Frequently asked questions · CONIKA visualization

01 · The service

What exactly do you do in this line?

We take an already designed project and turn it into something you can look at and walk through: images of the finished project, video walkthroughs and 360 tours. If no three-dimensional model exists, we build it: everything else comes from there.

Do I need to have the design done?

It does not have to be ours, but it does have to exist. We work on your project or on your architect's, with the model, the drawings or the clear sketch you have. If what you want is to design from scratch, that is a different service of ours, and it is the better place to start.

Do you change the design?

No. This service depicts the design; it does not alter it. If something the drawings do not resolve comes up while modeling, we fill the gap with a reasonable visual assumption and let you know. That way you can correct it with your architect if it was not what you had in mind. Filling a gap so the image can exist is not designing, and the contract says so.

Do you do graphic design, catalogs or campaign material?

No. Commercial graphic design is outside this line, and the contract says so. We deliver the images and the material in formats ready to present or publish, and your communications team puts the piece together.

02 · The process

What is it like to work with you, step by step?

The work moves through four stages. In The Visual Direction we understand what the project needs to convey and define its atmosphere, its visual language and how the image should behave. In The Construction we build composition, lighting, materials and spatial presence. In The Visualization the final images are produced. And in The Delivery everything is organized and handed over, ready to use. Each stage carries its own weight within the project, and you follow it from your portal.

When do I see the material for the first time?

Before the final image exists. We first show you a preview: it may be a screen recording, a capture or a low-quality render. That preview exists so you can decide on something real rather than on a description. Only once you approve it do we produce the final render with its full post-production.

Can I ask for changes to the preview before the final render?

Yes, that is exactly what it is for. At that point you can ask us to move the camera, change a material, adjust the lighting or the time of day, or move a piece of furniture within the scene. None of that costs anything, because the final render and post-production have not been done yet. What is quoted separately, and only if you accept in writing, is anything that forces us to redo the modeling or the scene setup because your drawings or your model changed. So is adding pieces, duration or viewpoints, or adding music and voice-over to a video contracted without them.

How many rounds of revisions are included?

CONIKA does not count revisions in rounds. Before the final render of each image you get a preview, and the adjustments you ask for on it (framing, materials, lighting, time of day, a piece of furniture moved) cost nothing. What we quote separately, with your prior written acceptance, is this. Changing a piece you already approved. Adding pieces, duration or tour viewpoints, or music and voice-over to a video contracted without them. And redoing the modeling or the scene setup if you change your drawings or your model once production has started. We never charge to fix our own errors.

What if I want to change an image after approving it?

If it is a change of mind, it becomes new work: we quote it as an additional piece and only do it if you accept that quote in writing. It is not a penalty: the approved piece has already gone through final render and post-production, which is the most expensive part of the process. That is why the preview exists, and why it is worth reviewing carefully. If instead we have to fix an error of ours, or a written instruction you gave us before approving that we did not follow, the fix costs nothing.

How long do I have to review and request adjustments?

Five business days from the moment the material becomes available in your portal. It is the same window the contract uses for every approval, so you do not have to remember two different rules. A reminder reaches you after three business days, and if you need more time you only have to tell us: the schedule pauses with no penalty for either side.

How long do you take to return an adjustment?

It depends on how deep it goes. Moving a framing is not the same as re-rendering an entire scene with different lighting. Adjustments are scheduled within the project timeline and we confirm when each one will be ready, rather than giving you a blanket figure that later will not hold.

How long does the whole thing take?

It depends on the scope and the complexity of the project, and it is set in writing in the proposal you accept, with the business days of each phase. That proposal forms part of the contract. The days are counted from the Record of Commencement of Performance. They only shift for a reason the contract provides for, such as a pending approval or missing information, and you see each shift in your portal with its reason. A delay on our side does not move them. We would rather define it looking at your project than publish a number that fits some cases and not others.

What happens if I am late sending the drawings?

The schedule shifts. Execution begins when we have two things, the first payment and the complete information, and while either is missing the clock does not start. There is no penalty for it: the dates simply adjust from the moment we have everything. There is one exception. Once work is underway, if our written request for information goes unanswered for the ten business days the contract allows, we can terminate the contract and settle the phases already completed.

