How to control hard edges in architectural modeling?

For architectural visualization projects dealing mostly with external views of buildings, the amount of detail that we have to add to those elements like chamfers in hard edges won`t add much to the final result. Since the camera is placed far away from the 3d object, those edges won`t be visible enough in the final image to make a difference. But, when we have to work with interior design projects where the camera is placed close to the 3d models and edges, it`s quite important to add a chamfer or soft the edges of the models.

In the real world there is no perfect edge, all edges of the objects around us have at least a small chamfer. How to control those edges? It`s not a matter of add a modifier to the 3d model, but a way to control the topology of the 3d model.

If you want to find out some great tips about how to control hard edges of a 3d model, I recommend a visit to this thread at the polycount forums, where a group of artists are discussing how to control those edges.

It is an old thread but the problems and solutions listed there are still useful for most of the issues we find today in 3d modeling projects. As you will see there, the objective of the discussion is not related only with architectural modeling, but we find some examples of 3d modeling that could be used for architecture. For instance, look at the image that illustrated this article with a detailed pillar representation. It is one of the examples showed there.

Does it have tips aimed to Blender 3D artists? Well, it is a generalist topic and involves all 3d softwares capable of use poly modeling, which places Blender 3D as one of the possible tools to apply the techniques described there. If you want to improve your modeling skills with some hard edge manipulation tips, I strongly suggest you to browse around the tips and read carefully the procedures described there too.

It will help to create better 3d models of furniture or interior visualization.