The problem
Clients at early stages struggle to read massing models and plans, and a proper render of every option is slow or has to be outsourced. If a small practice commissions 2 sets of early-stage visuals a month at $399£300€357A$576C$564 each, that's $798£600€714A$1,152C$1,128 a month on images that are thrown away once a direction is chosen.
What the AI does
Veras works with Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, Archicad, Vectorworks and other design software. It turns a model, a sketch or an image plus a text prompt into rendered images, and its page says it can generate material studies and facade options within your existing model geometry, changing only the geometry and materials you specify. Veras Pro includes 2,000 credits a month, which Chaos estimates at up to about 200 images. Use it for early options and mood; keep accurate renders for planning submissions and marketing.
A worked example
A three-person RIBA chartered practice in Bath designs house extensions and small new-builds in SketchUp. For early client meetings it used to commission 2 sets of visuals a month; now one architect produces material and facade options in Veras from the working model.
Before
2 sets of early-stage visuals a month commissioned at $399£300€357A$576C$564 each: $798£600€714A$1,152C$1,128
After
Early options made in-house in about 2 hours a month, with commissioned renders kept for planning and marketing
What it's worth
About $692£520€619A$998C$978 a month saved, against about $32£24€29A$46C$45 for one license. $798£600€714A$1,152C$1,128 of commissioned visuals is replaced by about 2 hours of in-house time, worth about $106£80€95A$154C$150 at an assumed $53£40€48A$77C$75 an hour, if Veras images are good enough for early meetings (an assumption to test before relying on it). Cost: a named license is €330 (about $378£284€338A$545C$534) a year billed annually, about $32£24€29A$46C$45 a month, excluding VAT.
How to set it up
- Install Veras in the design software you already use and try it on a past project before using it with a client.
- Start from a clean model view, write prompts for the materials and setting you want, and save the prompts that work.
- Generate a few material or facade options for one scheme and compare them with what you would have commissioned.
- Label every image as an early AI-generated option, not the final design, when you show it to a client.
- Keep commissioned or fully modeled renders for planning drawings and marketing, where every detail must match the design.
What goes wrong
- AI images can add windows, change proportions or invent landscaping. Never use them in a planning application or marketing as if they showed the design accurately.
- Using AI credits voids the 14-day money-back guarantee, so judge it on the free trial before buying.
- Read Chaos's license terms on who owns generated images before using them in client work.
- Prices are in euros and exclude VAT, and the shop page's monthly-billing price is unclear, so check the total at checkout.