RenderMan 19 Is Here

Archive notice: This article was originally published on November 24, 2014. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.

Specifically, until sometime in early 2015. Pixar would not be drawn on more precise details ("early 2015"), even though the whole thing had already been announced in May of this year (we reported). You can still obtain information and register here if you absolutely do not want to miss the starting signal for the download. 

But back to the paid renderer and its new RIS architecture. The heart of the new version is the RenderMan Integrator System, which is intended to substantially optimise global-illumination rendering, especially for complex scenes. This refers to ray-tracing scenes with a lot of geometry, hair or volume — the videos embedded below summarise the functions once again. Other features are the Path Tracer, which is particularly suitable for use in natural lighting situations and for handling direct light sources, and the Bi-Directional Path Tracer, which is intended to simplify rendering interiors and complex lighting setups. More information about features such as accelerated re-rendering, a shading library with SSS, support for per-light AOVs, progressive rendering, light rigs and light presets can be found here.

RenderMan 19 costs around 486 euros including VAT; maintenance for one year costs another approximately 207 euros (including VAT) extra. The upgrade to version 19 costs around 446 euros incl. VAT (including 1 year of maintenance). RenderMan supports Maya 2013.5, 2014 and 2015 (Windows, OSX and Linux) and Katana 1.5, 1.6 and 2.0 (Linux only) (prices: weltenbauer.). 

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