An unbiased rendering engine, the LuxRender team describe the software as being 'based on state-of-the-art algorithms, which simulated the flow of light according to physical equations, thus producing realistic images of photographic quality'.
Free for both personal and commercial use, LuxRender works with all the major 3D suites, including Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D and SketchUp. It features include a variety of material types, virtual film that allows you to pause and continue a rendering at any time. Upcoming releases look to support hair and optionally biased path tracing too.
If you're a user of open-source software Blender, you'll probably be aware that it comes with it's very own, built-in GPU-accelerated unbiased render engine, called Cycles.
Flexible and speedy, Cycles allows artists to work quickly and efficiently, with its global illumination producing quality, photoreal imagery. The latest version of Cycles has Blackbody emissive materials, hair rendering, tone mapping and volumetrics.
Available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux, Kerkythea is free software capable of producing high-quality renders. Using physically accurate materials and lights, Kerkythea has been developed to create the best quality renders in the most efficient timeframe.
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The software accepts .3ds and .obj models as well as having a free exporter for SketchUp. The website, very helpfully provides explanatory pdf files for anyone new to Kerkythea as well as a useful material guide editor, so you can really get to grips with the software.
Freestyle, a rendering software for non-photorealistic line drawings, offers something a little different. The software was developed in the midst of a research project dedicated to the study of stylised line drawing rendering from 3D scenes.
Designed as a programmable interface, users have complete control over the style of the final drawing. Inspired by the shading languages in photorealistic renders such as Pixar's Renderman, Freestyle offers access to a wealth of parameters and allows the design of a variety of rich and complex styles.
Register and get Pixar's Renderman free for non-commercial use
While it's not free yet, we thought it worth mentioning Pixar's Renderman too, as it's creators say it soon will be. The advanced technology for shading, lighting anf rendering can be plugged into Maya, Houdini, Katana or Cinema 4D.
At the moment, you still have to pay for the software but the animation giant have commented that they'll be releasing it free for non-commercial use in the last quarter of 2014. Register online for more information and release dates.
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Kerrie Hughes is a frequent contributor to Creative Bloq, and was once its editor. One of the original CB crew, Kerrie joined the team back in 2013 after moving from her role as staff writer on 3D World. Since then she's written regularly for other creative publications such as ImagineFX, Computer Arts and Digital Camera World. After a stint working for the police, Kerrie is back reviewing creative tech for creative professionals.
