Render engine

A render engine is the part of the toolchain that turns a modelled scene into a picture. Some engines run as plugins inside programs such as SketchUp, Revit or 3ds Max; others are separate applications you import the model into. For the user, the engine is what defines the material editor, the types of light, the camera controls and the final image quality.

What sets engines apart

• Method: real-time engines based on rasterization, physically based engines using ray tracing or path tracing, and hybrids of both.
• Hardware: whether they run on the processor (CPU) or the graphics card (GPU).
• Workflow: inside the modelling program or in a separate environment.
• Library: ready-made materials, plants, people and objects.

Choosing the right one

There is no single right engine, only the one that suits the project and the team. An architect who wants fast design feedback may lean towards a real-time engine; a visualization studio chasing the highest quality may prefer a physically based one. The modelling software already in use, the available hardware and the learning curve all play a part.

For more on how engines are used in practice, read render engines for architectural projects.