How Much Does a 3D Walkthrough Cost?

The question behind the question is usually not what a walkthrough costs. It is what makes one walkthrough cost substantially more than another when both run ninety seconds.

Below is the honest answer, written so you can estimate your own position before you ask anyone for a number on a 3D walkthrough.

What it actually costs

A cinematic walkthrough starts at $4,500 and is priced at $2.00 per square foot of the area being shown, whichever is higher. A 2,950 square foot project is $5,900. A 4,000 square foot project is $8,000. Those are our published numbers, not estimates.

An interactive browser walkthrough, where the viewer navigates the space and switches materials in real time, starts at $5,500 and runs $2.50 per square foot.

Anything above $8,000 is billed in stages rather than as one payment, and carries a package discount starting at 10 percent. Standard terms are 50 percent to start and 50 percent on completion. A schedule under four business days is quoted with a rush surcharge of roughly 35 percent, and only after we confirm we can hold it.

What those rates assume is a usable model, a shot list proportionate to the area, and the two structured revision rounds we scope as standard. The five variables below are what pull a project outside them.

The five variables

Model readiness. The largest swing in our quotes. A clean design model with correct geometry and usable materials is a starting point. A set of PDF drawings is a modeling project with an animation attached, and it can add substantially to the work before a single frame renders.

Number of distinct spaces. Cost tracks spaces entered, not minutes produced. Ninety seconds through one lobby is a different build from ninety seconds through a lobby, two unit types, an amenity deck and a garage.

Length and shot count. Length matters, but shot count matters more. Twelve short shots need twelve setups. One continuous move through the same duration needs one.

Detail level. A massing-accurate walkthrough for a coordination meeting and a marketing piece with real materials, styled furniture, planting and lighting are different products sharing a name.

Revision rounds. Rounds are production time. We scope two structured rounds as standard. Open-ended review is the way we most often see a fixed scope become an unpleasant conversation.

The specification matrix

Option	Technical constraint it creates	When it is the right call
Build from an existing design model	Requires a clean, current, correctly scaled model with named layers	Whenever the design team can release one, this is the cheapest path
Build geometry from drawings	Adds a modeling phase before animation, and adds review of that model	Only when no usable model exists, or the model is unrecoverable
Single continuous camera move	Limits what can be shown and cannot skip dull transitions	Small projects, one hero space, tight budget
Multi-shot edited sequence	Each shot is a separate setup, lighting pass and render	Multiple spaces, or a narrative that has to build
Massing and material blocks only	Cannot be used as a marketing asset later without a rebuild	Coordination, user-group review, early approvals
Full marketing finish	Requires settled selections, furniture and landscape decisions	Leasing, sales and capital raise, once design is stable
Two included revision rounds	Comments must be consolidated into one list per round	Standard for a single approver structure
Extended or committee review	Priced as additional rounds, or hourly beyond the included two	Public approvals, boards, multi-department sign-off
Cutdowns and vertical versions	Cheap when scoped with the main render, expensive afterward	Any project with a paid or social component

Why a per second rate is the wrong question

A per second rate is only meaningful if the studio has already decided what is in the second. Rates quoted that way get there by fixing the other four variables silently, usually at the low end, and the difference surfaces later as change orders.

We price on area and spaces instead, which is why a ninety second edit and a two minute edit of the same building often land on the same number. The rate above is what a walkthrough costs when nothing unusual is in the way. We still want to see the model and the shot list before the number is final.

How to lower the cost honestly

Release a clean model. Reduce the number of spaces entered rather than the length. Accept a lower finish level where the audience does not require it. Consolidate your reviewers. Order every deliverable you will need at scoping instead of returning for cutdowns in month three.

What does not lower cost: shortening the edit while keeping the same spaces, or asking for fewer frames at the same shot count.

What to ask any studio before you compare quotes

How many revision rounds are included and what counts as a round. Whether the quote assumes your model is usable. How many distinct spaces are priced. Whether cutdowns are included. Two quotes that differ by half are usually answering these four questions differently, not offering different quality.

Related reading: what length a walkthrough should be covers the variable people over-weight, narrated versus silent is a real cost line, senior living communities and office and workplace projects show how sector changes the shot count.