Exterior 3D architectural scenes were the first to broach the barrier of realism and the original plastic images that we used to have. This is due to them being significantly easier to light. Exterior architectural scenes have only one predominant light source, the sun. The rest of the lighting is an overall ambient, evenly colored glow from the sky. Due to the overwhelming effect that both these light sources have the need for radiosity is minimized as reflected light is only a small part of the overall solution.

The main hurdle to overcome with exterior scenes is landscaping. Plants are difficult to model in 3D and consume vast amounts of computer memory and CPU cycles. Our true 3D landscaping techniques is an outcome of our experience in visualization and requires countless hours of experimentation and 3D modeling to get a realistic result that can still render quickly. The other landscaping factor is how to get realistic grass, which has been a hot topic among 3D artists for some time.