Showcase is capable of displaying a scene either in Hardware rendering (top image above) or Ray Trace rendering mode. Each rendering mode has distinct properties and advantages, while all workflows and tools for data preparation, presentation, and output remain the same, regardless of which mode is used. Switching between Hardware and Ray Trace rendering modes is easy, and the appearance of the scene is maintained to the limits of each mode.

Advantages of each rendering mode

Hardware rendering mode

• Uses the GPU (video card) to calculate and display the scene.
• Very fast response time (frames per second) on qualified hardware.
• Easy to manipulate objects, materials, textures and cameras due to response time.
• Very fast image and movie output at large resolutions.

Ray Trace rendering mode

• Uses the CPU (computer processors) to calculate and display the scene.
• Very high quality visuals, with realistic shadows, transparency and reflections.
• Enhances environments, lights and materials with new properties and capabilities.
• Can be optimized for interactivity or final output quality.

What is ray tracing?

Ray tracing is a rendering method that produces highly realistic visuals by tracing “rays” from each rendered pixel into the 3D scene, which then bounce, bend and create visual effects similar to real light. In Showcase, ray tracing will be visually similar to hardware rendering, but adds many new effects.

• Ray tracing in Showcase can be both interactive (the scene can be manipulated while the ray tracing updates), and offline for output (the scene can be rendered at any size or quality level and written to disk immediately).
• Interactive Ray Tracing can progressively improve in quality whenever the scene is static.
• Advanced ray tracing effects can be selectively added and controlled using presets in the Performance and Quality dialog.
• All tools, controls and manipulators appear the same in Hardware rendering and in Ray Tracing, with the exception of wireframe display and some image output formats.

Types of Ray Tracing effects

In addition to displaying what is seen in Hardware rendering, Ray Tracing creates visual effects that add to the quality of the image. Some of these effects are based on the materials in the scene, others require a particular Ray Tracing Quality preset to be used to see the effect. Some of the effects are listed below, in order or their appearance within presets.

• 

  Ray traced reflections and transparency: objects can reflect themselves, the environment, and other objects in the scene. The effect is controlled by material properties, and the Reflection and Transparency Max Limit in the Performance and Quality dialog sets the number of reflections seen at once.

• 

  Refraction: objects seen through transparent materials will appear distorted based on the Index of Refraction for that material, similar to lenses and transparent media in the real world. The effect is controlled in material properties.

• 

  Absorbance: transparency of materials can be colored and depth-limited by simulating the absorbance of light based on thickness. The effect is controlled in material properties.

• 

  Ray traced shadows: objects can cast accurate shadows on themselves, other objects in the scene, or on the environment. Lights in the scene also cast shadows in Ray Tracing mode, and all shadows can have varied softness based on distance and light size. The effect is controlled by light properties and enabled in Ray Tracing Quality presets.

• 

  Ray traced ambient shadows: all objects can have ambient shadows (shading from light surrounding the scene) calculated by the ray tracer. Unlike Create ambient shadows, this effect does not require pre-calculation and is not visible in Hardware rendering. The effect is enabled in Ray Tracing Quality presets.

• 

  Global Illumination: all objects can have simulated “bounce light” from other objects and the environment cast upon their surfaces. This will visibly lighten the scene in areas where strong lighting is present. The effect is enabled in Ray Tracing Quality presets.