Kerkythea is a standalone freeware renderer that can be used to create photorealistic renderings. A lot of attention has been given to a uniform and clean GUI that supports the rendering engine and makes things easier for both beginner and advanced users. Its current API is based on the fox toolkit and it comes in Windows and Linux executable flavors. It also runs under the Unix windowing system X11 on Mac OS X (Panther or Leopard).

The latest release for Kerkythea was on 08 February, 2008, Kerkythea Rendering System 2008 Echo Edition v.2.0.5.

• Easy and fast rendering - Optimized ray tracing kernel.
• Easy and consistent XML configuration for a scene.
• Standalone application, navigation and scene setup with integrated OpenGL viewer (GUI based on Fox toolkit).
• Material library - Reusing your saved materials.
• Material editor - Materials supported (Phong, Ward, Lafortune, Dielectric, Thin Glass, Layered).
• Bump Mapping, Clip Mapping, Edge Outlining.
• Support for many image formats (based on the FreeImage library).
• HDRI support - image based rendering.
• Real depth of field using stratified ray tracing.
• Camera projection models: planar, cylindrical, spherical.
• Import 3DS, OBJ and SIA files.
• Export files from Blender, Sketchup, Wings 3D and 3dsMax.
• Basic/iterative antialiasing based on brightness difference.
• Texture filtering based on ray differentials.
• Global Illumination support based on various methods (Path Tracing, Photon Maps/Mesh Maps + Irradiance Caching, Diffuse Interreflection).
• Light sources (Point, Spot) + Self-Luminant area lights.
• Soft/Area shadows.
• Caustics (based on Photon Maps or quick heuristics).
• Basic Chromatic Dispersion.

The Getting Started guide is available for download here: Getting Started

• Graphical User Interface (GUI): an overview of the main screen and menus.

• Material Editor: an explanation of the features available in the Material Editor.

• Render Settings: an explanation of render presets and options available for render setup.

Please visit Tutorials to find a selection of the best external tutorials created or submitted by Kerkythea users.

If you need help understanding any terms on the site, the Glossary should answer all your questions.

Find a list of answers to common issues in the Frequently Asked Questions.

The Kerkythea Wiki is a work in progress. Please consider adding your expertise. See About the Wiki to get started.