Technology is transforming how architects and designers discover, evaluate, and specify building materials. In this episode, Jessica Hall speaks with Phillippe Hebert, Co-Founder and CEO of Lightbeans, about how high-precision 3D scanning is helping manufacturers like McElroy Metal bring their products into the digital age.
Phillippe explains how photorealistic textures, downloadable 3D files, and physically based rendering are changing the pre-design process — making material selection faster, more accurate, and better aligned across entire project teams, long before a physical sample is ever touched.
Notable Quotes
- "Rather than touching ten samples physically, maybe you can look at ten samples virtually and then do a pre-selection online and get one or two physical samples at the end to make your decision."
- "If you have a manufacturer-specific 3D texture, such as McElroy's, already at the beginning of your process, the decision is mostly already made most of the time."
- "The market will value credibility, and credibility happens with accurate digital scans. Once you have the right scans, the possibilities with AI are enormous."
What You'll Learn
- How Lightbeans got its start as a bootstrap company building a first-of-its-kind material scanning technology
- What the physical scanning process looks like and why manufacturers need to send actual samples to create accurate digital textures
- Why photorealistic 3D textures are more than just pretty pictures — they change how and when material decisions get made
- How architects download and use Lightbeans textures inside design software like SketchUp, Enscape, and 3D Studio Max
- What "physically based rendering" (PBR) means and why it matters for showing how metal products behave in different lighting conditions
- How visualization tools create alignment across entire design teams working on the same project
- Why a texture download from your website is a strong early buying signal — and how to think about it as a qualified lead
- How AI and precision scanning work together (and why AI alone isn't enough for accurate material representation)
- The "walk before you run" approach to getting started with 3D product digitization
- Where the technology is headed and what it means for the future of design and construction
Key Timestamps
[0:00] Introduction — Jessica Hall fills in for Kathi Miller and introduces the episode topic: how technology and visualization are shaping the way building products are specified.
[1:30] Guest introduction — Phillippe Hebert, Co-Founder and CEO of Lightbeans, Forbes 30 Under 30 in Manufacturing, shares the origin story of Lightbeans and what "business on hard mode" really means.
[5:00] The scanning process explained — how manufacturers send physical samples, how Lightbeans digitizes them, and what post-processing looks like before textures go live on the manufacturer and Lightbeans websites.
[9:00] Why this technology is a game changer — the role of photorealistic visualization in simplifying the pre-shopping journey and reducing the number of physical samples needed before a decision is made.
[13:00] McElroy Metal's partnership with Lightbeans — Jessica walks through the eSamples, panel views, and renderings available at mcelroymetal.com and explains how they're being used in marketing.
[17:00] How architects use downloaded textures — resolution options, software compatibility (SketchUp, Enscape, 3D Studio Max), and how physically based rendering (PBR) adapts to real lighting conditions.
[21:00] Bridging design intent and field installation — how manufacturer-specific textures create earlier, more accurate decisions and better alignment across project teams.
[25:00] The challenges of representing metal products digitally — color accuracy, reflectivity, profile geometry, and making sure distributed textures are correctly calibrated.
[29:00] AI and the future of material selection — how AI will help narrow options faster, and why accurate scans are the foundation that makes AI useful rather than just a guess.
[34:00] Texture downloads as buying signals — what it means when an architect downloads a product texture and how manufacturers should think about that data.
[38:00] Biggest misconceptions and practical advice — why manufacturers don't need to digitize everything at once, how to start with best sellers, and why starting now matters more than waiting for perfection.
Mentioned Resources
Episode Deep Dive
How 3D Visualization Is Changing the Way Architects Specify Metal Building Products
The way architects and designers research, evaluate, and select building materials is changing fast. Physical sample binders, stock rooms full of product swatches, and trips to showrooms are still part of the process — but they are no longer the starting point. For manufacturers like McElroy Metal, that shift is creating both a challenge and a significant opportunity.
In a recent episode of the Building with Metal podcast, host Jessica Hall spoke with Phillippe Hebert, Co-Founder and CEO of Lightbeans and a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in Manufacturing. Their conversation covered how high-precision scanning technology is helping manufacturers bring their products into the digital world in a way that is accurate, credible, and genuinely useful to the architects and designers making specification decisions every day.
Did Lightbeans Start with a Technology Rather Than a Problem?
Most startups begin by identifying a pain point. Lightbeans took a different path. "We started from a technology — or at least an idea of a technology — rather than a need," Phillippe explained. The founding team had deep expertise in computer vision and believed that the way products were visualized online would have to get dramatically better. So they started building a scanner.
It took three years to develop and required hiring six engineers with no outside funding. "When you're trying to build a business with six engineers and no funding, it's a pretty tough start," Phillippe said. Early conversations with manufacturers — including a tile company CEO who was struggling to communicate color and texture to architects — confirmed that the need was real and the market was ready.
From there, Lightbeans grew quickly. In their first year after launching the centralized platform at lightbeans.com, they went from zero to 300 architects and designers. By year three, that number had grown to 12,000 across North America.
What Does the 3D Product Scanning Process Actually Look Like?
At its core, the Lightbeans process is straightforward. A manufacturer sends physical product samples to Lightbeans. The team scans those samples using proprietary technology that captures color accuracy, light reflectivity, and surface texture. The resulting digital files are then post-processed to ensure compatibility with the wide range of 3D design software that architects use daily.
The final textures are uploaded both to the manufacturer's own website and to lightbeans.com, where architects and designers can discover and download them. Depending on the complexity of the products, the process can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months.
