Renderers a Guide

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    ew other parts o the 3D market oer quitethe thrilling and oten bemusing diversityas rendering sotware. While most artists

    are content to use the tools built into their primaryapplication or one o a small number o specialistpackages or modelling, texturing and animation,rendering solutions multiply like rabbits. In thepreliminary research or this article, we countedover 40 currently in use and thats beore you getto the CAD industry. Sometimes, you suspect thatdevelopers are writing them just or the un o it

    So or anyone overwhelmed by the sheer range o

    systems available, weve put together this guide orthe perplexed. But rst, a ew basic questions.

    Do you need a third-party renderer?The rst question to ask when choosing a renderer iswhether you actually need a third-party solution. Formodo and Cinema 4D users, the answer is probablyno. Artists we spoke to commented that Cinemasbase engine is adequate or many jobs, althoughmost proessionals also use Maxons AdvancedRender 3 module. Similarly, NewTek evangelist WilliamVaughan estimates that 90 per cent o LightWaveusers work with the built-in renderer.

    Over in the 3ds Max and Maya communities,things are rather dierent, with most mid-to-largeVFX houses opting or a RenderMan-compliantsystem such as RenderMan, 3Delight or AIR;while most visualisation studios opt or one othe big three 3ds Max renderers, V-Ray, Brazil r/sand nalRender, or their GI capabilities and highraytracing speed. Houdinis built-in Mantra rendereroers a hybrid o the two approaches: its singlebiggest underestimated eature, according to Black

    Mountain VFXs Abdelkareem Abonamous.

    Does VFX have to mean RenderMan?In serious visual eects work, its easy to assumethat there is only one renderer in town: PixarsRenderMan. But that isnt necessarily the case.RenderMan is great i you have enough o a teamto support it, says VFX supervisor Allan McKay, aveteran o ILM, Blur Studio and Prime Focus. A loto small and mid-sized studios just automaticallyassume their work is going to look as good as thebig boys i they use it. Its like buying a Flame suitebecause you hear its good or compositing.

    For smaller studios, RenderMan-compliant systemslike 3Delight, AIR or even the open-source Aqsis

    and Pixie oer many o the benets without suchheavy technical overheads, while McKay notes thatmental ray is also worth considering. RenderMan is

    much more fexible and open, so its very ast whenoptimised. But mental ray is really solid or certainthings like water and glass.

    Do you need a physically based system?O all o the issues raised here, the pros and conso physically based rendering have probablybeen responsible or the most fame wars overthe past ve years. While conventional renderers

    use mathematical shortcuts to approximate thebehaviour o light, sacricing absolute realism orspeed and controllability, newer systems such asMaxwell Render, ryrender and Indigo Renderer usealgorithms that closely replicate the real world. Suchpackages progressively rene the rendered resultover time, resulting in a trade-o between speedand image quality. They oer potentially unparalleledresults, but many artists nd them agonisingly slow.

    So which is better? While most visualisationstudios we spoke to used V-Ray or most o theirwork, physically based renderers also had staunchsupporters; while some used both, either on a per-jobbasis, or employing a physically based renderer to getan idea o what overall lighting levels should be.This one really does come down to personal taste.

    The right renderer or the jobOver the next six pages, you can nd proles oten o the most important renderers currently onthe market and what their users eel are theirstrengths and weaknesses. For reasons o space,we havent included renderers intended primarily

    or industrial design tools or SketchUp. Nor havewe covered renderers still awaiting a 1.0 release,such as LuxRender or FurryBall; or those on whichdevelopment has been discontinued, such as Gelatoor BMRT. And, with the exception o mental ray, weelt that it was unnecessary to review the built-inrender engines o the main 3D packages in detail,since most people are already amiliar with them.

    The summary table at the end o the article listsother key third-party renderers and built-in renderengines, and you can nd a more inormation on ourwebsite, including an extended version o this article.But or now, happy render hunting!

