User Guide

How to get the most out of Modulr Studio.

Every tool, what it is for, how to drive it, and the workflows that string them together. If you read one section, make it the workflows.

Covered in this guide

3D Configurator Render Engine Interior Render Line Converter Weather Lab Detail Studio Material Editor Animation Studio Jobs & Quotes

Start here

The one rule that decides your results.

The quality of what comes out depends almost entirely on what goes in. A clean, well-composed source produces a faithful render. A dark, cluttered, low-resolution photograph produces a guess.

What a good input looks like

The whole building in frame, with a little space around it
Shot straight on, or at a clean three-quarter angle
Even light, with no heavy shadow across the elevation
Nothing large blocking the view: cars, bins, scaffolding
Reasonable resolution. Phone photos are fine, screenshots of screenshots are not

The tools

Every tool, end to end.

What it does, what to feed it, how to drive it, and what people actually use it for.

01 Live

3D Configurator

Build the actual geometry of a garden room or annexe to real dimensions, walk around it and through it, then send any view straight into the Render Engine.

What to feed it

Nothing. You build it from scratch in the browser.

How to use it

1 Pick the shape first, box or gable. That choice drives every control that follows.
2 Set the footprint: width, depth and wall height, in millimetres.
3 On a gable, set the eaves and ridge heights. The pitch follows from the two, and the bargeboards, fascia depth and roof lip are real geometry rather than a drawn-on line.
4 Pick cladding, roof and frame finishes on the Finish step. Cladding can differ per elevation, and the frame can be aluminium, uPVC or timber.
5 On Openings, add doors and windows. Choose the door set - hinged, French, bi-fold or sliding - and it opens the way the real product does. Drag anywhere on the wall or nudge with the keyboard; every handle snaps to clean steps.
6 On Extras, add decking, a canopy, a picture-frame front, a garden boundary or a covered outdoor section open to the garden under the same roof.
7 On Interior, add internal walls. Each one is a single object you select and drag, it snaps to the shell, and any door you put in it belongs to that wall and travels with it. Then set out the kitchen, bathroom, furniture and lights.
8 Press Walk Outside to stand in the garden facing the building, or Walk Inside to stand in the room. Move with the keyboard, click a wall, floor, frame, door or unit to change its finish, and press Open Doors to open the sets.
9 Use the Lighting view to set out spotlights on a ceiling plan, in rows or a grid.
10 Watch the live cost estimate update as you go. Save Design keeps it on your account.
11 Open Camera mode, frame the shot with a saved camera, press Capture, and upload the file in the Render Engine. Cameras save with the design, so a scheme renders from the same angles every time.
12 Press 3D file to download the building as a 3D model (.glb) at full size, in metres, with its materials. In SketchUp 2025 or later use File > Import; in Blender, File > Import > glTF. Furniture and the garden are not included. On the paid plans.

Ways people use it

Design live on a client call and agree the size before anyone draws anything
Walk a client around the outside and through the inside of the building they are buying
Produce consistent visuals and a dimensioned plan for a quote
Test whether a taller ridge or deeper overhang is worth the cost
Lay out the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom of an annexe, so a client can see where everything falls
Export a PDF pack with a dimensioned plan and the specification
Take the building into SketchUp or Blender to detail it further, or into your own render setup

Dimensions here are real, so what you render matches what gets built.

Every view comes from the same model, so your visuals cannot contradict each other.

The lens slider at the bottom right frames the shot that goes to the Render Engine. The walkthrough keeps its own lens.

In the walkthrough, T switches between inside and outside, and Esc gives you the mouse back.

Changes save on their own a few seconds after you stop - to your account when signed in - and the chip by Save Design says where. Save Design puts the design on a job.

Render Engine

Turn a drawing, model screenshot or photograph into a finished pro-level CGI exterior visual.

SketchUp or CAD screenshot
Line drawing or elevation
Photograph of an existing building
A capture from the 3D Configurator

1 No image to hand? Press Try a sample on the empty state and the engine runs on one of ours.
2 Upload your image. The engine automatically detects the existing materials.
3 Review what it found, then change any of the five categories: walls, roof, windows, doors, ground.
4 Add instructions in the notes box for anything the pickers do not cover.
5 Render, then download at 4K.
6 Not quite right? Same look re-runs it with the design held steady; New look starts the interpretation again.
7 Save it to a job so it survives the browser tab.

Sell a scheme from a rough SketchUp model before any detailed design work
Show an existing house with a proposed annexe or extension in place
Produce three cladding options for the same building in one sitting

The cleaner the input, the more faithful the output. A tidy model screenshot beats a cluttered one.