Do I need to be available during the process?

Only at the decision points: at the start, when we agree the visual direction with you, and when we show you each preview for approval. The rest of the time the work moves forward on our side, and you can follow it from your portal whenever you like. You write to us through the portal's messaging or by email, and if something needs talking through, you request a twenty-minute call from right there. We take them on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Colombia time, and we show you the slot in your time zone.

03 · The pieces

How long is a video and how is it charged?

It is charged per finished second and there is no minimum duration, so you can ask for a short piece for social media or a long walkthrough for a presentation. The price per second drops as the video gets longer: the first twenty seconds carry one rate, the following ones a lower rate, and from the forty-sixth onward a lower one still. That is why a one-minute video costs less per second than a twenty-second one.

Is there a discount for more than one video of the same project?

Yes: from the second video on, each one carries a thirty percent discount, as long as it comes from the same model. The reason is practical: the model, the lighting and the materials are already built, and the only thing that changes is the camera and the edit. If a video requires modeling another phase or a different unit type, it becomes new work at full price.

Does the video include music or voice-over?

Not by default: they are an extra. Mark it in the booking form so it is included in the quote. If you would rather use your own music or your own voice-over, that works too: we hand the video over ready for it.

What quality is the video delivered in?

In high resolution, optimized for the web: it keeps the quality without the size of a cinema file, so you can upload it, send it and publish it without fighting the file size. If you need a particular resolution or format, tell us when you book and it goes into the proposal in writing.

Can I order only the video, without images?

Yes. The video is a piece in its own right and does not depend on you ordering still images. Either way, the modeling (or the scene setup, if you already have the model) is charged once, because the video is made from it.

Does the 360 tour work on a phone?

It works on any device with an internet connection: phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to install. It opens from a link and you move through it with your finger or your mouse.

How is the tour delivered?

In three ways, and all three are included. It stays available in your portal, we hand you a public link you can share with anyone, and we give you a line of code to place it directly on your own website. We leave it running: you do not have to configure anything.

Can I put my company’s logo on the tour?

Yes, when the project is in a company’s name. The logo appears on every view of the tour, top left, below the name of the view. You send us the file and we place it; a PNG with a transparent background is what sits best over a panorama. Bottom right, in the opposite corner, sits our own mark, which says who made the piece. They sit diagonally on purpose, so neither mark crowds the other. On a project in an individual’s name there is no logo, because there is no brand to place: the tour belongs to the house.

How long does the tour stay live?

One year from The Delivery, included in the price of the piece. After that you can keep it online with a monthly subscription, charged per project rather than per piece: if your development has several tours, they all fall under the same subscription. If you do not subscribe, the link stops working and we hand you the file to keep or host yourself: your right to use the tour does not expire; what ends is the hosting.

Can I order an interactive walkthrough?

It is not available to order yet. If you would like us to let you know when it is, write to contact@conika.co. It would be the entire project in a link, to move through freely rather than from fixed points. If what you need is for someone to walk through your project from a link, what we do deliver is the 360 tour, and the video as well.

04 · The files and the model

What do you need from me to start?

The base architectural drawings or a clear sketch, the three-dimensional model if one exists, visual references for the project, the approximate materials, and which angles or spaces matter most to you. Any mandatory logos or delivery formats too. All of it is collected in one meeting, at the start.

What formats should I send the drawings in?

Drawings in DWG or PDF. If you already have a model, in IFC, SKP, RVT or 3DM. If yours is in another format, send it anyway and we will tell you in the conversation whether we can open it: almost always we can.

Can you work from our Revit, SketchUp or Rhino model?

Yes. We open models from Revit (RVT), SketchUp (SKP) and Rhino (3DM), IFC from any program, Archicad included, and drawings in DWG or PDF. If we work from your model, we do not charge for modeling: only the scene setup, a flat USD 250, because materials, lights and cameras still have to be set up. If yours is in another format, send it anyway and we will tell you whether we can open it.

What if my drawings are incomplete?

We model what the drawings make it possible to determine; whatever is not defined, we fill with a reasonable visual assumption and report to you. That is why the scope of the modeling is proportional to the documentation you deliver, and it is put in writing before we start.

