Real-time rendering is a technique used in video games to create smooth and interactive environments by loading graphics instantly. It requires a powerful video card and must be at least 15 frames per second. Pre-rendering is an alternative technique that uses more memory but is less taxing on the video card.
Real-time rendering is a graphics rendering technique, almost unique to video games, that helps load graphics. With real-time rendering, frames are loaded instantly to create images that simulate real motion; this also allows game makers to create interactive worlds. For rendering to be considered real-time, it must be 15 frames per second (FPS) or faster. The main piece of hardware being taxed is the video card, and some older video cards may not be able to keep up with that rendering. Unlike real-time rendering, pre-rendering is sometimes used in video games.
When someone plays a three-dimensional (3D) game, it should appear to the player that their character is running through an environment or performing some action smoothly. In reality, there is nothing fluid about the movements; the video game is simply loading images so fast that it looks smooth, like in animation. Besides creating more realistic movements, this has another benefit: making games interactive. Pre-rendered games, made during the early days of video games, were only interactive up to a point; some objects could be moved around, but the video game world as a whole was static. Games that use real-time rendering can have very complex interactions.
Officially, the real-time rendering speed must be 15 FPS or higher. If the graphics are unable to load quickly, the user will notice obvious loading problems and the game will often lag. Aside from the lag, another issue that a player may notice is that some images in the game, such as a character’s outfit or background elements, will load very slowly.
To play real-time rendered video games, your computer must have a powerful video card, as this is the primary hardware being rendered. The video card is responsible for loading and generating all of the graphics in a computer and has to work very hard to ensure that the render loads quickly. A computer with a weak video card may not be able to generate images correctly, or rendering may slow below real-time speeds.
The opposite of real-time rendering is pre-rendering; this means that the game environment is already rendered and placed in game memory. While this technique was mostly used with older games, pre-rendering can be used to create movie segments in a game. While pre-rendering doesn’t use your video card as much as real-time rendering does, the game itself requires more memory, making it difficult to create extensive video games that computers can play efficiently.
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