Use SketchUp mode when the source is an untextured model. It tells the engine to add realism rather than reinterpret the design.

Detected materials are a starting point, not a decision. Change anything that looks wrong before rendering.

The verification badge on a finished render means the output was checked back against your source image, not just against the settings you chose.

Same look and New look are the fastest fix for a render that is close but not right. Reach for them before you rewrite the notes.

03 Beta

Interior Render

Turn a view from inside the room into a finished interior visual: floor, walls, ceiling, joinery and furniture each read on their own.

A view from inside the 3D Configurator walkthrough
A photograph or render of an interior

1 In the 3D Configurator, walk inside, open Cameras, frame the room and press Send to Interior Render. Or upload an interior image.
2 The engine surveys the room: walls, floor, openings, furniture and lights.
3 Change any surface or item in the list, add notes, then render.
4 Download it, or save it to a job.

Show a client the finished room before anything is built
Try two floors or two wall colours on the same room

It is in beta: results are being refined, and anything odd is worth telling us about.

A view sent from the configurator carries the design with it, so the finishes come through as designed.

Line Converter

Produce clean architectural line work from a model or a photograph.

SketchUp or CAD export
Photograph
Rough sketch

1 Upload the source image.
2 Choose whether to keep colour or go pure line.
3 Set the aspect ratio to suit the page it is going on.
4 Generate, then download it or carry it into the Render Engine.

Create drawings for a planning document or design statement
Clean up a messy model screenshot before rendering it
Keep a consistent drawing style across a whole project
Turn a site photograph into a measured-looking elevation study

This is the single best way to improve render fidelity. Convert first, render second.

Colour retention suits tonal drawings. Turn it off when you want a technical look.

Weather Lab

Change the weather, season and atmosphere of a finished render. The building itself stays exactly as it is.

Any finished render, or a photograph

1 Upload or carry over a render.
2 Pick a weather condition, from golden hour through to snow.
3 Pick the season, which changes planting and ground treatment.
4 Add environment notes for anything specific, such as wet paving or low sun through trees.
5 Apply.

Show a client the same scheme in summer and winter
Produce a moody evening shot for the front of a brochure
Demonstrate how a north-facing garden reads at different times of year
Give a planning submission a neutral overcast look rather than a flattering sunset

Overcast is the honest choice for planning. Golden hour is the persuasive choice for sales.

If you want to change the building rather than the weather, use the Material Editor instead.

Detail Studio

Take a finished render to macro. A 2x2 close-up sheet of the materials, or a single camera shot of any detail.

A finished render, a photograph, or a model screenshot

1 Upload your image, then choose a mode when prompted.
2 Material Close-up: pick four focal points, then generate a 2x2 macro detail sheet.
3 Camera shots: the engine suggests the close-ups worth taking; pick one and it takes that photograph.
4 Download the sheet or the shot, or save it to the job.

Build a specification page showing the actual texture of every finish
A close-up through the glazing or at a corner for the brochure
Show the client the cladding grain and the glazing bars before they commit

The mode prompt appears after upload. Both modes photograph the building as it is; nothing is redesigned.

To change a material rather than show it, use the Material Editor.

Material Editor

Change the materials on a building as a masked edit. Only the surface you change is repainted.

A render, a photograph, or a model screenshot

1 Upload your image. The engine detects its cladding, roof, glazing, doors and ground straight away.
2 Swap any category from the presets or your own saved library. The image shows in green exactly which pixels will change.
3 Or type a change the pickers do not cover, such as "make the fascia board anthracite grey".
4 Apply, then download or save to the job.

Show three cladding options during a single client meeting
Save a supplier sample to your library and reuse it across every job
Answer "what would it look like in cedar instead" without redrawing anything

Everything outside the green tint stays byte-for-byte identical, so two versions line up exactly side by side.

Anything you save to your material library appears in the pickers on every future project.

08 Coming soon

Animation Studio

Turn a finished render into a short cinematic clip - a slow push in, a gentle pan, a breeze through the planting.

A finished render, or any exterior photograph

1 Upload the render you want to bring to life.
2 Choose a camera move: slow push in, slow pan, gentle arc, or locked off.
3 Add motion if you want it: motion blur, gentle breeze, golden hour, a distant figure.
4 Add anything else in your own words, then generate.
5 It takes about two minutes. Play it back, then download the MP4.