Do you hand over the three-dimensional model?

No, the model file is not part of the delivery. We deliver the images and the pieces agreed, organized in a digital folder and ready to present or publish; the video, if contracted, horizontal and in its vertical 9:16 version. If you also need the model, say so when you book and we agree it in writing in the proposal: which file, in which version and for what use. Keep in mind that a model made for visualization is not a coordinated model and is not fit for building.

What format and resolution do the images arrive in?

In high-resolution PNG, optimized for web and social media: the images keep their full visual quality without the size of a production file, so you can upload them, send them and publish them without fighting the file size. If you need a particular resolution for print or for a billboard, tell us before we start and it is prepared that way.

Can you deliver the image without a background, or in layers?

Without a background, yes: we deliver it as a PNG with a transparent sky if you ask before final production. Layers are different: a layered file is an editable file, and editable files are not included by default. They are delivered only if the proposal says so expressly, with the file and its use agreed in writing. In both cases it is best to ask at the start, because it is prepared during the render and not afterwards.

Do you keep my project?

Yes. The model and the working files stay with us, and the project record is kept for ten years after it ends. In your portal, large deliverables stay available for download while the project is ongoing and for one year after it closes, and we let you know before that year is up. Taking them off the portal is not deleting them: if you need them again, write to us and we restore them at no cost.

If I come back a year later for more images, do I pay for the modeling again?

No, not for the same project: the model is already built and stored, so we do not charge the modeling again. We quote the new images as a new order, and if something has to be modeled that did not exist before, we quote that part separately.

What happens if I cancel midway?

We settle it by phase: you pay for the phases already recorded as completed in The Log, and if you have paid more than that, we refund the difference within the following thirty calendar days. Once that settlement is paid, the material already delivered to you is licensed to you. There are no penalties for stepping away, and letting us know through any of our channels is enough: you pay for the work done.

05 · The price and payment

How much do the images cost?

USD 125 per image from 6 to 11, 112 from 12, 103 from 20 and 96 from 30, with a minimum of 6 images and the whole order billed at the rate of its tier. Add a one-time modeling fee from USD 250 if your project exists only as drawings or a sketch. If you already have the model, a flat USD 250 scene setup applies instead. The smallest order starts at USD 1,000. We charge per image and not per square meter, because the number of images does not grow with the area of the project.

Is the modeling charged separately?

Yes, and once only: from USD 250 if your project exists only as drawings or a sketch. That minimum covers a single-story building of up to 200 m²; above that it rises by size and type. If you already have the model, we do not charge for modeling: only a flat USD 250 scene setup, because materials, lights and cameras have to be set up either way. If you change your drawings or your model once production has started, redoing the modeling or the setup is quoted again.

How much do the video and the tour cost?

We quote them per project, because they depend on the scope: how long the video runs and how large the tour is. In the 45-minute conversation we define with you what you need, and you get the price for your project in writing in your Dossier, before you sign.

How is it paid?

In two parts: half to start and half on final delivery. The first payment opens the work, and from there you follow everything from your portal, with the signed documents and the account up to date, without having to ask anyone for a status.

Does the price change if I am a company?

No. The rate is the same for a person and for a company, and the invoice for each payment goes in the payer's name. If your company has to withhold taxes on the payment, let us know before the quote so the price takes them into account. The image price does not change with the project's country either; we quote the video and the tour according to the project and its location.

Do you charge VAT?

No. CONIKA is not currently registered to charge VAT, so it does not charge it: the value in your contract is the total price. If it were ever required to collect it, nothing could be added for a client contracting as an end consumer; for a company, it would be charged separately on each installment, with written notice beforehand.

What tax does my country withhold on what I pay you?

Withholding is set by your country's law, so it is worth having your accounting team review it and tell us about it before the quote, so the price takes it into account. If you do not tell us in time, the price is understood to be net to us, and you cover whatever your country withholds. If your company is in Colombia, the withholding it is legally required to apply as an advance on our income tax is deducted from the payment. Colombia has treaties to avoid double taxation with several countries, which usually reduce it, and we provide the documentation on our side to apply them.

Which tax form will our accounting team get from you: a W-9 or a W-8BEN?

