High-End Rendering in Blender

Your Guide to Professional Rendering in Blender

The internet is full of opinions: on forums, social media and chat groups, people love to speculate. And when it comes to render engines, opinions are plentiful: Corona is the best. No, Octane is the best. Cycles is too slow, you should be using Redshift!

But are these opinions based on careful research, or just vibes and groupthink?

This training sets out to answer all your questions about high-end rendering in Blender. Can Cycles even be used for professional renders? Or should you be considering a third-party solution?

When I first started using Blender, I knew very little about Cycles. I was very familiar with Octane and V-Ray, having created training for both (including official training for Chaos Group), and I understood the mechanics of modern raytracing very well, so I was curious to dive into Cycles to see how it compared to the competition.

I wasn't disappointed. In some ways it's the most well-optimised renderer I have ever used, and the most artist-friendly.

But of course, there are nuances, and Cycles isn't always the best choice in every situation. It lacks a few features and isn't as specialised as some renderers when it comes to things like architectural interiors or jewellery.

So this training sets out to inform you in a very thorough way about the best options you have as a Blender artist.

Starting with the very basics: an explanation of modern render engines that will help you understand what is going on under the hood, and allow you to leverage that knowledge in practice, so you will never be baffled by terms such as camera rays or photon tracing again.

By demystifying the jargon and translating technical terms into easily understandable concepts, you will be able to approach the settings in any render engine without feeling intimidated or confused.

Then the training takes a deep dive into challenging scenes to show the strengths and weaknesses of three very powerful rendering solutions available to all Blender artists for free: Cycles, Octane, and LuxCore.

Importantly, the training focuses on a production-level project to make nuanced comparisons relevant to the most demanding users (unlike most YouTube videos, which are based on simple demo scenes).

As a Blender artist you will be curious how Cycles holds up against a top-tier engine such as Octane (spoiler alert: it holds up very well). In terms of shading and overall render quality Cycles is right up there with the best.

But of course there are situations where the other options have an edge. After watching this training you will have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of all three renderers, some of which you might find surprising (some of the results surprised me!). And crucially, you will be able to make informed decisions about which approach will work best for you, in every situation.

LuxCore was, for me, the most interesting of the three. It has a couple of neat tricks up its sleeve, is well integrated with Blender, and is very easy to use, offering automatic conversion of Cycles settings and materials. It has a Corona-like caching system that can really accelerate architectural renders and is an underrated and often overlooked option.

Octane of course is a market leader, and a fantastic render engine. But it too has minor weaknesses, and is not always the best choice in every situation. After watching my careful comparison between Octane and Cycles you will be well equipped to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Of course most Blender artists will be using Cycles, and that probably includes you. This course will address any nagging doubts you may have about Cycles as a professional rendering solution, and provide a clear understanding of its capabilities and its weaknesses.

So take the guesswork out of rendering, and join me in High-End Rendering in Blender.

Watch the intro video here: