Kerkythea  is an excellent standalone rendering utility, capable of using geometry in  .3DS, OBJ, .SIA and .Xml formats.  It 's an useful means of deriving potentially photo-realistic previews of projects.  For users of non-rendering applications, such as gmax or  Silo, Kerkythea is a worthy addition to 'Essential' tools.  With a little practice it's possible to equal the output of many high-end applications.   Animated  views of objects or environments can also be generated.

The application is very well supported and has high quality documentation, material libraries, and tutorial resources available.  Click the image for further information.