D5 Render version 3 has been released, and the new capabilities are impressive. Addressing the competitive landscape for architectural and environmental visualization, D5 v3 intros all new “all-in-one” AI-driven workflows that will help visualization artists and architects complete architectural projects that are growing more complex within more compressed timelines.
An essential theory change is to challenge the notion (current working method) that workflows function in separate stages, with visualization being its own stage across disconnected workflows. For decades, design, modeling, visualization, asset-sourcing, and presentation happened in isolated steps, often requiring repeated export, re-imports, etc. The underlying workflow remained fragmented.
D5 Workflow
D5 is aiming to reduce this friction inherent in this fragmented workflow by enabling visualization to be part of the design process itself. At the core of the new D5 Workflow is that visualization shouldn’t be treated as a downstream task but an upstream one. Architects should be able to immediately visualize and test their design ideas.
The new D5 3.0 delivers a smoother, unbroken workflow with AI at the center.
This shift is enabled through three components.
- D5 Lite, which brings AI-native real-time visualization directly into early design tools like SketchUp, bridging the gap between conceptualization and design development. It allows architects to visualize instantly, lowering the barrier to professional-grade rendering and keeping ideas moving from the earliest stages.
- D5 Works, a curated asset platform designed specifically for architecture, landscape, and interior design, is integrated into the workflow to remove the need for external libraries, manual file management, or format conversion.
- D5 Render 3.0, the latest evolution of D5’s real-time rendering engine, serves as the intelligent core of the workflow with advanced AI capabilities and physically accurate realism.
These three components of the workflow form a continuous loop in the workflow process, reflecting the ideal way in which architects want to work.
AI as Enabler
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a core component of the new D5 Workflow. D5 leverages AI to become a key assistant and to tackle repetitive tasks and set up work, all shortening feedback cycles. This happens through:
- AI Scene Match — use AI to simply describe your desired atmosphere in words such as ‘Autumn dusk’ or ‘Snowy winter’ and D5’s AI Agent generates reference visuals, matching lighting and post-processing parameters to your scene in a simple click.
- AI Asset Recommendations — either using an uploaded reference image or prompting D5’s AI Agent, will suggest the perfect models from the library for your scene. This can save hours in a standard week.
- AI Image-to-3D generation — upload an image to generate a 3D model to use in your scene. The AI Agent will analyze the image and smartly build a high-accuracy 3D model in seconds.
All of this helps architects and 3D artists iterate without restarting their work, and the emphasis is not so much on automation but on continuity in the design process.
AI technologies in the new D5 enable rapid asset recommendations based on uploaded reference images or text prompts, using AI Scene Match.
D5 notes that other similar industries have made a similar transition to integrated workflows by replacing collections of specialized but disconnected tools. As such, D5 sees the latest enhancements as signaling a long-term commitment to reduce friction in the entire architectural design lifecycle.
D5 Render 3.0
Other new features in the new rendering engine update include a new Ocean System. The new ocean system delivers dynamic waves, caustics, and shoreline interactions. The system will smartly analyze your terrain to generate organic coastline transitions, rolling waves, and wet-sand effects.
Also new is Displacement Material (beta) to complement the existing Parallax solution. Now users can physically displace geometry based on height maps. The weather system is also completely updated in version 3, with a new Volumetric Cloud. A new set of accurate preset skies gives your scene a start, and then you can fine-tune with sliders.
D5 introduces a new Ocean System that dynamically interacts with your terrain modeling, creating truly organic coastline transitions.
A new City Generator takes large urban models and transforms them to life with realistic building facades, urban streetscapes, and treelined parks and boulevards.
D5 Works
Directly in the launcher, D5 Works is a materials and creative hub putting comprehensive resources at your fingertips. This includes being able to acquire affordable assets to use in your scenes that complement the D5 Asset Library’s assets and workflow.
For presenting your visualizations, D5 v3 offers simplified ways for users to create Panorama Tours, Spatial Tours, and XR Tours, with the latter supporting 3D Gaussian Splatting. And there is also Cesium integration now in D5 for instant massive urban real-life context.
Supported Platforms and Integrations
For workflow integration, D5 version 3.0 works with SketchUp, 3ds Max, Rhino, Revit, Archicad, Vectorworks, Blender, and Cinema 4D.
D5 requires Windows 10 v1809 or later and has GPU threshold requirements of NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB or higher, AMD Radeon RX 6000 XT or higher, or Intel Arc A3 or higher.
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Architosh Analysis and Commentary:
D5 Render does not support Mac natively because its core rendering engine is built on Microsoft’s DirectX 12 (DX12) with DirectX Raytracing (DXR) technologies, which are incompatible with Apple’s Metal Architecture. While the development team has noted that they plan to support the Mac, there is still no official release date. To support the Mac, they likely would need to develop a cross-platform compiler to translate their code into Apple’s Metal API.