You show material and layout options on the same account as your building projects. - **Developers and sales offices** - Building visualizations for the development's website, brochure and banner before the first storey goes up. Video from the same visualization fills social media without a separate production. ## Pricing for architects We charge in credits, with no separate rates for interiors and architecture. A visualization costs 2 credits in 2K and 4 in 4K, editing part of an image from 2, and video from 4. You get credits with a monthly subscription or buy a pack, with no commitment. To start you get 20 free credits valid for 14 days, which is 10 visualizations in 2K, with no card required. That is enough to check the quality on your own project before deciding anything. Plugins for CAD and 3D software are free. - [full pricing](https://www.raya.design/en/pricing) - [free trial](https://www.raya.design/en/free-trial) [Create an account and generate your first building visualization](https://www.raya.design/en/login) ## AI architectural visualizations - frequently asked questions ### Will the AI change the massing of my building? In the Architecture scene the AI is instructed to keep the massing, number of storeys, roof, and the position and divisions of the windows, and to change only finishes and surroundings. It is still an interpretation of the uploaded view, not a render from geometry: a classic engine always renders the same image from the same scene, while the AI looks at it afresh each time. With a clear view, one generation is usually enough. With unusual geometry, many depth planes or large glazing, it may take several - and a single wrong detail can be fixed by selecting it on the image. ### Can I make a house visualization from a hand-drawn sketch? Yes. Upload a photo or scan of the sketch and choose the Architecture scene. The AI reads the massing, windows and roof from the drawing, and fills in materials and setting from your description. From a sketch the AI has to guess more than from a model, so a perspective drawing with closed lines works best. A plan or an orthographic elevation gives a weaker result because it lacks depth. ### Will the visualization show the building in the setting of its plot? The AI fills in the surroundings - planting, sky, paving, fencing - and you can point to specific elements by selecting part of the image and describing what should go there. Terrain and neighbouring volumes left in the model help the AI read the scale, but are not guaranteed to carry over one to one. Raya does not paste the building into a photo of the plot with its real neighbours; that is still a job for photomontage. ### Are AI visualizations suitable for documentation and competitions? Not for documentation - a visualization shows what the building looks like, not its dimensions, and does not replace plans, sections or the building design. On competition boards and in client presentations it works well, and you can enlarge the image to 6K. Check the rules before a competition: some organisers require entrants to declare the use of AI tools. ### Which architecture software does Raya work with? We have plugins for 6 programs: Revit, ArchiCAD, SketchUp, Rhino, 3ds Max and pCon.planner. Beyond that, Raya works in the browser with any program that can save a screenshot of the view, including on a Mac. ### Will a client project stay confidential? Yes. Model views, sketches and finished visualizations are not used to train AI models, neither by us nor by the model providers. We work on paid production plans whose licence forbids using customer data for training - a building design stays between you and your client until the permit application is filed.