As we reported last week, Pixar recently released Renderman 24, which was accompanied by another release: Renderman for Blender 24.
According to Pixar, Renderman for Blender will contain all the functions that the regular release of Renderman 24 brings with it. Pixar lists the following seven main functions: Interactive Rendering, XPU, MaterialX LaMa, Stylised Looks, OpenColorIO, Live Statistics and OSL Patterns.
With Interactive Rendering you can see the changes you make to geometry, shading or lighting in real time. And then XPU. But what in the name of three devils is XPU? Well, XPU is Pixar’s rendering technology in which the CPU and GPU (we are very familiar with these two abbreviations!) work together. For now, XPU will only be relevant for shading artists who can use it to speed up their look development. Next up is MaterialX LaMa, which is described as a layer-based approach to building materials. With Stylised Looks you move stylistically beyond physics-based shading and lighting, creating your own unique look instead. OpenColorIO offers support for the ACES colour management system, while Live Statistics shows you in real time which resources are currently being tapped for your rendering. Finally, OSL Patterns allows you to share code between RIS and XPU.
XPU, Stylized Looks are only available together with the commercial licence of Renderman. Renderman for Blender 24 supports Blender 2.83, 2.92, but not 2.93. Read about the new features of Renderman for Blender here.
