3D product rendering: “Lifestyle or white background?

3D product renderings come in two forms: cropped photos – with white backgrounds – or staged images – also known as lifestyle visualizations. Both forms are used equally, and the object is generally presented equally well in either way. But which 3D product rendering should you order from a CGI studio? Here are some answers.

In order to be as objective as possible, we’ll give you an overview of these two forms of 3D product rendering, and analyze them according to several factors: where and how the visual will be used, what its advantages are, and how it can change the way the item is promoted.

3D product rendering on a white background

Although it dates back to the early days of product merchandising, the cropped photo is still present in advertisements, catalogs and presentation materials. Providing such images is mandatory for e-commerce platforms such as Amazon.

Product photos or 3D renderings on a white background have a simple objective: to present the merchandise and give an idea of its use.

There are several advantages for manufacturers in modeling and visualizing their products in 3D:

• They don’t need to physically design products before ordering them,
• They can start their marketing campaign before production, and test public reaction.

Staged 3D product rendering

In the jargon, we call placing a contextualized item in a scene variously: lifestyle image, 3D visualization, staging, setting the scene… Whatever you call it, it’s a great tool for perfecting advertising through appropriate storytelling.

That’s why companies choose this type of 3D product rendering for marketing, especially when they use a studio specialized in 3D. However, using them simply to present the good would be a little superfluous. It’s best to use them to immerse the customer in a propitious environment, suited to the style of the object being staged.

The main benefit of lifestyle imagery lies in the fact that it can depict objects in any scene, without actually needing the object or scene in question – which saves a lot of money.

Merchant sites may demand clipped images, but potential customers want to see how the merchandise can serve them. And that’s exactly why you need to provide atmospheric settings in addition to white background images. This is particularly the case for 3D visuals of furniture – a sofa looks lifeless without a context.

What’s more, Internet users are more likely to rate sellers on e-commerce platforms if they see lifestyle images. This is why more and more e-commerce sites, such as Groupon, are imposing this type of visuals on their customers.

Finally, 3D rendering of lifestyle products is perfect for advertising purposes:

• short turnaround times for visuals
• infinite variations possible,
• possibility of creation at very high resolutions (10,000 x 8,000 pixels, for example).

The mix between 3D renderings of articles on a white background and lifestyles

Globally, product visuals on a white background and 3D renderings of staged products are used in specific ways and serve different purposes. To achieve maximum effectiveness, an industry professional will need to use both types of images for their marketing campaigns. Clipped images will be used for demonstrations on e-commerce sites, while lifestyle visuals will be used more for advertising purposes. As for catalogs, the most ingenious solution would be to use both types of visuals in good proportion.

The good news is that a 3D model of an object can be used for both types of image. So if you need a lifestyle image and a 3D rendering of a product on a white background, we can produce both renderings for the price of a single visualization!