Render a House

Untextured model view of a rooftop terrace before rendering

Photorealistic render of the same rooftop terrace

Vectorworks rendering software

Render your Vectorworks modelin the browser.

Export an OBJ, or a PNG from Export Image File. Upload it, describe the scene, and a photorealistic image comes back in seconds. No Renderworks queue, no graphics card.

Free to start. No card needed.

PNG, JPG, WebP views
GLB, GLTF, OBJ models
Nothing to install

Drag to compare

Your model, not a lookalike.

The engine reads the OBJ Vectorworks wrote and keeps it: massing, openings, roof pitch, the spacing you set. It fills in only what the model never held — material weathering, real daylight, planting, and the site the design sits in.

Photorealistic render of the same atrium

Vectorworks viewRender

Drag the line to see the source underneath the render

The same project, drawn and rendered.

Drag any pair. Each is one project shown twice, as a drawing and as a render, so you can line the geometry up yourself across twenty-five of them rather than one.

Drag the line to see the source underneath the render

Drawings and renders produced with Render a House. Drag any pair to compare.

Change the material, keep the design.

Same OBJ, four finishes. Testing a material this way costs a sentence, where in the file it costs a texture, a resource and a re-rendered viewport.

Timber

Material

What to export from Vectorworks.

Render a House does not open .vwx files. Two export paths are direct. The third is listed so you do not go looking for a glTF command that writes a standalone file.

What you export	How to get it out of Vectorworks	What it is good for
OBJ	File > Export > Export OBJ. The dialog exports selected objects, the current layer, or every visible layer, with a quality slider for polygon density and an option to write double-sided faces.	The most complete path. Real geometry travels with the file, so proportions hold. Push the quality slider up when curved surfaces and railings matter.
PNG or JPEG view	File > Export > Export Image File. Set pixel dimensions or print size and resolution, and click Render rather than Wireframe in the preview.	The fastest route, and the only one you need if the design already reads clearly in one framed view.
glTF and GLB	Vectorworks writes glTF and GLB inside the MVR container for the Vision lighting workflow rather than as a standalone export command.	Nothing here. Use OBJ for the model path — Render a House reads OBJ directly, so there is no reason to chase the glTF route.

Export steps come from the Vectorworks help site: the Exporting OBJ and Exporting an image file articles, and the Spotlight and Vision MVR data-exchange workflow that describes where glTF and GLB are used.

Everything you can do.

Nine things you can do with one Vectorworks export, without opening another application.

Render

Photorealistic, from your exported view or model.

Edit and adjust

Change materials, furniture, planting and surroundings without redoing the design.

Enhance and upscale

Raise resolution to 4K and sharpen the file for print or a client presentation.

Video and animate

Turn a still into a clip with a camera move, straight from a render you approved.

3D

Place the camera on the exported model and choose the framing before you render.

Image to 3D object

Generate a 3D model from a single image, for a piece the source file never contained.

360 render

A navigable panorama of the project: the client looks around from inside it.

A direct link for the client to open the project. No account, no software, no file transfer.

Pro model

The maximum-fidelity pass, for the image that goes in the final deliverable.

Everything you need, in one platform.

Renderworks ships in every Vectorworks tier and renders the model you built, with the textures you assigned. This is for the other job: testing eight visual directions in an afternoon, from any of the files Architect, Landmark or Spotlight produce.

3D integration

Where the application exports a mesh, upload it and set the camera in the browser, then render from that view.

Rendering

Photorealism in seconds, not a queued calculation you leave running over lunch.

Video

A camera move across the same project, generated from a finished still. Nothing to animate.

Design

Try materials, light and surroundings until the right version exists, without touching the source file.

Refinement

Fix one part of a render — a facade panel, a tree, a sky — without starting the image again.

Precision

Your geometry is respected: the walls, openings, heights and proportions you drew stay put.

Collaborative

Share a link and take comments on the image itself, so feedback lands on the render.

