Cycles is Blender’s ray-trace based production render engine and in development since 2011. Created by Blender Foundation Cycles is Blender’s ray-trace based production render engine and in development since 2011. It was originally developed by Brecht van Lommel, and is maintained by an active team of developers today. Since its release as Apache 2.0 (permissive open source), it’s also in use by other 3D tools, such as Poser and Rhino.FeaturesCORE SPECIFICATIONSUnidirectional path tracing with multiple importance samplingBranched path tracingMulti-core CPU Rendering with SIMD accelerationGPU rendering with NVidia CUDA & AMD OpenCLMulti-GPU supportUnified kernel code for CPU and GPU More Info »INTERACTIVITYDesigned for interactive updatesFast object, shader, light changesTiled and progressive renderingLAYERS & PASSESRender layers for decomposing the sceneRender passes for geometry and lightingHoldout mattesGEOMETRYInstancingHair curvesVolumesMulti-core BVH buildCAMERAPerspective and orthographic camerasPanoramic and fisheye camerasStereoscopic renderingDepth of fieldMOTION BLURCamerasObject transformsMeshes and curvesSHADINGPhysically basedNode based shaders and lightsProduction tricksOpen Shading Language (CPU only)VOLUMESAbsorptionScattering and emissionSmoke and fireSubsurface scatteringLIGHTINGGlobal illuminationPoint, Sun, Spot and Area lightsMesh lightsWorld backgroundSky modelLight portals for indoor scenesTEXTURESImage texturesEnvironment mapsProcedural textures (noise, voronoi.
Find Top 10
Cycles Renderer
Alternatives
| # | Image | App Name | Features | Platforms | Price | Website Link |
| 1 |  |
OctaneBench® | Mac Windows Linux |
Free | Website | |
| 2 |  |
Octane Render | Mac Windows Linux |
Commercial | Website | |
| 3 |  |
Mitsuba | Mac Windows Linux |
Free | Website | |
| 4 |  |
Maxwell | Mac Windows Linux |
Commercial | Website | |
| 5 |  |
V-Ray |
Autodesk 3ds Max Rhinoceros Sketchup Autodesk Revit |
Mac Windows Linux |
Commercial | Website |
| 6 |  |
Adobe Dimension | Adobe Creative Cloud | Mac Windows |
Commercial | Website |
| 7 |  |
LuxCoreRender | Mac Windows Linux |
Free | Website | |
| 8 |  |
RenderMan | Mac Windows Linux |
Free Personal | Website | |
| 9 |  |
Thea Render |
Blender Autodesk Softimage Autodesk 3ds Max Sketchup |
Mac Windows Linux |
Commercial | Website |