For McElroy Metal, that process resulted in eSamples, panel views, and renderings now available directly at mcelroymetal.com. Visitors can see product textures represented as spheres, as realistic panel profiles, and in full building renderings — all before ever requesting a physical sample.
How Does 3D Visualization Change the Pre-Shopping Journey for Metal Building Products?
The most immediate value of 3D visualization is what it does to the front end of the decision-making process. Jessica Hall described a common challenge: contractors sometimes request a physical sample of every product in every color, making it difficult to narrow things down efficiently. Digital textures change that dynamic.
"Rather than touching ten samples physically," Phillippe explained, "maybe you can look at ten samples virtually and then do a pre-selection online and get one or two physical samples at the end to make your decision."
This is not about replacing physical samples — both Phillippe and Jessica were clear on that point. Touching and feeling a material still matters, especially for complex products like metal roofing and wall systems. But visualization moves that tactile step later in the process, after a meaningful pre-selection has already happened.
The second major benefit is the ability to see how a material actually looks on a building. A small physical swatch tells you very little about how a panel system will read at full scale, across a large roof plane, or under different lighting conditions. Digital tools make that visualization possible in ways a sample card never could.
What Is Physically Based Rendering and Why Does It Matter for Metal Product Specification?
When an architect downloads a texture from Lightbeans, they are not just getting an image file. They are getting a PBR texture — a physically based rendering asset that adapts to real lighting conditions inside their 3D design software.
"If the architect and designer simulates it in a morning lighting setting or afternoon or evening, the texture will automatically adapt," Phillippe said. "That's one of the key benefits of Lightbeans textures and why architects love the technology."
The files are distributed in resolutions ranging from 1K to 16K and are compatible with major platforms, including SketchUp, Enscape, and Autodesk 3ds Max. Once downloaded and mapped onto a model, the product behaves like the real material would under actual light — giving design teams a far more accurate picture of the finished result than any static photo could provide.
How Do Manufacturer-Specific Digital Textures Create Better Alignment Across Project Teams?
For project teams, one of the most underrated benefits of manufacturer-specific digital textures is the alignment they create. In the past, architects might use generic placeholder textures early in a project and defer the actual material selection until later in the process. That delay can create misalignment — between team members, between design intent and construction reality, and between what the architect envisioned and what the contractor eventually installs.
"If you have a manufacturer-specific 3D texture, such as McElroy's, already at the beginning of your process, the decision is mostly already made most of the time," Phillippe said. Specific products in the model from day one means fewer surprises down the line — and better communication across everyone working on the project.
How Will AI Change the Way Architects Specify Building Materials?
No conversation about the future of material specification would be complete without addressing artificial intelligence. Phillippe sees AI playing an important role in the selection phase — helping architects quickly filter down to the right options based on specific project criteria. "Let's say I need a durable matte black standing seam system for a coastal climate," he offered. "The AI will be able to find the right options."
But AI alone is not enough. Jessica noted that AI-generated material representations are still largely guesses — estimates based on whatever image data exists online, not true representations of actual products. Phillippe agreed. "The market will value credibility, and credibility happens with accurate digital scans. Once you have the right scans, the possibilities with AI are enormous. It needs to start with a proper, calibrated scan."
In other words, precision scanning and AI are not competing approaches. They are sequential ones. Scanning creates credible, calibrated data. AI makes that data discoverable and actionable at scale.
Can a 3D Texture Download Serve as a Qualified Sales Lead?
For manufacturers tracking digital engagement, Phillippe offered a useful framework for interpreting texture downloads. "If you see an architect or designer downloading a texture, it probably means he has a 3D rendering going on. And if he has a 3D rendering going on, he probably has a real construction project happening in the next couple of weeks, or months — or maybe years, depending on the size of the project."
That makes a texture download what Phillippe called a "pretty qualified lead" — not necessarily a sales-ready opportunity, but a meaningful signal that a project is in motion and that the manufacturer's product is being actively considered. For sales and marketing teams, that kind of early visibility is valuable.
How Should Manufacturers Get Started with 3D Product Digitization?
One of the most practical takeaways from the conversation was Phillippe's advice for manufacturers who feel intimidated by the scope of digitizing their full product line. His guidance was simple: don't try to do everything at once.
"Walk before running," he said. Start with your best-selling products, your highest-margin items, or your newest arrivals. See what kind of engagement and traction those generate. If the response is strong — and Phillippe suggested it usually is — expand from there at a pace that makes sense for the business.
The bigger risk, in his view, is waiting. "Start now," he said. "Don't wait two years. It's shifting very rapidly. There's a magic moment where the manufacturer digitizes the products and sees the reaction from the market — and they're like, wow, we didn't know that thing existed."
What Does the Future of Digital Material Specification Look Like for the Building Industry?
Looking ahead, Phillippe sees a future where material discovery, visualization, and specification all happen earlier, faster, and more accurately — from the comfort of an architect's office, without losing time to logistics or guesswork. "We will build better neighborhoods, better construction for our cities and as a society," he said.
For manufacturers navigating an increasingly digital industry, the message is clear. The architects and designers specifying the next generation of buildings are already working this way. Meeting them where they are — with accurate, downloadable, spec-ready digital products — is no longer a nice-to-have. It's becoming the cost of staying visible.
To explore McElroy Metal's 3D textures, eSamples, and panel views, visit mcelroymetal.com. To learn more about Lightbeans and how the platform works, visit lightbeans.com.
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