On the first part, this isn’t only true for individual developers, I have read through the forum for one of the larger engines (Indigo), and I noticed quite a bit of dev/user communication there.
The thing is is that these independent developers would have a long road to travel if they want to have more than a small group of passionate users, it would take a lot of effort to draw users away from the more expensive commercial options which would be very difficult to do if you’re working alone.
The perfect render engine will never happen, no matter how many people are hacking away. There are just too many advancements, research papers, etc. always showing you what you can have next. Learn one and get good at it.
+1 Freemind and Ace.
And, for my part, I use Blender. I don’t have money to plonk down for Maya or anything else, although I’m sure pay stuff is fantabulo. Still, I don’t consider the word “amateur” to be the insult that most seem to intend it to be. Einstein was an amateur too (actually, he was a patent clerk, and not even working in the field he changed so completely…)
Someone once told me that pro-animators are like plumbers, they just use the best tool in their plumber toolbox to get the job done and get paid and move on to the next toilet.
I have no interest in being a plumber, and after my brief hateful stint in graphics work-for-hire I have no interest in being a plumber again. I do animation because I love it, and I want to learn BI and Cycles and learn them well and continue to enjoy using them, not see it all as some big drudgery I’m arsed to do for being such a “hardworking mayn.” Or whatever. No offense to any hard-working mayn out there, plumbers or otherwise…
Anyway, as far as rendering, I love BI. And I can click the black tab at the top and switch right to Cycles if I want, straight out of the box. Which can do far more things now than I ever thought it would be able to, and gets more amazing every week.
I’ve tried using Lux before, or tried to try using Lux, but I’ve still never been able to figure out how to get it open or export anything to it or whatever.
Same with the other externals that come “bundled” with some of the GA builds. I don’t even bother with them anymore.
I used to play with Yafaray, which is okay, except that it would crash all the time or flip out really bad requiring restart. And I don’t think it runs on GPU…
I’ll go on if you want me to…
Can I get free beer for participating in this sense less thread considering that the commercial VRay has all render tools while Cycles, Yafaray and Blender Internal don’t ??? uhm …
I thought it was impossible to question common sense logic …
I would like to mention that the design of cycles is towards specialization, unlike most other render engines out there. In Cycles, there usually is one way to do things, and it’s the compromise that is deemed the most appropriate by its main author: Brecht. Most other renderers are modularized, defining interfaces for swapping out things like integrators or adding new intersection primitives, making it easier to try new things and adding things without changing the program as a whole. It’s not a very inviting codebase for new developers in any case, and any changes to it are likely rather invasive, making it less likely for a patch to get accepted. I however believe that eventually all features that are required can (and will) be added by Brecht. It will just take time.
This is the sort of opinion I would expect from the least informed people. You’re probably not a programmer, but the analogy of “all artists should work on one project” is not so far fetched. If you can’t even see the difference between the “direction” of the different renderers, you probably don’t understand how a piece of code can be a piece of personal expression.
…or like saying we should all post one opinion in one thread. 
Five bucks this will reach 12 pages before it dies, and another five bucks it will get necromanced within 3 months
Lets spice things up.
I bet Iphone would be a better platform for a renderer than Android.
xD
if everyone would have joined Ford and only Ford after the
Successful production of the Model-T,
look at all the innovation, choices and competition that would have been lost.
If someone has a successful product the market will decide winners and losers.
And expanding into more markets(i.e. more programs Maya, 3dsMax, etc… )
gives you more exposure and ultimately more chance of success.
Target the people with the money,
if they can spend several thousand dollars for a 3D package,
they could spend a little more for a render engine. 
If someone is using a free 3d program,
you might not be able to squeeze blood out of a turnip.
Important message to posters of this forum.
Your thread, whilst important to you, is not the only thread on this forum. OMG. Put the “to-do-ta-dooo” megaphone down and learn to make relevant thread titles. Actually, I thought that was what this thread was going to be about. An “important messages to posters” might be to remind people to stop using titles like “please help” and actually pre-empt their topic… but this?
Netiquette fail: “important” threads like this one - :ba: ack!
Let’s try this …
Cycles is a very impressive tool, absolutely free as is all the rest of Blender, and a wonderful adjunct to everything that Blender already offers to you … which it does simultaneously.
What’s not to love? 
If I am an image-builder, why expect me to “choose between” an airbrush and a paintbrush? A pencil and a piece of charcoal? Dude, they’re tools! And what we’re making here is still magic!
Let’s all be very serious about our magic, but let’s all just keep it in proper perspective, too. Peace.
Uhm ah well sorry but you are totally wrong. Ford had an inovation the competition beat Ford only through styling cars fast and generating a lust among the consumers for wanting the newest car not the best engineered or designed car.
Why do you think did the American cars fail when competing with foreign companies? Build quality and design was pathetic. That structure was put down during Fords time.
Ford also build electric cars - sadly they never took off. That guy was really an innovator.
Really? The Ford example triggered a sub discussion while my Iphone vs. Android remark didn’t…? 
Also: LOL@Lancer
Offtopic…
You drive 50km charge for a whole day drive 50km charge for a whole day…
petrol car drive 1000km fill up tank in 5 minutes drive 1000km
the consumer has always killed electrics and speaking as mechanical engineer the are right the bloody things are impractical. And he didn’t invent the electrical car too it had been invented almost 90 years before he even built the model T. His biggest innovation was in mass production not cars themselves, he figured out how to build them quicker and cheaper than every one else around. I don’t think Ford invented anything major regarding cars themselves…
Now you can all get back to whatever you were talking about
Where is Endi when his comments would be appropriate 
Tyrant besides the mass production Ford also invested with his team a lot of time in different technologies such as soy bean based plastic as well as electric power. The point is that today electric comes as something new - while it is actually quite old. The petroleum industry revolutionized or world while having technological development slowed down as well. Without high gas prices hardly any driver in the US would reconsider if big SUVs are the way to go.
Technological advancements are sometimes victimes to other circumstances as well - while it is a different question if the production and recycling of toxic batteries is such a better alternative as well.
Truth of the matter is that 2/3s of a car energy is being used up by the engine having to move the mass like frame etc. Cars got more heavier. Engines got better but the fuel economy stagnated because of all this added crap. SUVs became the new love of American drivers so car to car collision systems need to be able to deal with that and they add W E I G H T.
If a real practical and doable approach is light weight carbon fiber based cars where the weight reduces drastically the fuel waste. But well try to make people not drive their loved SUVs and pick up trucks.
Kinda funny that the DDR car had a concept which itself is material of the future or could be.
It used a steel frame and composite combination.
notice how most modern cars look like this.(even Japanese ones)
notice how Toyota Trucks look like Ford F-150’s?
Hmmmm… Where did they steal the design from?
For a little fun go to yahoo! image search and type in “1986 Toyota” Camry or Corolla
(thats the year that Ford Taurus was released, look how square and boxy the Toyota’s are,
They also have a piece of trim above the door"rain drip",
Taurus(and now all cars) have sealed aircraft style doors no need for the trim water drip on the roof)
then look at a 1990 Toyota Camry or Tercel… hmmmmm…
looks like they stole something…
Well that’s exactly the kind of thinking of the market salesman.
Reality tells us something else entirely. The market does not always favor the best. And it doesn’t matter if it’s open or closed source commercial or not - it’s still on the market ( read choice ). Question is at what point does having too many choices affect the quality of work ?
I also think that “best” or “good” doesn’t always involve more people or more money it’s just a question of how skilled the “coordinator” is. In the case of Blender Foundation the “coordination” happens around animation. The sad part is that “everything else” has to center or adapt to that. It’s both and advantage and a disadvantage.
This thread is more centered on the idea of “coordination” happening on all fronts. Like “one suite with an awesome renderer to rule them all”. " My precioussssss ! "
oh and the “aircraft style door” though made very popular by the Ford Taurus was NOT the first car to have them. Mostly it was a feature in sports cars,
the Ford Taurus brought it to mainstream.
Look a picture of a 1963 Corvette coupe. (the top of the door frame)
Another one that had this was a 1968 Opel GT.
reC, but if you dont even show up how can you compete?
What im saying is… Cycles should make itself available to other applications,
not just Blender(and charge a premium for the exporter/integration
since those other packages are mainly for production work, hey if you can do it why not?
the money goes back to the foundation and end up going back to into paying programmers and tech support etc.)
The best camera in the world is the one you have with you.
The best render engine in the world is the one you have with you.
People take photographs not cameras.
My favorite photo was taken with a pinhole camera.
I see no difference, between a camera and a render engine, I do see a difference between art and illustration but that’s another discussion.
PS Cycles rocks!
To the abyss this thread should go.