A W-8BEN, not a W-9: the W-9 is for US persons. CONIKA is the trade name under which Juan José Lima, an individual based in Colombia, operates, so the form is the W-8BEN, which a foreign individual uses to certify that status, and not the W-8BEN-E, which is for entities. We send it signed whenever you ask for it, before payment. We do the work entirely outside the United States; under IRS Publication 515 that income is foreign-source and generally not subject to US withholding, but your tax advisor should confirm it.

06 · Rights and limits

Who owns the images?

The copyright stays with us, and you get a broad license to use them. You can sell your project with them, present them, publish them and run them in advertising, with no time limit, in any medium and with nothing more to pay. The license takes effect once payment is complete. We may show them as the studio's work, always without your name, the address or the location of the property, and you can object whenever you like.

Do we get the copyright to the renderings, or a license?

A license, not a transfer of the copyright, and a broad one: with no time limit and no restriction on medium or project, you can use, reproduce, publish and distribute the images for any purpose, commercial and advertising included, with no further payments. The copyright stays with CONIKA, and moral rights cannot be waived under Colombian law. The license takes effect once the full price is paid, as The Commitment states.

The design is someone else's. Can I send it?

Yes, as long as you have its author's permission for us to depict it and to show the images anonymously in our portfolio; the contract asks you to declare that you do. Authorship of the design stays with whoever conceived it: we depict the project; we do not claim it. You deliver the images under your name, and we do not ask for credit.

Are the images good for a permit or a filing?

No. They are illustrative and atmospheric: they are not technical documentation and they are not suitable for filings with authorities or for building from. Drawings submitted for a permit are signed by a licensed professional, and that is outside this line.

Do the deliverables carry a professional signature?

No, and they do not need one. This service does not design: it depicts a project that already exists. That is why no professional license is involved, and it works the same inside and outside Colombia, with no difference in process.

When do I see the material before delivery?

Before each final piece. In The Visualization, inside your portal, you see what we have set up and give your approval, and only with your approval do we make the final render. The schedule, with the business days of each phase, reaches you in writing in your Dossier before you sign; the dates are fixed when you sign the Record of Commencement of Performance, and from then on you see them in your portal.

Can you show my project on your social media or in your portfolio?

Yes, and it is worth knowing on what terms. The contract lets us exhibit the outcome as the studio's work, and that exhibition never carries your name, the address or the location of the property: only the image. If you would rather it were not shown even anonymously, just tell us, before or after: the material comes off our channels within fifteen business days, at no cost and no penalty. And if you want the opposite, your project shown with its name on it, that takes your express authorization, which you can withdraw whenever you wish.

Do you sign a separate confidentiality agreement?

If your company has its own NDA, send it to us and we will review it for signing. If not, the contract already covers it: confidentiality binds both parties until two years after the contract ends, and any use in our portfolio is always anonymous; you can object before or after, and we remove it from our channels within fifteen business days.

How do you keep our drawings and project confidential?

By contract: The Commitment binds both parties to hold in confidence the confidential information they exchange. Neither discloses it to third parties without authorization, except where the law requires it, and the duty continues for two years after the contract ends. We do not subcontract the creative work, and our portfolio never shows names, addresses or locations without your express authorization; you can object even to anonymous display.

Do I have to credit you if I publish the images?

It is not mandatory. It is appreciated, and it helps us if you do, but it is not a condition of anything.

07 · Who you will work with

Who makes the images?

The two of us, Sofía Solarte and Juan José Lima, and the images are produced by Juan José, their author under the contract. The creative work is not subcontracted and does not pass through a rotating team, so the person you speak with is the same one who produces what you receive. For purely technical support tasks we may rely on outside providers, always under our responsibility and bound by the same confidentiality as the contract.

Can I see previous work?

Yes, it is in the project gallery on this site. There you can see the kind of image we produce and decide whether it is the language you are looking for.

Do you work with projects outside Colombia?

Yes, except in countries under international sanctions. Visualization is a graphic service and requires no professional license anywhere, so there is nothing to sign or file with an authority. Coordination happens through your portal, and meetings are scheduled around your time zone.

What language do you work in?

Spanish and English. You choose the language when booking, and from then on everything reaches you in that language: your portal, the emails and the project documents. If you sign the contract in English, the Spanish version stays available in your portal and is the one that prevails.