A moving hero for your website instead of a still
Social posts, which the algorithms favour over photographs
Open a client presentation with the scheme moving rather than sitting there
Show a scheme in its setting, with the planting and light alive

Describe what you want to see, not what you do not. This model reads "no cars" as a request for cars.

Clips are 8 seconds at 1080p and every one carries an invisible watermark.

Included with The Hub, with a monthly allowance shown at the top of the page.

09 New

Jobs & Quotes

Keep every client, address, value and file together instead of scattered across folders, and quote each job from your own price book.

Renders, floor plans, PDFs, documents

1 Create a job and fill in the client name, address and value.
2 Set a status: lead, quoted, won, lost or complete.
3 Attach renders, floor plans and documents, tagging what each one is.
4 Everything saves to your account automatically.
5 Start a quote from the job: it is priced from your price book and the 3D design saved with the job.
6 Copy the share link from the job header to send the client a read-only proposal page.

Find last March's render for a returning client in seconds
Keep a pipeline view of what is quoted and what is won
Hold plans, renders and the quote together for a handover
Pick up on a different machine without copying files around

Jobs are private to your account. Nobody else can see them unless you create a share link.

A share link shows renders and the estimate only. Client contact details never appear on it, and you can disable the link at any time.

The Save to a job dialog offers your last-opened job first, which is almost always the one you want.

A job holding a saved 3D design is badged as such on the card.

Attach the source drawing as well as the render. Future you will want it.

Workflows

Putting the tools together.

Four routes people run regularly, from a five minute quote to a full scheme pack.

The quick quote

About 5 minutes

1 Screenshot or sketch the scheme you are quoting
2 Render Engine, detect materials, pick the client's cladding
3 Weather Lab for a bright summer version
4 Save both to a job against the client's name

The full scheme pack

About 30 minutes

1 3D Configurator to build the actual dimensions, outside and in
2 Walk Inside and Walk Outside with the client to settle finishes
3 Export the PDF proposal: dimensioned plan and specification
4 Capture the hero exterior view and upload it to the Render Engine
5 Detail Studio close-up sheet for the specification page
6 Weather Lab for a seasonal alternate
7 Everything attached to one job

A moving hero for your website

About 3 minutes

1 Open a finished render, or make one in the Render Engine
2 Animation Studio, slow push in, with a gentle breeze
3 Download the MP4 and drop it straight onto your homepage
4 Repeat for two or three schemes and run them as a slideshow

From an existing SketchUp model

About 10 minutes

1 Screenshot your model from the best angle
2 Line Converter to clean up the line work
3 Render Engine in SketchUp mode
4 Material Editor to produce two alternative finishes

Selling an option change

1 Open the existing render from the job
2 Material Editor
3 Swap the cladding, then apply
4 Send both versions to the client side by side

Troubleshooting

When it does not look right.

The render changed my building

Run the source through Line Converter first. Clean line work constrains the engine far more than a photograph does. Keep your instructions to materials and lighting rather than describing the structure.

The materials came out wrong

Detected materials are only a starting point. Open each of the five pickers and set them explicitly before rendering rather than relying on detection.

It looks like a computer game

Use an overcast or golden hour condition in Weather Lab rather than harsh midday sun, and avoid stacking too many dramatic instructions in the notes.

Two renders of the same scheme do not match

Generative models vary between runs. For a consistent set, build in the 3D Configurator and render from that, since the geometry is real and every view comes from the same model.

The output is blurry or lacks detail

Check the source resolution. Upscaling a small screenshot cannot add detail that was never there. Re-export from your model at a larger size.

I lost a render

History only holds recent work on this device. Attach anything you care about to a job, which saves to your account and is available anywhere.

I lost a 3D design

The configurator saves as you go. Once a design is saved to a job, every change saves to that job a couple of seconds later. Before that, when you are signed in, it keeps your latest unsaved design in your account, and the configurator offers it back as "Restore your unsaved design?" next time you open it. Not signed in, it is kept in this browser only, and you are warned before you leave the page. The Saved / Saving / Unsaved note by Save Design shows where it stands.

The client cannot open the link I sent

Share links are unlisted rather than password protected, so the whole URL matters. Copy it from the job header rather than retyping it, and check you have not disabled the link since you sent it.

The planning result is not what I expected

Read the reasoning under the traffic light. It names the limit your answers crossed, and the usual culprit is boundary distance or ridge height. The result is an indication from what you entered, not a determination, and NAPC can confirm it properly.

Still stuck?

Send us the image you are working from and what you were trying to achieve, and we will tell you the fastest route to it.

info@modulrstudio.co.uk