This is a bit like asking how does tea taste different from coffee. Different render engines have different styles, and with a little practice you can often recognize what app a picture has been rendered in, though I wouldn't claim to be 100% accurate in this. I would certainly say that Poser, Bryce, Vue and Cinema tend to be recognizable; I don't have enough experience of other apps to say. Describing the differences is not easy. Cinema renders tend to be very sharp and clear. Bryce renders are vivid, except when badly lit, when they suffer from a very characteristic hardness. Vue ones are slightly faded looking. Poser renders are rather flat and a bit tacky. That's terribly simplified, but it's as well as I can do right now.

Message edited on: 08/20/2004 18:06