Biased or Unbiased render engines ?
There are a lot of varieties in render engines and 3D design software when considering them for a professional use. This has made 3D artists, users as well as render farm tend to look at their functional features when scavenging for the right software. Since this task can be daunting there is no better option than diving towards render engines while considering the following capabilities;
Unlike software, render engines comes with only two general categories;
- CPU based render engine
- GPU based render engine
There is also another category known as a hybrid render engine. This model can utilize the power of both the CPU and GPU at the same time.
Generally, render engines have their own ways in which the perform renderings. While some render engines carry out a biased render, others work with an unbiased rendering principle.
In this post, we will be explaining the difference between biased and unbiased rendering. To familiarize yourself with CPU or GPU based renderings, you can check out our previous posts.
Biased Render Engine
Simply put, biased is term used when all information is put together before the rays are sent to the camera. To further digest its meaning, it can be described at the improvement of algorithms to increase the render time. This process does not really define light in its physical form but tries to arrive at an approximation of how the lighting should look. In quotes; Biased means limiting – you are setting the limit to being realistic.
Some examples of a Biased Render engine include;
- V-Ray
- RedShift
- Mental Ray
- Render Man
From the list above, V-Ray is a hybrid render engine. It is one of those outstanding engines that can render files using the biased and unbiased principle.
Unbiased Render Engine
Unlike biased render, unbiased rendering means there is no cheating. The system already has concrete information that it is sending to the processors. In other words, there are no short turns when calculating rays in an unbiased rendering situation.
Since the engine will need absolute information before proceeding, it makes it to produce outstanding render quality. The only disadvantage here is the rendering speed.
People usually misquote unbiased render as the rendering that is most accurate physically. Looking at the specifics, none of the above rendering methods are accurate. The difference comes in when you look at the use of BRDF like Blinn or GGX as the approximation of the material is real life.
The unbiased render engine is usually used by film industries. And examples of such render engines include;
In the list above, one of the render engines in this category that makes use both the biased and unbiased principle is Corona.
Which is better? Biased or Unbiased?
It is hard to say which is not good or which is good because they all have their downs and ups.
But if we must pick a winner, the render engines that can be able to perform under the biased and unbiased principle simultaneously will be the king of the day.
At RenderBoost render farm, we have the full support for a large base of software as well as rendering engines that will intuitively function as a biased and unbiased render engine simultaneously. And we are offering both biased and unbiased rendering services with the best quality and at pocket friendly plans.