08 · Common situations

I am an architect and want to outsource my renders. Is that possible?

Yes, and there is no conflict: what we do here is visualization, not design. Your project remains yours; we only depict it. You can order images, video or a 360 tour, depending on what you need to show, and the images go out under your name.

Do you offer white-label renderings for architecture firms and agencies?

Yes. An architecture firm, an agency or a construction company can hire the service and resell it to its own client. The images carry no CONIKA mark: you deliver them under your own name, we ask for no credit, and you can pass their use on to your client for that project. There are two exceptions: until you pay the balance, the final images in your portal show our watermark, and the 360 tour keeps our seal in a corner. We may show the work in our portfolio, always anonymously; if you object, we remove it within fifteen business days.

We are a company. Do we start here or with the For companies line?

If what you need are images, video or a tour of a project that is already designed, start here like any other client: your project is registered as visualization, and the price is the same one the For companies page calculates. If you also need the design, start with the For companies line.

I only have photographs and measurements, no drawings. Is that possible?

If you also have a clear sketch of the project, yes: we model from it, and the modeling is charged once. With photographs and measurements alone, no: without drawings, a model or a sketch, the project first needs a design of its own. That is a different service, with its own scope and its own price. We do not go on site to measure. We will tell you clearly which case you are in as soon as we see the material.

I need the images for a bid with a deadline. Do you take that on?

It depends on the scope and the date, and we tell you frankly in the conversation, looking at your project. If we can make it, the timeline goes in writing into your proposal and forms part of the contract. We would rather say no in time than commit to a date that will not hold.

I want to compare two facade options. Do they count as two images?

It depends how far you want to take them. To decide between two options we show them to you in a preview, at no additional cost, as long as they do not require redoing the modeling or the scene setup: there you compare and choose. If one of them changes the form and has to be modeled separately, we quote that modeling beforehand. The one you pick is taken to final render with full post-production. If you would rather keep both finished, then yes, they are two images, because each carries its own advanced render and post-production.

09 · What each thing is

Is a 3D rendering the same as a CGI or an artist impression?

Yes: they are different names for the same image. In the United States it is usually called a 3D rendering; in the United Kingdom, a CGI; in the Netherlands, an artist impression. CONIKA produces exactly that: a photorealistic image computed from the project's three-dimensional model before it is built, to present, sell or publish it. It is illustrative, not technical documentation.

What is a hyperrealistic image, and how does it differ from an ordinary render?

A render is any image calculated by a computer from a three-dimensional model. Whether it is hyperrealistic depends on what comes afterwards: light studied the way it is studied in photography, materials with their texture and wear, vegetation and objects that give scale, and post-production that adjusts contrast, color and atmosphere. The difference is not the software: it is how much craft sits between the model and the final image.

What is post-production, and why does it affect the price so much?

It is the work done on the already-calculated image: balancing lights and shadows, correcting color, adding atmosphere, cleaning up what does not belong. It is the difference between a correct image and one that feels real, and it is also the part that cannot be automated. That is why a change of mind on an image already approved and post-produced is quoted separately: that work has already been done. If what needs fixing is an error of ours, it is fixed at no cost.

What is a pre-render?

It is a fast, low-quality version of the image, made to decide with rather than to show. It is used to review the framing, the time of day or a material before investing the calculation and post-production time. It is what you see first in our process, and it is where those adjustments cost nothing.

What is a 360 tour, and how does it differ from a video?

In a tour you stand at a point in the project and look around: up, down, behind you. You decide where to look, but you do not walk. In a video the camera moves along a path we define, and you see what that path shows. One gives control, the other gives narrative: they are chosen according to what you need to tell.

What is an equirectangular panorama?

It is the format a 360-degree view is stored in: a single image, twice as wide as it is tall, containing everything visible around one point. The viewer projects it onto a sphere, which is why you can turn inside it. It is the standard of the craft, and it works in any browser with nothing to install.

What is an interactive walkthrough?

It is the whole project running in a link, where whoever opens it walks freely: in through the door, up a staircase, over to whichever window they like. It is not a video or a series of fixed points, it is the living model. It is not available to order yet. If you would like us to let you know when it is, write to contact@conika.co. To walk through a project from a link, what we do deliver is the 360 tour.