    More information online: tinyurl.com/renderers

    The making o 2012

    F

    048 | | February 2010

    GLOSSARYKey technical termsused in this article

    Biased rendering

    >Any rendering system thatdoes not converge on thecorrect solution when manyrenders o the same sceneare averaged. Bias otenoccurs when an algorithmignores or misrepresents thecontribution o a particularlighting eect or example,reected or reracted light or the sake o computationalspeed. Many standardalgorithms, including mostradiosity methods and photonmapping, are biased.

    RenderMan-compliant renderer

    >A renderer that conorms toPixars RenderMan InteraceSpecifcation protocol. Otenknown as RIB renderersater RenderMans native

    RIB fle ormat. The Pixarsotware commonly knownas RenderMan used tobe more strictly known asPhotoRealistic RenderManor PRMan, to distinguish itrom this protocol.

    Unbiased rendering

    > Any rendering system thatconverges on the correctsolution on average. The termis oten used interchangeablywith physically basedrendering, although this isnot actually accurate: a resultthat is physically correctis one that matches nature,whereas unbiased is purely amathematical concept.

    01V-RayMany 3ds Max artists renderer o choice,

    and especially ubiquitous in visualisation

    > TYPE Biased/unbiased (depends on settings),non-RenderMan-compliant> PRIMARY USES VFX, visualisation> HOST APPLICATIONSNative support or: 3ds Max, Maya. Via thirdparty: Blender, Cinema 4D, Rhino, SketchUp> PRICE $999> DEVELOPER Chaos Group

    At times, the presence o V-Ray in the sotwareused lists in online galleries seems so ubiquitousthat youd be orgiven or thinking that it camebuilt in to 3ds Max: just one measure o how muchthe speed and power o this Bulgarian-developedrenderer have endeared it to artists, both orvisualisation and personal work, and to a lesserextent, VFX. Although interviewees noted thatrecent updates to mental ray are encouragingsome studios to switch back, V-Rays all-roundstrengths, good orum support and large pool oreelance artists make it dicult to dislodge rom

    its position o dominance in the industry.

    EXPERT OPINIONGus Capote, art director, Neoscape

    STRENGTHS

    Great speed-to-render-quality ratio

    Very stable on large scenes

    Multiple calculation options, including brute

    orce, irradiance maps and light cacheWEAKNESSES

    Limited antialiasing on channel passes

    Distributed rendering can create issues

    with 3ds Maxs Backburner system

    An industry standard:our o the fve previouswinning entries in theArchitectural 3D Awards,including this 2006 imageby Gustavo Capote, listV-Ray as the renderer used

    Rendering sotware Rendering sotware

    Text:JimThacker

    Renderers:a guide

    or the perplexedRenderMan or RenderMan-compliant? V-Ray or mental ray?Our guide to todays expanding rendering sotware market cutsthrough the conusion to help you fnd the renderer you really need

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    050 | | February 2010 3dworldmag.com

    Rendering sotware

    February 2010 | | 051

    Rendering sotware

    FPrime oers LightWave 3Dusers ast, intuitive interactiverendering on jobs such as thisprint ad rom Splashlight

    04

    HyperShotA little renderer rom the world o designvisualisation thats starting to make it big in DCC

    > TYPE Biased, non-RenderMan-compliant> PRIMARY USES Visualisation> HOST APPLICATIONSNative support or: Pro/Engineer, Rhino, SketchUp,SolidWorks, SpaceClaim. Supports most DCCpackages via 3DS, Collada, FBX and OBJ ormats> PRICE $995 (HD edition: see website or others)> DEVELOPER Bunkspeed

    With a development team including technicalAcademy Award winner Henrik Wann Jensen, therewas little doubt that HyperShot would turn out to bea bit special. Marketed as The rst digital cameraor your 3D data, ease o use was a priority romthe outset, with the renderer quickly nding avourwith industrial designers wanting to visualise theirown models, but put o by the complexities o Mayaor Showcase. Recently, however, DCC proessionalshave begun to realise the power concealed beneath

    HyperShots deceptively simple exterior. Its a littlerenderer but it can kick ass, says Escape Studiostraining development director Lee Danskin.

