User Manual

The Renderer3D uses one of the cameras in the scene (typically connected to a Merge3D
node) to produce an image. If no camera is found, a default perspective view is used. Since this
default view rarely provides a useful angle, most people build 3D scenes that include at least
one camera.
The image produced by the Renderer3D can be any resolution with options for fields
processing, color depth, and pixel aspect.
Software vs. GPU Rendering
The Renderer3D node lets you choose between using a software renderer or an OpenGL
renderer, trading off certain aspects of rendered image quality for speed, and trading off depth
of field rendering for soft shadow rendering, depending on the needs of a particular element of
your composition. To choose which method of rendering to use, there’s a Renderer Type
pop-up menu in the Controls tab of each Renderer3D node’s parameters in the Inspector. The
default is Software Renderer.
The Renderer Type option in the Controls tab of a Renderer3D node.
Software Renderer
The software renderer is generally used to produce the final output. While the software
renderer is not the fastest method of rendering, it has twin advantages. First, the software
renderer can easily handle textures much larger than one half of your GPU’s maximum texture
size, so if you’re working with texture images larger than 8K you should choose the software
renderer to obtain maximum quality.
Second, the software renderer is required to enable the rendering of “constant” and “variable”
soft shadows with adjustable Spread, which is not supported by the OpenGL renderer. Soft
shadows are more natural, and they’re enabled in the Shadows parameters of the Controls tab
of light nodes; you can choose Sampling Quality and Softness type, and adjust Spread, Min
Softness, and Filter Size sliders. Additionally, the software renderer supports alpha channels in
shadow maps, allowing transparency to alter shadow density.
When the Renderer3D node “Renderer Type” pop-up is set to OpenGL Renderer, you cannot render soft
shadows or excessively large textures (left). When the Renderer3D node “Renderer Type” pop-up is set to
Software Renderer, you can render higher-quality textures and soft shadows (right).
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