What is three-dimensional modeling, and when is it charged separately?

It is building the volume of the project in three dimensions from your drawings or a clear sketch: walls, slabs, roofs, openings. If you already have a model, that step is skipped and not charged: only a flat USD 250 scene setup is. If you only have two-dimensional drawings, it has to be built before any image can be produced, and that is charged once: afterwards it serves every piece of the same project. It is charged again only if you change your drawings once production has started and it has to be redone.

Do I need to know about architecture to commission images?

No. What is needed is the drawings of the project, or a clear sketch, and a sense of what you want to show and to whom. We take care of the rest: which angles tell the project best, in what light, at what time of day. If you have reference images you like, bring them: they help more than any technical description.

How is a 3D rendering made, step by step?

It starts with the three-dimensional model, built from your drawings with their real measurements. On that model each frame is set, the materials are applied and the lighting is built, which is what decides the time of day and the weather in the scene. The engine then computes the image, and post-production adjusts color, contrast and atmosphere. Before the final render you see a low-quality preview, so you decide on something real rather than on a description.

What does an image need in order to sell off-plan?

It has to look like what will actually be built, and hold up afterwards. If it comes from your model, with your measurements, it faithfully depicts what your drawings say; if it comes from an invented image, the gap shows up when it can no longer be fixed. Even so, it is illustrative: it shows the intent of the project, not how every corner will end up. Ask for the frames that answer a buyer's questions (how you come in, what the main space is like, what you see from inside), in the formats where they will be published.

Will the images look like the built result?

They will look like what your drawings say, which is not quite the same thing. The image depicts the project faithfully, but the built work depends on construction decisions, on materials that may or may not be available, and on details resolved along the way. That is why the images are illustrative and atmospheric: they show the intent of the project, not a record of how every corner will end up.

10 · Before you commission

How many images does my project need?

Fewer than people expect, and better chosen. To present a house, six to eight usually suffice: the main facade, an approach view, two or three interiors of the spaces that define the house, and a night shot. Selling a development takes more, because each unit type needs its own. In the conversation we look at it with your project in front of us and tell you frankly whether you have too many or too few.

What suits me better: images, video or a tour?

Images are the most versatile: they work for everything and they are what gets shared most. Video works when there is a journey to tell, a sequence of spaces that reads better when walked. A tour works when you want someone to explore on their own, without you beside them explaining. Many projects end up combining two, and it does not have to be decided today: you can start with images and add later.

What exactly do you need from my side to start?

The drawings of the project, in whatever format you have, or a clear sketch if there are no drawings yet. If there is a three-dimensional model, better still, because the modeling step is skipped. Visual references of images you like help a great deal, along with an idea of the intended materials and which spaces matter most to you. If something is missing, we tell you as soon as we see the material, before you start paying.

What if my drawings are incomplete or out of date?

The image will reflect what those drawings say. We work with what you provide and do not verify its technical accuracy, so a drawing with an error, or an outdated one, produces an image with that error. If information is missing to model something, we fill it with a reasonable visual assumption and tell you what we assumed, so you can correct it if that was not what you had in mind.

Can I ask for night views or different weather?

Yes. Time of day and weather are visual direction decisions, defined at the start along with the atmosphere of the project. A night image tells something different from a midday one: the interior light shows, the volume changes, the project reads another way. If you want the same angle by day and by night, those are two images, because each is calculated and post-produced separately.

Do you produce interior images?

Yes, interiors and exteriors. Interiors usually require more decisions on your side, because finishes, furniture and artificial lighting come into play, and that is best defined before starting so it does not have to be redone.

Can you produce an aerial view of the project?

Yes. Views from above work well to show the siting, how the project relates to the land and to what surrounds it. They count as one more image.

Do you work with projects that are already built?

This line exists for projects that do not exist yet: that is where a calculated image contributes something a photograph cannot. If the project is already built, a photography session almost always serves you better than a render.

Can I commission only the three-dimensional model, without images?

