What's great
As a small design studio, D5 Render has become our rendering tool of choice because it delivers genuine photorealism without the massive time sink usually associated with high-quality renders.
The Best Part is the real-time path tracing is the absolute killer feature. Unlike some competitors where the viewport only sort of looks like the final output, D5's instant feedback is incredibly accurate. We can adjust a light source or a material property and see the final, ray-traced result immediately. This has effectively cut out hours of test rendering. For client presentations, this instant, high-quality visual is invaluable for getting fast approvals.
About workflow integration, The LiveSync plugins (especially for SketchUp, which we use a lot) are fantastic. Model changes sync instantly, which means less time exporting/importing and more time focusing on design details. The built-in asset library is also massive and high-quality, saving us the cost and time of searching third-party sites for furniture and detailed vegetation.
What needs improvement
The only minor downside is that, while fast, it's still hungry for a decent GPU (RTX is a must for the best performance). Also, the startup can be a bit slow, but once you're in, the clean interface and intuitive controls make up for it.
vs Alternatives
Realistic renders