01
Source
An original photograph, drawing, height map, terrain dataset or other source material used as the starting point for a scene.
1990s software • Period hardware • Real render times
Age
of Render
Digital worlds from the age when rendering took time.
Age of Render is a long-term creative and documentary project exploring authentic computer graphics of the 1990s. We create digital landscapes and rendered scenes using original software, real period hardware and documented workflows — preserving not only the final images, but also the limitations, waiting times and creative decisions that shaped them.
Project status — In production
01 / Process
From Source to
Ultimate Render
Same tools. Same scene. Different limits.
By comparing the period version with the Ultimate version, Age of Render separates the limits of the software from the limits of the computer it originally ran on.
02
Period Render
The scene created and rendered in original 1990s software on period-correct hardware, with the real performance limits, working resolutions and render times of the era.
03
Ultimate Render
The same software and the same scene moved to a much faster period-adjacent workstation, allowing higher quality, greater complexity and fewer practical compromises without changing the original rendering engine.
02 / Project
What is
Age of Render?
Age of Render is not a general retro-computing channel and not a showcase of old software running for nostalgia alone. The focus is the act of making images: how scenes were built, how the tools behaved, where the hardware imposed limits, how long a render really took, and what the finished image looked like before modern tools could rewrite the process.
The project follows the original workflow as closely as practical. Period workstations, original software, manuals and documentation are used to recreate the conditions in which 1990s computer graphics were actually made. Modern systems are reserved for capture, archiving, editing and publication — not for replacing the original renderer.
The limitations are not bugs.
They are part of the work.
03 / Collection
Original
Software
The project is built around a growing collection of original creative software from the 1990s. A small number of core applications form the main production workflow, while a much larger archive provides supporting tools, alternate workflows and historical comparisons.
Bryce 3D
Landscapes, terrain, procedural materials, atmospheric effects and animation — with the unmistakable visual language of late-1990s CGI.
Ray Dream Studio 4
3D modelling, illustration, shading, rendering and animation for the Windows 95 production workflow.
Ray Dream 3D
Accessible 3D modelling and rendering with the characteristic Ray Dream workflow and visual style.
VistaPro 3.0
Procedural landscape generation and rendering, including terrain, water, trees, clouds and real-world elevation data.
Fractal Design Expression
Vector illustration with Natural-Media strokes, combining editable paths with the look of traditional brushes, pens and painted media.
Fractal Design Detailer
3D painting and texturing for creating surface, bump, reflection, highlight and glow maps directly on 3D models.
04 / Physical archive
Original media / documented editions
Physical
Software Archive
Age of Render is built around a growing physical archive of original boxed software, manuals, disks, CD-ROMs and period documentation. These are not random ISO images collected from the internet: the project uses real physical editions to reconstruct authentic workflows and preserve the material culture around 1990s computer graphics.
05 / Additional software
The wider collection
Beyond the featured applications, the archive includes dozens of additional 2D, 3D, modelling, painting, animation, CAD and publishing tools. Selected titles will be documented and used whenever they add something meaningful to the creative or historical story.
- Poser
- Carrara Studio 2.1.0
- Amapi 3D 6.1
- 3D Construction Kit
- Paint Shop Pro 3.1
- Paint Shop Pro 5
- Micrografx Simply 3D 2
- Micrografx Simply 3D 3
- Ray Dream Designer 4.1
- Canvas 6
- Serif DrawPlus 1.0
- Serif DrawPlus 2.0
- Serif DrawPlus 3.0
- Micrografx Picture Publisher 95
- TriSpectives Lite
- PowerText 3D
- Photo Artist Snap Shot
- Art Dabbler 2.1
- Serif 3DPlus 3
- TurboCAD for Windows
- Serif PhotoPlus 1.0
- Serif PhotoPlus 6
- Serif Art Gallery
- Xara X
- Canvas 8.0
- IMSI Graphics Converter for Windows
- Microsoft 3D Movie Maker
- DesignWorks 3.5
- Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000
- ImagePals 1.2
- Photo Studio
- Headline Studio 1.0
06 / Hardware
The
Machines
Three period and period-adjacent platforms reveal where the software ends and the limits of the machine begin.
Early Landscape Workstation
486 DX2/66
The authentic platform for VistaPro 3.0 and other early-1990s landscape tools.
- DOS / Windows 3.x
Main Period Workstation
Pentium MMX 233
The main production machine for Bryce 3D and Ray Dream.
- Socket 7
- Intel Pentium MMX 233 MHz
- ASUS TXP4-X Rev. 3.04
- Intel 430TX chipset
- 64 MB SDRAM initially
- Matrox Mystique 220 with 4 MB SGRAM
- Seagate ST310211A IDE/PATA hard drive
- Creative Sound Blaster ViBRA16X CT4170
- Power Man / FSP FSP235-60GI 235 W PSU
- MATSHITA CR-585 24× ATAPI CD-ROM
- Windows 95 OSR2.5
Period-adjacent performance
Ultimate Render Box
The platform for pushing the original software beyond the practical limits of period hardware.
- Pentium 4 / Socket 478
- Northwood-class processor around 3 GHz
- Windows 2000 or Windows 98 SE depending on final compatibility
The first renders
are now in preparation.
We are restoring the original workstations, installing the software, studying period documentation and preparing the first scenes. Complete projects will appear here with source material, period renders, Ultimate renders, hardware details, measured render times and process videos.