Not as a standalone product: modeling is a step in the process, and the model file is not part of the delivery unless the proposal says so expressly. If you need it, tell us in the conversation and we will look at it, depending on what you want it for and in what format. Keep in mind that a model made for visualization is not a coordinated model and is not fit for building.

11 · Where we work from, and for

Where do you work from?

From Pasto, Colombia. The work is entirely digital: you send your drawings, review progress from your portal and receive the finished material through it. Distance does not change the result, and the image price is the same in any country.

Are there countries you cannot work in?

Yes: we do not take on projects in countries under international sanctions. Everywhere else, and this is the big difference from a design commission, visualization is a graphic service: it requires no professional license in any country, and there are no drawings to sign or filings to make with any authority. That is why a project in Bogotá, Mexico City or Miami follows the same process.

Do you produce renders for projects in Colombia?

Yes, anywhere in the country. Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Bucaramanga, Pereira, Manizales, Armenia, Ibagué, Neiva, Villavicencio, Popayán, Cúcuta, Pasto, and the towns around Bogotá and Medellín where most country homes are being built.

Do you produce renders for projects in Mexico?

Yes. Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Querétaro, Puebla, Mérida, Tijuana, León, San Luis Potosí, Cancún and the Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Los Cabos, Tulum. With no filing involved, this line needs no local professional: we work directly with you.

Do you produce renders for projects in the United States?

Yes. Miami and South Florida, Texas, California, New York, Chicago, Denver, Arizona. We work in English or Spanish, whichever you prefer, and meetings are scheduled around your time zone.

Why would a US firm outsource 3D renderings to a studio in Colombia?

Mainly for time zone, language and price. Colombia runs on UTC-5 all year, with no daylight saving time: the same time as New York and Miami in winter, one hour behind them in summer. CONIKA works in English or Spanish, from the video calls to the documents. The image price is published: USD 125 per image, down to USD 96 with volume, below the 250 to 500 dollars at which 2026 price guides place the low end of the US market. And the images are produced by one of the two founders, Juan José Lima, with no creative work subcontracted.

Do you work with projects in Spain?

Yes, with architecture firms, developers and real estate agencies. There renderings are called infografías 3D, and the price is the same as in any country. It runs from USD 125 per image, for 6 to 11, down to USD 96 from 30, plus, once, a USD 250 scene setup or modeling from USD 250. Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Málaga and the Costa del Sol, Bilbao, Alicante, Mallorca, Ibiza, the Canary Islands.

Do you work with projects in the United Kingdom?

Yes. There a rendering is usually called a CGI: it is the same image, and it costs the same as anywhere. The price runs from USD 125 per image, for 6 to 11, down to USD 96 from 30, plus a one-time scene setup or modeling fee from USD 250. London is five or six hours ahead of Colombia, depending on the season: our morning is your afternoon.

Do you work with projects in the Netherlands?

Yes. There a rendering is usually called an artist impression: it is the same image, and it costs the same as anywhere. The price runs from USD 125 per image, for 6 to 11, down to USD 96 from 30, plus a one-time scene setup or modeling fee from USD 250. Amsterdam is six or seven hours ahead of Colombia, depending on the season: our morning is your afternoon.

Do you work with projects elsewhere in Latin America?

Yes. Peru (Lima, Arequipa, Trujillo, Cusco), Ecuador (Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Samborondón, Manta), Chile (Santiago, Viña del Mar, Concepción, Puerto Varas, Pucón), Argentina (Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario, Mendoza, Bariloche), Uruguay (Montevideo, Punta del Este, José Ignacio), Panama, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Paraguay and Bolivia.

Can I pay from another country?

Yes, by card, from the account in your portal: Visa, Mastercard or American Express issued in any country, as long as it is not a virtual card. Prices are published in dollars as a reference, but the price you pay is fixed in Colombian pesos in the contract, at the exchange rate stated there, and that peso amount does not change afterwards. If your card is in another currency, your card's bank or network converts it, and any fees your bank charges are yours to cover.

How are meetings coordinated across time zones?

The system shows the available slots in your own local time, not ours, so you choose looking at your own clock without doing any arithmetic. Meetings are scheduled from your portal and arrive with the video call link.

What time zone does CONIKA work in, and how much does it overlap with US business hours?

