What is your favorite overall rendering engine for SketchUp?

[valerostudio]

I kind of want to answer this once and for all. Now I know folks use more than one engine, but pick only one, the one you think is the absolute best. Taking into consideration render quality, render times, UI, ease of use, etc. Placed in alphabetical order as to not favor one over the other.

[Rich O Brien]

A very valid poll...

where's TwiLight and ShaderLight? Or do you not rate them?

[JD Hill]

Please don't take it wrong, but I generally think such polls are akin to: which is the best overall tool?

• hammer
• screwdriver
• paint brush

By the way, do you think it's okay if I vote too? I was a Maxwell customer long before I was ever involved in its development.

[boofredlay]

I don't see keyshot in there either.

[tridem]

I currently use Kerkythea and Thea...it means I'm satisfied of them, but I never seriously tried most of render engines in this list, I tried some ones in the past and didn't like that time, but perhaps now I could...how can I say "this one" is the best?

[Daniel]

Picking one software through a poll and calling it the best is too subjective. I think the best way to evaluate the various rendering softwares would be under different parameters. For instance, one rendering software might perform great for exterior renderings, but not so well for interior shots.

[thomthom]

I pick V-Ray solely for it's speed. (Once you know how to use it.) The speed it such a big factor for me that it makes up for the steep learning curve and currently standing bugs and issues.

[jason_maranto]

I voted for Maxwell -- but I think that maybe it is forgotten sometimes that SketchUp itself contains quite a nice NPR render engine in and of itself (or combined with Layout).

It might be better to classify the different types of render engines since I find equally valid uses for both Photorealistic (Maxwell) and NPR (SketchUp/Layout).

Best,
Jason.

[Pilou]

Octave = Octane ?
where's TwiLight and ShaderLight?

and something like Cycles inside Blender ?

[CadFather]

well, there's 'octave'...

[Rich O Brien]

I've edited the poll to add the missing apps mentioned. It means re-voting but since the OP is not replying I didn't want the discussion to be about what's missing

As Vic reeves once said....

"88.2% of Statistics are made up on the spot"

So get voting

[andybot]

vote early, vote often!

edit: just for the record, I think this is a flawed idea as others have said, and I'm sure will say. Interesting popularity contest though.

[unigami]

How can anyone vote on this unless they have tried them all and compared them? Furthermore, how do you define "Best Overall"? There are so many factors to that; price, speed, flexibility, SU integration, support, etc. etc, and what is important to me, being a hobbyist, is certainly different than the needs of someone rendering for a living. I just don't think it is a valid poll...

[Pilou]

Blender but for a special reason
I have a very old computer so speed render is like as *25 with Blender if I make the same directly with something like Podium or Twillight inside Sketchup even at very low level !
7 seconds against 3 minutes
From the cool lighthouse Challenge by Solo

[irwanwr]

wow, even Kerkythea can compete with paid version render apps

[Marian]

I don't see Simlab Composer in there.

I guess the answer to your question depends heavily on people's needs, ability and budget. For me Simlab is very good right now, but I may also buy Thea one day.

[valerostudio]

My apologies for forgetting a few and stirring the pot. I guess I wanted to see which was more popular and not the 'best'. There is no best rendering engine. All have there own advantages and disadvantages. I guess I wanted to see where the bigger user base was and so far it seems Thea is the leader.

[David_H]

I can only vote for one, but I use Podium, Thea and twilight.

I suck at all 3.

[Krisidious]

Vue and Lumion will blow your mind... so fast, so easy such incredible results. movies and renderings. what is also out of site is the price for either one. but it will make you look and feel like a master.

this was done in lumion demo in like 15 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_52SCu0h ... RknWY1XpdG

[Sonder]

I've tried Kerkythea, V-ray and Podium. Of the three, my favorite by far has been Kerkythea. I am really glad to see Thea in the lead, as I am buying that shortly. Kind of makes sense I guess!

[Pixero]

I have Thea, Twilight, Vray and LightUp. (Twilight and Vray aren't used much though.)
I think Vray for SU in it's current state isn't quite working for me. No instancing/proxies possible, and the set up time is much longer than with Thea. I did some tests that seem to indicate that Theas Adaptive (BSD) is a little faster than Vray with comparative settings.

[David_H]

I'm planning on buying all of them. I want to expand my suckiness horizons.

[julyyen]

wow, even Kerkythea can compete with paid version render apps

Yep,

I also vote for Kerkythea and I think this render engine with proper settings and a good illuminated hdri can beat big boys!
Any news about new improved version (maybe with IBL )?

[jason_maranto]

Perhaps a more revealing poll would be something like this:

On a scale of 1 to 10 what are the most important factors for choosing an external Render Engine to you:


Not Important - Most Important
Price:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Ease of Use:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Speed:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Quality of Output:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Photo Realism:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Flexibility/Features:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

SketchUp Integration:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Documentation/Training/Support:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Industry Standard/Familiarity:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Peer Recommendations:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

And then add the poll we are using here but change to "What is your preferred render engine."

I think that would tell us alot more useful information than the current poll -- something like this can be set up on http://www.surveymonkey.com/ pretty easily.

Best,
Jason.

[irwanwr]

I also vote for Kerkythea and I think this render engine with proper settings and a good illuminated hdri can beat big boys!
Any news about new improved version (maybe with IBL )?

Well, actually i use Kerkythea only now. Dropped any other "free" with restriction shorted paid version renderers. Agree with that potential it has behind settings as I can see the difference between. Might even beat those paid ones. I'd go for Thea if I got the chance.
Haven't heard much about the new release yet. But the latest Boost (beta?) release really impressed me with the shortened time needed to render in most settings.

[Zoom123]

IS Kerkythea actively developed? Last version seems to be from 2008.

From the ones I tried so far I like Twilight most, which uses the Kerkythea engine, but it also has not been updated for more than a year.

[irwanwr]

Hi there Zoom,

As I already mention up there in the recent reply, there is a Kerkythea Boost.
The one you mentioned is the Kerkythea Echo 2008.
Kerkythea Boost is still under development currently. Haven't got any further info when should it be published as a final release. It works a bit faster than the Echo release, I think.

Perhaps you should try to get the info from the Kerkythea forum. That's where I got the Kerkythea Boost.

[notareal]

@Zoom123, There will be a new Kerkythea release in some point. At the moment you can try a development version. It will offer some speed improvement, but as been a development version - there are some known issues (better read trough bug topics ).

[allanx]

Based on my experience with Render engines in Sketchup I prefer and use Maxwell Render, because it has the best integration right now and has fast results, alot of preset materials and can run in slow computer...and the UI is great!!!

allanx

[thomthom]

fast results

I tried Maxwell when looking for a rendering solution - and my biggest problem was that it was so slow. And I found no way to speed it up. Has the engine gotten faster? Or did I miss something essential in terms of performance optimisation?

It's also why I haven't been using unbiased engines in general - as I've felt it's taken all too long to complete a render with good enough results.