Rendering engines comparison

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Blender could be used with many external renderers.

The aim of this webpage is to show which rendrerers suit your needs with pro and cons.


NAME__________ HOMEPAGE____________________________________ RAYTRACING__ G.I.________ OPENSOURCE__ EXPORTER__________ PLATEFORM________________________
Blender Internal http://blender.org yes no yes integrated Windows, Linux, OSX, Solaris, FreeBSD, Irix
Yafray http://yafray.org yes yes yes integrated Windows, Linux, OSX
Povray http://povray.org yes yes yes Blender mod or script Windows, Linux, OSX
Sunflow http://sunflow.sourceforge.net/ yes yes yes Script Java
Luxrender http://luxrender2.org/ yes yes yes Script Windows, Linux, OSX
Winosi http://www.winosi.onlinehome.de/ yes yes yes Script Windows, Linux
Aqsis http://www.aqsis.org/xoops/modules/news/ yes yes yes Script Windows, Linux, OSX
Kerkythea http://www.kerkythea.net/joomla/ yes yes no Blender mod or script Windows, Linux
Indigo http://www.indigorenderer.com/ yes yes no, but it's for free as well Script Windows, Linux, OSX
PRman http://renderman.pixar.com/ yes yes no ? Windows, OSX
Mental Ray http://www.autodesk.com/mentalray yes yes no Blender mod Windows, Linux, OSX
V-Ray http://www.chaosgroup.com/en/2/index.html yes yes no Script, Full integration in development Windows, Linux


Blender Internal

Pro

Fully integrated. All the power of Blender material panel

Cons

No GI (only Ambiant Occlusion). Slow antialiasing.


Yafray

Pro

Full GI. Nice realistic rendering. Integrated

Cons

Texture alpha channel is ignored for shadow casting... :-(

Transparent material casts solid dark shadow... :-(

Yafray ignores objects inserted as group.

Povray

You could use either the Povanim script or the custom Blender build with Povray mod.

Pro

Full GI. Nice realistic rendering. Fast

Cons

Doesn't use yet all functions of Blender like Orco mapping, background picture, skies...

Indigo

Pro

Full GI. Very realistic and fast renderings.

Cons

Closed source

Kerkythea

Blender mod and script http://cobalt3d.free.fr/images_3dblender/kerkythea/documentation/Blender2Kerkythea_en.htm

Pro

Full GI. Accurate lighting. Fast. Lot of tweaks.

Cons

Closed source. Only available on Windows and Linux x86.

Mental Ray

Blender mod http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=74765

V-Ray

Script: http://blender.bevice.ru/

Pro

Very Fast and very good for comercial use.

Cons

None ?