    EXPERT OPINION Mark Pritchard,design manager, Drive Design

    STRENGTHS Extreme ease o use Very rapid results Deceptively fexible material systemWEAKNESSES Manipulation tools can be awkward

    03

    fnalRenderA ast, versatile raytracing render enginethat perorms strongly on complex scenes

    > TYPE Biased, non-RenderMan compliant> PRIMARY USES VFX, visualisation> HOST APPLICATIONS 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Maya> PRICE 6951,295($1,050-1,950: varies according to edition)> DEVELOPER cebas Visual Technology

    Speed and perormance on complex scenes werethe key eatures cited by our interviewees inchoosing nalRender, one o the three big 3ds Maxrenderers: both selling points that seem to havebeen amplied in the recent R3 release. While asmaller user base makes it more dicult or studiosto call upon a pool o reelancers while scaling upor projects than with V-Ray, the product maintainsa strong ollowing while its visibility in the worldo visual eects has been recently raised by itsuse at Uncharted Territory, lead acility on RolandEmmerichs 2012. Native versions or Maya and

    Cinema 4D urther widen nalRenders appeal.

    EXPERT OPINION Ari Sachter-Zeltzer, owner, Shadowplay Studio

    STRENGTHS

    Extensive, customisable feature set

    Good render elements system, including option

    to include/exclude objects

    Powerful new layered EXR exporter

    WEAKNESSES

    Hardcoded defaults not ideal for speed or quality

    Needs a proxy system

    02

    Brazil r/sA third-party renderer or 3ds Max thatstraddles the worlds o VFX and visualisation

    > TYPE Biased, non-RenderMan-compliant> PRIMARY USES VFX, visualisation> HOST APPLICATIONSNative support or: 3ds MaxVia third party: Rhino> PRICE $995 (includes 10 render nodes)> DEVELOPER Caustic Graphics

    O the three main third-party 3ds Max renderers,Brazil r/s has arguably the strongest pedigree in VFX.Scott Kirvan and Steve Blackmon, co-ounders ooriginal developer SplutterFish, both worked at BlurStudio in the 1990s: a background borne out byBrazils raytracing and antialiasing capabilities. Whileit has not achieved the same ubiquity in visualisationas V-Ray and lacks a physical sky system and GIcache or animations it maintains a dedicated userbase, though announcements have slowed sinceBrazil was acquired by hardware rendering rm

    Caustic Graphics earlier this year. It will be interestingto see where Caustic takes this much-loved tool.

    EXPERT OPINIONMichiel Quist, ounder, 3idee

    STRENGTHS High stability Very ast raytracing and 3D motion blur Quality and speed o image samplingWEAKNESSES

    Small user base

    No SDK

    05FPrimeThe interactive renderer that changedthe way many people work with LightWave 3D

    > TYPE Biased, non-RenderMan-compliant> PRIMARY USES General> HOST APPLICATIONS LightWave 3D> PRICE $399> DEVELOPER Worley Laboratories

    When Steve Worley rst released FPrime backin 2004, some people jokingly suggested thathe should put in an oer to buy LightWave

    itsel, such was the developers standing inthe host apps user community. While themarket has caught up to some extent, withsome interviewees reporting that they nowuse FPrime mainly or setting up lights andsuracing, its still remarkable how quicklythis ultra-ast interactive renderer made itselindispensable in so many peoples workfows.Real-time previews make set-up more intuitive,while the progressive rendering engine allowsusers to stop and start renders without havingto wait to the end to see results.

