16 Years of Rendering: From Overnight Renders to Real-Time Magic
Back in 2009, when we launched our small indie animation studio in Stoke-on-Trent, rendering wasn’t a quick process — it was a ritual. You’d set up a scene, hit render, and then… wait. And wait. And wait. More often than not, you’d head home, cross your fingers, and hope the machine hadn’t crashed by morning. Our first rendering sidekick? Mental Ray in Maya. Reliable, yes, but definitely a test of patience (and coffee supplies).
At the time, we were just starting out in advertising, VFX, and high-end corporate animation. Our rendering capacity became one of the things that earned us early industry respect. While many studios were sticking firmly to Mental Ray, we weren’t afraid to experiment. We tried new tools, embraced GPU rendering early, and found ways to punch above our weight. That curiosity and willingness to adapt helped our work stand out against much bigger studios.
Over the years, we’ve tried (and loved, and occasionally sworn at) a whole lineup of render engines. Each brought something new — faster speeds, more realism, or just a fresh way of doing things. Here’s our hall of fame:
Mental Ray (Maya) – The OG. Faithful, but slow enough to make you binge an entire TV series while you waited.
V-Ray – A favourite for its balance of speed and quality, especially during the architectural visualisation boom.
RenderMan (Pixar) – Pure Hollywood-level rendering power. Stunning results, but not without a learning curve.
3Delight – Often underestimated, but a strong performer for certain workflows.
Arnold – A studio classic. Reliable, physically accurate, and built for complex scenes.
Octane – Our first taste of GPU rendering. Lightning fast, sleek, and a game-changer at the time.
Redshift – Another GPU powerhouse, delivering serious speed on big projects.
Mantra (Houdini) – The versatile Swiss Army knife of rendering.
Karma (Houdini) – Houdini’s newer contender, with big potential.
Eevee (Blender) – Our first leap into real-time rendering. Sacrificed some realism, but gave instant feedback.
Cycles (Blender) – Blender’s dependable workhorse for high-quality offline renders.
Everything changed when Unreal Engine 4 came into play. Suddenly, real-time rendering wasn’t just for gamers — it was for us. Lighting, shadows, and reflections updating instantly in front of our eyes felt like stepping into the future. We began using Unreal for projects where interactivity and speed were essential, and it opened up completely new possibilities.
For our clients, this shift has been brilliant. Whether it’s a health and safety video or a high-end marketing campaign, we can now produce sample renders quickly and with far less ambiguity. That means smoother feedback, faster creative decisions, and more clarity in the final vision.
But here’s the truth: there’s no one-size-fits-all render engine. Each has its pros and cons. Real-time engines like Unreal are brilliant for speed and flexibility, but when you’re building vast environments with hundreds of lights and characters, sometimes the “old-fashioned” offline render engines are still the best fit.
Sixteen years later, it’s incredible to see how rendering has evolved. What once took hours, days and sometimes months now often happens in seconds. But one thing hasn’t changed: render engines are just tools. What matters most is the story you tell with them.
And the story of rendering is far from over. With real-time technology getting stronger every year, the line between “waiting” and “instant” is disappearing. The future looks bright — and beautifully rendered.