Colombia time, UTC-5 all year, with no daylight saving time. Compared with the US, it is the same time as New York and Miami in winter and one hour behind them in summer. It is an hour at most from Chicago and Dallas, and two or three from California. You can book the first conversation Monday to Friday, mornings or afternoons, and the project schedule counts business days, excluding Colombian public holidays.

12 · Compared with other options

Are CONIKA's renderings made with artificial intelligence?

No. They come from your project's three-dimensional model, not from an image generator: what you see in a CONIKA image is your project, with its measurements. Artificial intelligence comes in at the end, on the finished render, with a single purpose: to improve the resolution and the realism of the textures. It does not generate the image and it decides nothing that appears in it.

Do you use artificial intelligence to make the video?

In part, and it is worth knowing where. The frames come from your project's model, rendered: for each movement several are rendered, not just the start and the end. Artificial intelligence enhances the textures, as it does in the still images, and in the video it fills in the few frames that sit between those real renders and raises the resolution. Because the renders are close together, what it fills in is minimal: the movement is still your project's, not one a machine imagined.

How is a rendering different from architectural photography?

In that photography needs the building to exist. A rendering is made before: the whole scene, the light, the materials and the surroundings are built, which is why the time of day, the weather and the viewpoint can be chosen without depending on when someone can get to the site. Photography documents what is already there; a rendering is for deciding and for selling what is not yet. Both can live in the same project, at different moments.

Why do some renderings look artificial?

Almost always because of the light and the post-production, not the render engine. A well-modeled scene with flat lighting looks like plastic, and an image with no post-production keeps that clean, perfect look reality does not have: it lacks imperfection, depth of field, dust in the air. It also happens when materials are applied without scale, and a wood grain at the wrong size gives the whole image away. And it happens when the image did not come from a real model, but from a generator that knows no measurements.

Why not use an image generated by artificial intelligence?

You can, and to explore an idea early on it even helps. What a generated image cannot do is represent YOUR project: it does not know your dimensions, it does not respect your heights or your openings, and every time you generate it again it hands you a different house. That is fine for inspiration and a serious problem for selling or deciding, because what it shows is not what will be built. Here we start from your drawings, and what you see is your project rather than a close approximation.

Should I buy the software and do it myself?

If you are going to produce images constantly, perhaps yes, and we will say so without hesitation. But it is worth looking at the full cost: the licenses, a machine capable of rendering, the material and vegetation libraries, and above all the months of practice before an image of yours looks like the ones you admire. For one or two projects a year it rarely adds up. For a continuous flow, it can make sense.

Why do some renders cost three times more than others?

Because they are rarely the same product. The low price usually carries an approximate model, generic light, stock furniture and no post-production; the high one carries a model faithful to your drawings, carefully planned lighting, detailed materials and an image revised until it works. The honest way to compare two quotes is not to look at the number, but to ask how many revisions are included, what happens if you want to move the camera, and what rights to the images you end up with.

How do CONIKA's rendering prices compare with those of US studios?

Below the low end of the US market. CONIKA publishes its price: USD 125 per image from 6 to 11, 112 from 12, 103 from 20 and 96 from 30, and the whole order is billed at the rate of its tier. Published 2026 price guides place the low end for US and Canadian studios at 250 to 500 dollars per image. The gap comes from operating in Colombia, not from skipping steps.

What is the difference between you and a large render company?

Size, and that cuts both ways. A large company absorbs volume peaks and works in shifts: if you need forty images in two weeks, that is their advantage. Here the images are produced by Juan José Lima, so the person you speak with is the one producing, there is no intermediate translation, and nothing gets lost between an account executive and whoever moves the camera. Choose according to what your project needs.

Do I need anyone else besides you?

For the images, no. If the project is already designed (by you, by your architect or by your construction company), we depict it here exactly as it stands and no one else is needed. If the project does not exist yet, then it does need designing first, and that is a different service, which we also provide but through another door.

What if I already have renders made by someone else and only want them improved?

Yes, we can look at it on the call, but it is worth knowing something first. Retouching someone else's image has a low ceiling, because you cannot change what is already baked into the geometry or the lighting. It is often better to rebuild the view from the model than to insist on an image that carries its own limits. And as with any third-party material, you need permission from whoever made those renders.