    EXPERT OPINION Joe Ze,Creative director, Splashlight

    STRENGTHS Ultra-ast rendering on complex scenes Handles area lights and transparency

    without signicant time penalty Intuitive, ecient progressive render engineWEAKNESSES

    Lacks ability to use LightWaves volumetrics Struggles with some new material nodes

    Its origins may lie inVFX, but Brazil r/s alsoremains a workhorse ovisualisation studios suchas Utrechts 3idee

    Used in both VFX andvisualisation, recent

    high-profle fnalRenderprojects include theseshots rom Uncharted

    Territorys work onthe movie 2012

    While its frst audience camerom automotive visualisation,DCC studios are startingto realise the power andsimplicity o HyperShot

    Image3idee

    ImagesColumbiaPictures

    ImageDriveDesign

    ImageSplashlight

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    Rendering sotware

    07

    MachStudio ProCan this GPU-accelerated production rendererand compositing system live up to its early hype?

    > TYPE Biased, non-RenderMan-compliant> PRIMARY USES Animation, visualisation> HOST APPLICATIONS Native support or:ArchiCAD, 3ds Max, Maya, Rhino, SketchUp.Supports most DCC applications via FBX ormat> PRICE $3,995> DEVELOPER StudioGPU

    With the advent o a new generation o tools thatactively harness a workstations GPU to calculateresults, the goal o production-quality renders inseconds rather than minutes or hours may nallybe approaching. The rst o this wave o applicationsto hit the market, GPU-accelerated rendering,compositing and grading system MachStudio Propromises not merely dramatically reduced rendertimes but the potential to open up entirely newproduction workfows. While its still too early to tellwhether the sotware really lives up to the hype,sources tell us that major London VFX houses are indetailed discussions with developer StudioGPU.

    EXPERT OPINIONChris Edwards, CEO, The Third Floor

    STRENGTHS

    Intuitive interactive workow

    Empowers directors and cinematographers

    WEAKNESSES

    Export process from Maya is time-consuming

    and not straightorward

    Artists require training in unique workow

    10

    TurtleRobust global illumination and advanced bakingeatures make or an indispensable games tool

    > TYPE Biased, non-RenderMan-compliant> PRIMARY USES Games> HOST APPLICATIONS Maya> PRICE $1,499> DEVELOPER Illuminate Labs

    Initially perceived as a more general-purpose globalillumination renderer, Turtle quickly ound its nichein games, where it developed a reputation as aast, fexible system or baking lighting inormation.Employed on such distinctly dierent-looking recentproductions as Dragon Age: Origins (pictured above),Killzone 2 and Mirrors Edge, users praise its eatureset, the fexibility oered by Lua scripting, and thetechnical support oered by developer IlluminateLabs. There may be other ways to solve the problemo creating lighting assets or games, but or itspower to enable a studio to quickly iterate the lookand eel o a level, Turtle is largely unchallenged inthis sector o the market at the minute.

    EXPERT OPINIONAndreas Papathanasis, seniorgraphics programmer, BioWare

    STRENGTHS

    High-quality results

    Extensive render optimisation options

    Large range of map types and output f ormats

    WEAKNESSES

    Difcult to integrate into baking pipeli nei not using Maya or level editing unlikeTurtles sister application, Beast

    06Maxwell RenderThe application that introduced most artiststo the idea o physically based rendering

    > TYPE Unbiased, non-RenderMan-compliant> PRIMARY USES VFX, visualisation> HOST APPLICATIONSNative support or: 3ds Max, ArchiCAD, orm.Z,Cinema 4D, LightWave 3D, Maya, modo, Rhino,SketchUp, SolidWorks, SotimageVia third party: Allplan, Houdini, MicroStation,solidThinking> PRICE $995

    > DEVELOPER Next Limit Technologies

    At the time o its original alpha release in2004, physically based system Maxwell Renderbecame one o the most talked-about productsin the 3D industry. Five years on, it remains thede acto benchmark or other renderers o itstype. Version 2.0, released in late 2009, boasts agreatly improved speed-to-noise ratio and greaterprocessor scalability one interviewee reportedit perorms 4-15 times aster than 1.7, dependingon the scene and while its core market remainsvisualisation, Maxwell is also being adopted orsome visual eects tasks, including matte workon The Curious Case o Benjamin Button.

