
Orlando Sardaro, a longtime SketchUp enthusiast and Managing Director of Design8 bv, answers the frequently asked question: “Which program should I choose to create photorealistic renders of my SketchUp designs?“
Did you know there are about 50 rendering programs on the market? But… which one should you choose if you work with SketchUp? Decision fatigue! Since we get this question so often, let’s take a closer look!
Raytracing or Realtime?
Rendering programs can broadly be divided into two categories:
- Raytracing: Images are calculated pixel by pixel and then displayed.
- Realtime: Images are displayed instantly on your monitor.
First, you’ll need to choose a category. Once that’s decided, select a program within that category that fits your needs and budget.
Four Key Differences
The four major differences between Realtime and Raytracing are:
- Speed – Real-time produces results faster.
- Quality – Raytracing delivers superior quality.
- Animation Options – Realtime allows for more dynamic animations.
- Workflow – Realtime is simpler, and its speed enables synchronized workflows.
Speed
With a Real-time rendering program, everything is calculated directly by the graphics card. Think of it like playing a video game: when driving a vehicle in a game, it would be useless to wait for the entire street to render before you can continue. By then, you’d have been overtaken ten times! Instead, you want immediate results. You turn a corner, and BAM! The streets, lampposts, houses, and even your opponent appear instantly!
However, this approach means the result can never match the quality of an image where the computer has more time to process it. Nevertheless, Real-time renders are becoming increasingly impressive. Just think of the difference between classic Space Invaders and modern Call of Duty.
When you finally press the button in a Real-time program to save your render as an image, calculating the final result takes just a few seconds or minutes at most. In contrast, a Raytracing program might need at least 15 minutes for the same image. This makes Realtime a practical choice when you have to deliver hundreds of renders at the end of the day.
Quality
Raytracing programs calculate every pixel on the screen by firing light rays (rays) and analyzing what they encounter—light sources, other objects, transparent surfaces, etc. The result is a perfect image, often indistinguishable from a photograph. Consider IKEA product images: none of them are photos!
Although this calculation is getting faster, rendering high-resolution images can still take hours. Raytracing programs usually offer a Realtime preview, but this is a rough, often grainy approximation of the final result. The Realtime preview provides quick feedback on adjustments, such as changes to colour, glossiness, or light intensity, but it’s not the finished product.
Raytracing’s strength lies in its quality, making it an excellent choice for images intended for detailed inspection, such as those in magazines.
Animation
What is an animation? It’s a sequence of moving images, meaning it’s never just a single image. Even a GIF, a moving image, consists of multiple frames. In essence, animations are like films. A second of film typically contains 25 frames (FPS, Frames Per Second). Thus, for one second of animation, you need to create 25 renders.
If you’ve read the section on Speed, you’ll understand why real-time is the ideal choice for creating animations.

In Real-time programs, you can effortlessly animate traffic, people walking, running, dancing, talking, or making calls. You can make butterflies fly, fires crackle, and with a simple click, it can rain or snow. Trees sway in the wind, clouds drift by, and as the sun sets, its colour reflects beautifully on rippling water.
Workflow
The final major difference lies in workflow, which includes the learning curve. Raytracing programs are generally harder to learn because you don’t see immediate results and they often have more options. For example, V-Ray can be compared to a highly complex professional DSLR camera.
If you have the time to delve into it, Raytracing programs can deliver outstanding results and are well worth the effort. On the other hand, you can achieve decent results with a Real-time program after just an afternoon of experimentation. If your client is satisfied with “good enough,” a Real-time program quickly pays for itself!
In between lies SU Podium. It’s a Raytracing program with fewer options and no Real-time preview. While the limited options make it easier to achieve a Raytraced result, the lack of Real-time feedback can make it harder to understand what you’re doing.
Standalone or Plugin?
There’s one more key difference between rendering programs: do they operate independently, or are they integrated as plugins/extensions in your 3D design software?
When a program runs as a plugin within your 3D design tool, any changes to your geometry are immediately reflected in the next render. In real-time, this happens instantly.
Standalone programs require you to first open your 3D model. If the model changes later, you’ll need to re-import it into the rendering program. While most adjustments are usually retained, it can still be cumbersome. This isn’t an issue with plugins/extensions, as your 3D model and render are always synchronized, eliminating potential syncing problems.
Conclusion
If your budget allows, it’s best to use both types of rendering programs:
- When speed is essential and “good enough” suffices: Realtime
- When quality is critical and you have the time: Raytracing1
The Future
Twenty-five years ago, I used to set my 486 computer to render overnight, hoping for results by morning. The final image, after hours of processing, couldn’t even compare to what we now achieve in real-time. It’s truly remarkable!
It’s expected that real-time and Raytracing will eventually converge, resulting in Realtime Raytracing—a perfect result without delays.
When will this happen? That’s hard to predict. V-Ray Vision is already approaching this, but it still has some latency. However, as technological advancements accelerate, I expect seamless Realtime Raytracing within three years.
Render Program Overview
Rendering Program | Realtime | Raytracing | Standalone | Plugin/Extension |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chaos Enscape | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
SU Podium | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Thea Render | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Twinmotion | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
Chaos V-Ray* | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
- Additionally, external computers can calculate Raytrace renders at lightning speed using services like Chaos Cloud. ↩︎