What types of building information are best portrayed in 3D views?
When showing the clients a rendering of what the house looks like as a whole or specific areas or rooms, 3D views are best because it gives them a better sense of what the house or building would actually look like. While 2D models and plans are accurate, most times the clients don't fully understand how to read them or don't have much experience in interpreting them. In those cases, the clients can much better understand what they're looking at through a 3D view, rendering, panorama, or walkthrough. However, when talking to builders, plumbers, etc. the 2D plans are often more useful. They give a very clean layout of what everything is in the building, allowing them to be able to interpret a floor plan or site plan much easier than a 3D rendering.
Should your design ideas always be conveyed through photorealistic renders?
Design ideas do not always need to be conveyed through photorealistic renders. For example, when first talking to clients about the layout of a house or building, a rendering is really not necessary. At the beginning stages of talking with a client, oftentimes simplicity is better. Just being able to see clean lines, where each room is, where the fixtures are, how big everything is, etc. is more ideal at the beginning stages of the project. However, once those aspects are complete and you're moving onto a more detailed stage (picking certain materials, fixtures, art, etc.) a more photorealistic render is better because it shows the client a much more accurate representation of what things in the building will look like. Once you're showing the client a virtual walk through or rendering, the higher the level of detail in the render, the better the stakeholders will be able to perceive your design
How can schedule views be used to assist with procurement and model-based estimating?
Schedule views are very important for determining pricing and buying. Being able to see a list of dimensions, area, glossing area, square footage, etc. is really helpful to the designers and clients when deciding what materials to build from. It makes it much easier to calculate total costs and estimate the differences in cost for different materials. When looking just at a floor plan, the dimensions are there and it's still very possible to be able to make these calculations, but a schedule puts all of the necessary information in one accessible list, and leaves out the aspects that aren't necessary. It creates a much more simple and efficient process.