Warp wrote:
> 
>   Isn't renderman a similar program? That is, it doesn't have a modeller
> of its own, but it's just a renderer taking text input?
>   Still, renderman is considered a professional program.

Strictly speaking RenderMan is not program, is is interface
specification. Pixar uses PRMan program (PhotoRealistic RenderMan, IIRC)
which is "scanline" renderer (it uses Reyes algorithm) , conforming to
the RenderMan interface. BMRT is RenderMan compliant raytracer, then
there is number of other programs, which conform to RenderMan interface.
And AFAIK, PRMan does not have modeller, it uses files, which are
generated by other programs. BMRT is same: it does not have modeller,
instead there is command-line program, which takes RIB file and outputs
image.
But there is number of modellers, which support RIB files (RenderMan
Interface Bytestream Protocol files) or have "direct" (plugins and such)
support for RenderMan compatible renderers. 
Professional means, that renderer is capable of handling huge amount of
data (typical Pixar _compressed_ RIB file for one image is 0.5-2 GB +
texture files!) and rendering it within reasonable time. In this regard
PRMan and POV-Ray play in totally different leagues...

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