    EXPERT OPINIONTim Ellis, head o unbiasedlighting and texturing,Cityscape Digital

    STRENGTHS Unparalleled render quality

    Intuitive network rendering,including resume render

    Powerful Multilight system

    WEAKNESSES Render times can still

    be very long, particularlyor larger scenes

    Oering extremerealism, and now withan improved speed-to-noise ratio, Maxwellremains a benchmarkor unbiased renderers

    Early users o GPU-accelerated rendering andcompositing system MachStudio Pro include pre-vizhouse The Third Floor. Will VFX studios ollow suit?

    Turtle bakes all thecomponents neededor modern games suchas Dragon Age: Origins,including normal maps,ambient occlusion andpolynomial textures

    In

    setimage:AketoshiTada,a

    taKikakuco(info@atakikaku,com)

    09

    RenderManPixars production workhorse retains its positionas the big name in rendering or visual eects

    > TYPE Biased, RenderMan-compliant> PRIMARY USES VFX> HOST APPLICATIONS Native support or: MayaVia third party: Blender, Cinema 4D, Sotimage> PRICE $3,500 (Pro Server edition)> DEVELOPER Pixar Animation Studios

    For large animation houses, RenderMan remainsthe renderer to beat. Developed and used by Pixarsince the late 1980s, our interviewees noted that itrequires a large technical support team to harnessully, and that reliance on third-party exportersto get les into its RIB ormat can be an issueor smaller studios, but that its reputation as aproduction workhorse remains unchallenged. AsILM VFX supervisor John Knoll notes: RenderManswidespread use among acilities whose reputationdepends on creating consistently excellent imagery istelling. Its extreme fexibility, quality, robustness andscalability have made it the standard that it is today.

    EXPERT OPINION John Knoll,VFX supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic

    STRENGTHS

    Extremely robust, production-proven renderer

    High-quality output

    Flexible and scalable

    WEAKNESSES

    More costly than other RenderMan-compliantrendering solutions

    RenderMan remains thetool o choice or largestudios such as ILM andDigital Domain on projectssuch as Transormers:

    Revenge o the Fallen

    ImageDreamWorksPictures/ParamountPictures.CourtesyofIndustrialLight&Magic

    ImageTheThirdFloor

    ImagescourtesyofBioWare

    08

    mental rayThe frst port o call or artists working in Max, Mayaor Sotimage, enjoying a resurgence in popularity

    > TYPE Biased, non-RenderMan-compliant> PRIMARY USES General> HOST APPLICATIONS 3ds Max, AutoCAD,Inventor, Maya, Revit, Sotimage> PRICE Integrated into host application> DEVELOPER mental images

    Built into 3ds Max, Maya and Sotimage, mental rayremains the rst port o call or many smaller studios,both in VFX and visualisation, with intervieweesreporting a return to the platorm rom third-partytools in recent years. As well as the price or lack oit users cite its wide range o physically accuratepreset shaders and ease o set-up as key sellingpoints. Jamie Cardoso, co-author o the bookRealistic Architectural Visualization with 3ds Max andmental ray, notes the ew drawbacks as the natureo its proxy system, and the act that the new irayinteractive rendering engine, while more powerulthan alternatives, is not yet part o Max or Maya.

    EXPERT OPINION Jamie Cardoso,senior 3D visualiser and consultant

    STRENGTHS

    Free, and fully integrated into host packages

    Wide range of physically accurate preset shaders

    Rapid results on complex scenes

    WEAKNESSES

    Proxy system does not enable retrieval of the

    original mesh as in V-Ray

    iray not yet part of host applications

    A shot rendered in 3ds Max and mentalray at GMJ Design. The renderer oers anattractive mix o power and accessibility

    ImageGMJDesign(www.gmj.co.u

    k)

    Image

    GlassCanvasProductions(www.g

    lass-canvas.co.u

    k)

    Rendering sotware

    Mainimage:7-t(www.7-t.co.u

    k)

    A retail unit in Oxord Street, Londonrendered with 3ds Max and mental ray

    at Glass Canvas Productions

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    3dworldmag.com054 | | February 2010 3dworldmag.com

    Selected built-in render engines Selected third-party renderers

    Developer

    Current release

    Price

    Annual maintenance

    Other pricing notes

    RenderMan-compliant?