Mobile and web

Runs in the browser, including on a laptop that would struggle with a local render engine.

4K

Delivery resolution, ready to print or put on a board without a separate upscaling step.

Works with designs from other CAD software too.

Export an image or upload the model. There is no plugin to install and no format to learn, so the same workflow runs from Vectorworks and from every other package below.

Trademarks identify the software this works with. Render a House is not affiliated with any of them.

SketchUp rendering

GLB (GLTF Binary) and more, from SketchUp.

Revit rendering

GLB (via FBX) and more, from Revit.

Archicad rendering

OBJ (WaveFront) and more, from Archicad.

Rhino rendering

GLB (GLTF Binary) and more, from Rhino.

AutoCAD rendering

PNG or JPEG from a 2D view and more, from AutoCAD.

Chief Architect rendering

PNG from a 3D camera view and more, from Chief Architect.

Who this is for.

If you design in Vectorworks and present to clients, this replaces the slowest and most expensive part of that loop.

Architects
Landscape architects
Entertainment designers
Interior designers
Exhibition designers
Design-build firms

958,000 renders generated so far.

128,000 architects and designers have an account.

A first render takes about ten seconds.

Available worldwide, in the browser, with nothing to install into Vectorworks.

Counts are extrapolated from a measured baseline and tick live.

Pricing.

Try it out, go Pro when it starts paying for itself.

Free

Try it out, no credit card required

Freeforever

3 credits per day
Standard model

Start for free

	Pro 240 credits	Studio 1000 credits
Render Pro 2 credits each	120	500
Render Standard 1 credit each	240	1000
Render Standard 2K 1.5 credits each	160	666
Render Pro 4K 4 credits each	60	250
Render Standard 4K 2 credits each	120	500
Video 0.8 credits/sec	300s	1250s

What this cannot do.

Open a .vwx file. Export to OBJ or an image first — there is no direct Vectorworks import.
Produce construction documents, BIM data, or anything dimensionally reliable.
Guarantee every detail survives. Thin mullions, small hardware and text on signage are the usual casualties.
Inherit the camera you set. The model carries no usable one, so you frame the shot in the 3D view after uploading.
Read a Vectorworks resource, a texture library, or a Renderworks camera. Only the exported geometry and image travel.

Common questions about Vectorworks rendering.

Can Render a House open a Vectorworks .vwx file?

No. Export the model first. File > Export > Export OBJ writes a Wavefront OBJ, and File > Export > Export Image File writes a PNG or JPEG of the view at the pixel dimensions you set. Either uploads fine.

Does Vectorworks export GLB or glTF?

Vectorworks uses glTF and GLB inside the MVR container for the Vision lighting workflow, not as a standalone export command. For rendering, export OBJ instead — Render a House reads it directly, so nothing is lost.

Do I need a plugin or an add-on in Vectorworks?

No. Nothing is installed into Vectorworks. You export a file the way you already would, then upload it in a browser, so the workflow is unaffected by your version or tier.

Does this work for Landmark and Spotlight files too?

Yes. The export path is the same regardless of which Vectorworks product built the file. A planted site plan or a stage design exports to OBJ or an image exactly as an architectural model does.

How does this compare to rendering with Renderworks?

Renderworks renders the model you built, with your textures, lights and camera, and it is included in every tier. This works from an export and is directed with a written description. Renderworks gives more control; this gets to a presentable image sooner and lets you try more directions per hour.

Do I need a graphics card?

No. Rendering runs on hosted hardware. The card in your machine affects how Vectorworks navigates the model and how fast Renderworks finishes, not how fast a render comes back here.

Can I use Vectorworks renders in client work?

Yes. Renders you generate are yours to use commercially. Review them first — an AI render is a concept image and should be checked against the model before it stands in for a design decision.

Export the view. Get the render.

Keep Vectorworks as the source of truth for the design. Let this handle the picture of it.

Working on something bigger? Talk to us.

Render your Vectorworks modelVWX exportsite planstage designVectorworks modelin the browser.