The Ultimate Render Engine Comparison for Architects

What is the best rendering engine for Architects?

Discover in our Ultimate Render Engine Comparison! We've gathered data and stunning images from various engines to help you make an informed choice.
Here are the engines covered in this video: Vray, Lumion, Twinmotion, Enscape, D5, Unreal Engine, Corona with 3ds Max, and Cycles with Blender.

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Thanks to everyone who participated in this community project! The images submitted are absolutely incredible and I'm so happy to see this comparison side by side of the same briefing.
Here's everyone who participated, make sure to go check out their work!

Lumion:

D5:
Ibsa Abdi - @ibs_459

Enscape:
Byron Lopez - @byronilopez
Tristan Sykes - @sykestudios

Twinmotion:
Ewing Danga - @ewing_danga

Vray:
Tony Nascimento - @TN3DStudio

Unreal Engine:

3ds Max and Corona Render:

Blender Cycles:
Léon Bührer - @leonbuehrer

If you want to be a part of a future community project, be sure to follow us on Instagram @learnupstairs

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Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:17 How this comparison works
0:44 Which engines are included?
1:30 Popularity
1:45 Types of Engine
2:22 Pure ArchViz
2:30 Learning Curve
3:30 Pricing
5:46 Student Version
6:58 Let's take a look at the images!
8:55 User Satisfaction
9:22 Library of Assets
10:44 Compatibility
11:29 PBR Workflow
11:49 Render Elements (Channels)
12:23 Post-production Capabilities
12:48 Parallel Projection (Diagrams)
13:45 Lots of other things to cover
14:15 The Best Engine is...
14:32 Different engines for different scenarios
15:26 Final words to take into account!

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Let's talk:

[luisrckr]

ONE TEACHER TOLD ME THAT : THE BEST SOFTWARE IS THE ONE YOU KNOW HOW TO USE

[miroslavskoda]

Problem here is comparison has been made by different skill level artists and that made biggest impact. Not the engine. What needed to be done is having exact same scene rendered by all those engines doing minimum changes only to convert materials and assets. Then the comparison would make at least a little bit of sense.

[ShowItBetter]

Wow, so many things to say here, so I'll try to go in order:
1. I love the transparency behind this video man, there are many things each company can learn from this video
2. I applaud this video for having a very south american perspective! It just goes to show the challenges and probably disadvantages of not being in Usa / Europe aka the first world
3. So cool how you included the community in such a complex video, I love the results with Twinmotion, Enscape and Blender. It just goes to show that the artist/architect is much more important than the software.
4. The pricing section of this video is the most revealing. It just makes me want to learn blender and unreal!

This is the video many of us have been waiting for, and also a very complicated one to make! Congratulations Oliver!

[RaulScanavino]

D5 Render just saved my final graduation project! I have concluded architecture graduation with maximum score!

[chidi]

In my humble opinion as someone who uses Cycles, Unreal, Twinmotion, Corona & V-Ray it all depends on how much time I have to work on the project and what the end deliverable is. They are all really good!

[pasupathiprakash]

It's just awesome to look at those Cycles renders, because of that hyper realistic look!

[massaalbesher]

this video, the effort put into it, the data collection process, the infographics, the presentation, and the video subject are all on point ! saying thank you is not enough oliver ! i'm sure this video was much awaited by everyone in the archviz communiy !

[TNDStudio]

The real win here is you making this video and starting a much-needed conversation around this. This is so Well done you've really outdone yourself Bro!
I started off with V-ray a long time ago and it's always my go-to engine, but Times have changed and it's not always the most optimal. I've also tried Blender and Fusion 360 on and off so I know how amazing they are. As of late, I have been a big fan of RT engines because of the fast turnaround. If you've worked in an office with high-volume deliverables you know Enscape is a blessing lol.
Man, netflix as nothing on Archviz education and you here putting out bangers lol.

[gretheconnerth]

Very intelligently set up showing the side-by-side comparisons in simple graphics. Perfect!

[SignataDesign]

Thank you Oliver. This is a video that explains as clearly as possible how we approach the selection of rendering software for routine use in architectural work, especially Archviz.
very detailed and good presentation.

The point of all this is that it is no longer about what rendering software we use but how we use the software.

I learn a lot from videos.

[gabrielfluorite]

Most thorough comparison I've seen, great work guys!

[AshtonAimeD]

I honestly love D5 after using enscape and lumion for years . I made the switch a year ago . If you want to make isometric views in D5, you can make them with and without using the section too. If you start off in perspective mode and reduce field of view to 1, then switch to 2 point perspective mode, you can get isometric views . It will keep all vertical lines parallel

[alejandrojimenezrestrepo]

You're the best!!! I really think so because I need this type of information, and you give us a lot. I have seen 12 videos in only one day.

[mehradklt]

thank you for this video, charts, video editing, and all the aspects you talked about . this video was a wholesome

[imaan]

omg i needed this video. i am an architecture student and for months i tried to figure out which render engine i should use but the amount of engines and videos and opinions overwhelmed me so bad, that i simply cant decide

[chriscontreraibuki]

Tremendo video Oliver! Realmente sos una inspiración para el mundo de la arquitectura.

[DArtistree]

Vray with Chaos Vantage in 3ds Max has been my new go to workflow primarily because of it's ability to work with billions of polygons and still render 4K stills in 1.5 minutes. Because Vray and Vantage are cross compatible, you can render all your previz quickly in Vantage, render a handful of hero shots in Vray and then do animation in Vantage. I think the one important thing you failed to mention is the handling of large scenes and higher poly assets, as well as environment tools and scattering for exteriors. The ability to export to a scene viewer is also worth considering.

[xanzuls]

I don't do archviz but man this is one the best well put together video about rendering/3d i've seen in a while. great job dude.

[shahabakhter]

The most amazing and helpful I have ever seen in this topic, thank you and we do appreciate your hard and professional work, keep it up

[basavkathuria]

The production quality of this video is mind blowing .