How to Test Orthographic Architectural Visualization in Unreal Engine 5.3

What will you learn in this guide?

This guide explains how to evaluate orthographic rendering in an architectural visualization scene in Unreal Engine 5.3. The goal isn’t to replace perspective views with orthographic projection across every project, but to use a controlled comparison to see whether it communicates façades, massing, or spatial relationships more clearly.

Epic’s UE 5.3 release notes mark orthographic rendering as experimental. This release includes improvements to several rendering features that previously couldn’t be used with this projection; Epic notes that many UE5 features, including Lumen, Nanite, and shadows, can work with it. Since the feature is experimental, it’s important to test it in a real project scene before incorporating it directly into a delivery workflow.

Requirements and scope

The basic requirements for this workflow are Unreal Engine 5.3 and an architectural scene to test. The sources don’t specify an account type, license tier, graphics card model, or memory requirement. Accordingly, no hardware or account requirements are assumed here. Measure the scene’s performance on your own workstation.

The source specifies more particular requirements for using multiple bounces in Lumen reflections: Hardware Ray Tracing (HWRT) must be enabled, Hit Lighting must be on, and “Max Reflection Bounces” in the post-process volume must be set to at least 2. This isn’t a general requirement for trying orthographic projection; it applies only to those who want to test this reflection behavior.

The steps below don’t add menu paths, setting values, or hardware recommendations that aren’t in the sources. Find the orthographic camera option based on the interface and scene setup in your project, and check variables one at a time during testing.

Step-by-step test workflow

1. Define the purpose of the test. First decide what design information the image needs to communicate. If a façade layout, the relationship between floors, or the arrangement of building masses is central, you can evaluate an orthographic view. If you want to emphasize the atmosphere and sense of depth in an interior, include a perspective view for comparison as well. The sources don’t prescribe a fixed approach; the choice depends on the presentation goal.

2. Choose a small, representative scene. To make the results easier to interpret, start with a section containing key materials, lighting, and geometry rather than the entire project. This isn’t a software feature, but a recommended way to assess experimental support in a controlled manner. A scene that communicates scale and framing relationships makes it easier to see the effects of different projections.

3. Enable orthographic projection experimentally. According to the UE 5.3 notes, orthographic rendering was already available as a camera option, but unsupported rendering features limited its use. The goal in this release is to make more of UE5’s current features available with orthographic projection. Switch the camera to an orthographic view and check whether the framing suits the scene’s purpose. Since the release notes don’t give a specific menu path or setting value, no interface steps are described here.

4. Make a fair comparison with a perspective view. Review both projections using the same scene and content. This helps ensure the only changing factor is the viewing method—not the model, materials, or lighting. Note the readability of façades and building masses, the sense of depth in interiors, and how well the image serves your presentation goal. Evaluate the comparison in the context of the project’s real use, not just the editor view.

5. Check Lumen separately. The UE 5.3 source notes list Lumen among the features that can work with orthographic rendering. Review the appearance of lighting and reflections in your scene. If you’re testing multiple bounces in Lumen reflections, enable HWRT and Hit Lighting, and make sure “Max Reflection Bounces” in the post-process volume is set to 2 or higher. A comparison made without these conditions doesn’t test multi-bounce reflection behavior.

6. Review Nanite assets according to quality needs. UE 5.3 allows original model tangents to be stored and used on a per-asset basis in Nanite assets. Epic notes that this choice can increase the memory and disk footprint of the relevant asset by approximately 10%. For low-poly models, check whether custom tangents make a quality difference; there’s no need to use the extra data on assets that don’t need it. Don’t treat this cost as a fixed percentage for the whole scene: the notes describe the increase per asset.

7. Check shadows and scene behavior. The UE 5.3 notes list shadows among the features that can work with orthographic rendering. Inspect how shadows look as you change the models and lighting conditions in the test scene. The sources don’t specify an architectural scene setup for this check, so evaluate the results against your own assets and presentation requirements.

8. Validate the result in a production context. If the orthographic view improves the intended presentation, repeat the test in the project’s key scenes. The sources don’t provide information about output resolution or export settings, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to recommend a particular output format. Before deciding to use the experimental feature for delivery, confirm that you can get repeatable results with the scene and workstation you’ll use.

Common mistakes

Treating experimental support as established production behavior: Epic classifies orthographic rendering as experimental in UE 5.3. Test it first, and don’t tie the entire presentation workflow to it after an initial trial.

Making a decision based on only one projection: An orthographic view can make some design relationships easier to communicate, but a perspective view may convey depth differently. Decide by comparing both views of the same scene.

Missing Lumen’s multi-bounce reflection requirements: HWRT alone isn’t sufficient for multiple reflection bounces. Hit Lighting must also be enabled, and “Max Reflection Bounces” must be set to at least 2.

Overlooking the extra cost of Nanite tangents: Using original tangents may help with quality, but the source notes an approximately 10% increase in memory and disk footprint. Evaluate the decision per asset.

Treating experimental Substrate as a production solution: The UE 5.3 release notes explicitly state that Substrate is experimental and shouldn’t be used in production scenes. Regardless of your orthographic camera test, take this limitation into account before including the material system in a production plan.

Impact on architecture and visualization workflows

Architecture firms, interior designers, and archviz teams can consider this test particularly for scenes presenting design decisions and massing relationships. Comparing orthographic and perspective views in the same scene can help show what information each presentation emphasizes. However, the experimental status doesn’t imply that there are hardware or licensing requirements not mentioned in the sources; it simply means you should validate behavior with your own projects and workstation. Lumen’s multi-bounce reflection settings and Nanite’s additional per-asset memory and disk costs are concrete points to add to your technical checklist.

Students and independent visualization artists can also start with a small scene and observe the difference between projections. In offices, repeating the test on different machines and recording the UE version in use can make decisions that depend on an experimental feature easier to track across the team. Since the sources don’t provide performance figures or specific hardware requirements, measure acceptable performance with the scene itself.

Next steps

After the initial comparison, review the orthographic and perspective views together with your team. Relate which view makes the façade, space, or material effect clearer to the project goals. Then check assets using Lumen, shadows, and Nanite separately; avoid changing many settings at once and making the results unclear.

The Unreal Engine 5.3 release notes also cover other experimental developments, such as heterogeneous volumes and Substrate materials for Path Tracer. Since this guide focuses on orthographic architectural visualization, those features aren’t included in the test workflow. If you’re evaluating a new feature, treat it as a separate test and verify its status in the release notes for your version.

Sources and licensing

This guide was prepared using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5.3 and Unreal Engine 5.0 release notes. Both official documentation pages are listed in the source list with “free” license information; no specific Creative Commons license is given. The content has been reorganized based on the technical information and adapted into Turkish.