Stone Source
A creative solution for high resolution 3D material scanning
With hundreds of SKUs, it’s no wonder that Stone Source is a leading resource for natural stone. Despite having ten grandiose showrooms across the United States, the main challenge of this project was to be able to showcase a new product line online.
Introducing our proprietary 3D material scanner
Seeing as it’s extremely costly to build a full-on kitchen area in order to showcase a marble countertop or a whole bathroom area to display shower tiles, we needed to come up with a more efficient solution. This meant scanning the marble and ceramics to later integrate them in a virtual scene instead! So we got to work building and innovating a 3D scanner that can generate high resolution materials with the click of a button. Using the 150+ ceramic tiles that Stone Source shipped to our studio, we were able to produce real life textures using the scanner and save the client thousands of dollars in the process.
Adding in details and imperfections for utmost quality
Once the 3D scanner takes photographs of the tile in question using a dozen different angles, it generates a high resolution image that is ready for the next step in the pipeline. This involves an artificial intelligence (AI) script that will ensure the texture is flawlessly tileable; meaning it can be used repeatedly as a pattern without any irregularities. Once the scanned material is loaded in our computer software, our team of 3D artists will meticulously add in scratches, details and imperfections to add to the realism of the product. Just as the tiles in real life are all slightly unique and have some variations. Otherwise, for example, a living room floor with hundreds of the same perfect tile spread across would look too fake to the human eye. When creating photo-realistic 3D visualizations, our motto is that it’s all in the details!
Integrating the materials into
a social media sales strategy
With the launch of the client’s latest offering – Stone Source Home, they mandated us to create stunning visuals and videos for brand cohesiveness across their website and social media accounts. Using the aforementioned material scans integrated into realistic 3D environments, our talented team was able to craft over 25 unique living spaces to showcase their product line. Once a potential client lands on Stone Source’s website, they can browse through the different shop-able mood boards we custom designed and easily click through to the spec sheet and request a quote. This uplift in the interactive sales process is a major game-changer for the end user experience. Ultimately, this whole sales strategy allows for clients to have peace of mind before purchasing the products, thereby significantly reducing Stone Source’s percentage of returns and increasing profitability.
Developing a smooth process
for everyone involved
We were successfully able to integrate Stone Source’s luxurious tiles into virtual environments ranging from a modern blogger’s nook, to a Brooklyn farmhouse style kitchen. The best part is that with everything being created in 3D, it’s possible to fully customize and make changes directly on the computer. Let’s just say that when the terrazzo tiles didn’t look as good as we thought in the bathroom, it was much easier to change them in a virtual scene than it would have been in real life! Yet, the final result is just as realistic in our 3D renders thanks to our innovative material scanning technology. All in all, the entire process led to satisfied customers and a noteworthy increase in Stone Source’s return on investment.
