There are many applications that render CAD files.
I find it fascinating how groups gather around various software methods, the rise and fall of various products and how this industry is new enough and filled with fresh enthusiasm that new applications can rise and be successfully marketed - Maxwell, for instance - just when we think AutoDesk is about to achieve world dominion.
Certainly, in any given firm, what the illustrator brings to the table is largely going to establish what that firm allies with.
I see a definite opening for fast rendering software that can be employed simply by designers - this is NOT the case with most applications that are technically complex and repugnant to the artistic mind.
Dwight Atkinson