- The process of generating an image from a model
- Used for computer and video games, simulators, movies or TV special effects, and design visualisation
- Some are integrated into larger modelling and animation packages, some are stand-alone, some are free open-source projects.
- A renderer is a carefully engineered program, based on a selective mixture of disciplines related to: light physics, visual perception, mathematics, and software development.
- Pre-rendering
- Typically used for movie creation
- Computationally intensive process
- Real-time rendering
- 3D video games
- Relies on the use of graphics cards with 3D hardware accelerators.