    Unbiased?

    Fully GPU-accelerated?

    Includes shader compiler?

    Key market sectors

    Applications supported

    3ds Max

    Blender

    Cinema 4D

    Houdini

    Lightwave 3D

    Maya

    Sotimage

    Other (selected applications only)

    Platorms

    Features

    64-bit compatible

    SDK

    Network rendering

    InstancesProxy system

    Render layers/passes

    Interactive render preview

    Material system

    Layered materials

    Bump and normal mapping

    Micropoly displacement/MTD

    Subsurface scattering

    BRDF support

    Raytracing

    Global illumination

    Ambient occlusion

    Colour bleeding

    HDRI

    Caustics

    Camera controls

    Depth of eld

    3D motion blur

    f stop controls

    Bokeh effects

    Tonemapping

    Hair and ur

    Particle rendering

    Points

    Spheres

    Implicit surface/blobbies

    Baking tools

    Texture baking

    Vertex baking

    Point cloud baking

    Radiosity normal maps

    Physical sky

    Photometric lights

    EXR support

    Other key eatures

    BlenderFoundation

    2.5

    Free

    N/A

    Python only

    Any

    N/A

    Win/Mac/Linux

    Indevelopment

    Indevelopment

    Indevelopment

    Built-incompositor

    Built-invideoeditor

    Audioplayback/sync

    MaxonComputer

    11.5

    $3,695

    N/A

    PriceorStudiobundle

    Any

    N/A

    Win/Mac

    Built-intexturepainting

    Unlimitedrendernodes

    Truemulti-threading

    SideEectsSotware

    10.0

    $1,995

    $800

    Unlimitedrendernodes

    Any

    N/A

    Win/Mac/Linux

    Volumerendering

    Amazoncloudsupport

    Multi-segmentblur

    NewTek

    9.6

    $895

    N/A

    Unlimitedrendernodes

    Any

    N/A

    Win/Mac

    Linuxduein CORE

    Due in CORE

    Anim.radiositycache

    Unlimitedrendernodes

    EXIFsupport

    Luxology

    401

    $995

    N/A

    Inc.50render nodes

    Any

    N/A

    Win/Mac

    Internal

    Volumetriclights

    Anisotropiceects

    Fresneleects

    DnAResearch

    9.0

    $900 - $2,150

    $190 - $450

    Firsttwothreadsree

    VFX

    Viathird-partyplug-in

    Viathird-partyplug-in

    Native

    Native

    Native

    Rhino

    Win/Mac/Linux

    Via RSL

    Bent normals

    Point-basedGI

    Stereorendering

    Proceduralgeometry

    SiTexGraphics

    9.0

    $450

    $150

    Priceorourthreads

    VFX

    Viathird-partyplug-in

    Viathird-partyplug-in

    Native

    Viathird-partyplug-in

    Inprogress

    Rhino

    Win/Linux

    Programmableshading

    Instancershaders

    CausticGraphics

    2.0

    $995

    N/A

    Inc.10render nodes

    VFX, visualisation

    Native

    Rhino

    Win

    Quasi-MonteCarlocore

    Unlimitednumbero

    renderpresets

    cebasVisualTech.

    3.0 (3dsMaxed.)

    $1,050 - 1,950*

    See website

    *695-1,295

    VFX, visualisation

    Native

    Native

    Native

    Win

    Unlimitedrenderelems.

