What do artists mean when they talk about rendering?

Question

I hear the term “rendering” thrown around in both traditional and digital art communities like it’s some sort of buzzword, but I’ve never gotten a clear explanation as to what it means.

In: 37

Answer 1

For classic art (Paint, graphite, sculpture, dance, theater) ‘Rendering’ is simply a synonym for ‘depict’ or ‘copy’.

* You paint a landscape, you are ‘rendering’ a image of a landscape.
* You perform a dance or play, you are ‘rendering’ the artist’s concept in dance or acting
* Even in the military, you salute you are ‘rendering’ a salute. Which means you copy the designated process of saluting.

For computer art, ‘Rendering’ means letting the computer ‘calculate’ the final artwork from the artists’ inputs, which may be vector, photoshop or even code. The industry ‘borrowed’ the term that most closely related to the process.