    Truehybridscanline/

    raytracing

    WorleyLaboratories

    3.0

    $399

    N/A

    Unlimitedrendernodes

    Any

    Native

    Win/Mac

    Windows only

    Via LightWave

    Via LightWave

    Hybrid 2D/3D

    Via LightWave

    Imagezoomsupport

    Supportsmultiple

    cameras/windows

    RandomControl

    1.0

    795 ($1,190)

    N/A

    Inc.2 rendernodes

    Visualisation

    Native

    Native

    Native

    Native

    Native

    modo,Rhino,SketchUp

    Win

    Not public

    Lighting only

    Present

    Bunkspeed

    1.9

    $995

    N/A

    PriceorHD edition

    Visualisation

    Via OBJ, FBX

    Rhino,SketchUp

    Win/Mac

    Turntableanimation

    Renderqueue

    (BothProeditiononly)

    GlareTechnologies

    2.2

    295 ($440)

    N/A

    Inc.2render nodes

    Visualisation

    Native

    Native

    Native

    Native

    Native

    SketchUp

    Win/Mac/Linux

    Bump only

    Via other settings

    Shadinglanguage

    Fullspectralrendering

    Cameraaperturedir.

    IoannisPantazopoulos

    2008

    Free

    N/A

    Hybrid

    Visualisation

    Native

    Native

    SketchUp

    Win/Mac/Linux

    Instancingbrush

    Easyclay/depth/mask

    rendermodes

    StudioGPU

    1.2

    $3,995

    N/A

    In development

    Any

    Via FBX

    Indevelopment

    Native

    Indevelopment

    Rhino,SketchUp

    Win

    In development

    In development

    In development

    In development

    Stereoscopicrendering

    Real-timesubpixel

    displacement

    NextLimitTech.

    2.0

    $995

    N/A

    VFX, visualisation

    Native

    Native

    Viathird-partyplug-in

    Native

    Native

    Native

    modo,Rhino,SketchUp

    Win/Mac/Linux

    Lighting only

    Multi-lightsystem

    3,500+reematerials

    NativeRealFlowsupport

    mentalimages

    3.8

    As host app.

    N/A

    Standalone:$745

    Optional

    Optional

    VFX, visualisation

    Native

    Supported

    Supported

    Native

    Native

    Win/Mac/Linux

    Via extension

    Via extension

    Via extension

    Progr.IBLrendering

    Fastblurrasterisation

    MetaSLlanguage

    PixarAnim.Studios

    15.0

    $3,500

    $700

    PriceorPro Servered.

    Animation, VFX

    Viathird-partyplug-in

    Viathird-partyplug-in

    Native

    Native

    Viathird-partyplug-in

    Win/Mac/Linux

    Via custom code

    Via image shaders

    Viacustomshader

    Viacustomshader

    Via custom code

    Deepshadows

    Point-basedcolour

    bleedingandSSS

    IlluminateLabs

    5.0

    $1,499

    $899

    Games

    Native

    Win/Mac/Linux

    Optimisedbaking

    ScriptableviaLua

    Hardwarevis.oresults

    ChaosGroup

    1.5

    $999

    N/A

    Inc.networkrendering

    Optional

    VFX, visualisation

    Native

    Viathird-partyplug-in

    Viathird-partyplug-in

    Native

    Indevelopment

    Rhino,SketchUp

    Win/Mac/Linux

    Via V-Ray RT

    3ds Max only

    Varies with ed.

    Via plug-ins

    VRayFur

    VRayEnvironmentFog

    Blender Cinema 4D Houdini Escape LightWave 3D modo 3Delight AIR Brazil r/s fnalRender FPrime ryrender HyperShot Indigo Renderer Kerkythea MachStudio Pro Maxwell Render mental ray RenderMan Turtle V-Ray

    February 2010 | | 055

    Sources:Alldatawassupplieddirectlybytherelevantso

    ftwaredeveloper,withtheexceptionofFPrime

    Rendering sotware Rendering sotware

    In brie| Key renderers compared