Contents
Soul © Disney/Pixar
Welcome to the RenderMan 24 Documentation.
Here you can find information on how to install, license, and use RenderMan and the various integration options like Maya, Houdini, Blender, and Katana. You can use the links on the left Contents Bar to navigate. For further support you can visit us on the Answers forums!
RenderMan gives artists access to Pixar’s toolbox for lighting and look development, real tools that have already created amazingly sophisticated and complex imagery for feature film. This release represents exciting changes to the rendering framework, which has been tested and proven on feature films such as Soul, The Lion King, Ford Versus Ferrari, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, establishing RenderMan as the most advanced rendering platform available.
Developed for animation and VFX, RenderMan is focused on expanding the creative horizons for storytelling while raising the bar for performance and quality.
More than just a renderer; it is a complete shading and lighting ecosystem, more powerful, accessible, and interactive than ever before.
Pixar's new commitment to users continues with the introduction of more examples, tutorials, and enhanced documentation for users of all levels that will continue to grow.
RenderMan 24 - Advanced Tools for Production
RenderMan 24 is a significant release, bringing our latest developments to you, including the initial release of RenderMan XPU.
RenderMan XPU – RenderMan XPU is a completely new way to render, making use of your GPU and CPU to generate images. The GPU modes improve interactivity over CPU rendering only while providing lightning speed for artists working in modeling and lookdev. Assets can then be rendered in shots using RenderMan RIS on your existing farms for identical looks and final frames.
Lama – Our partnership with Industrial Light & Magic means users have access to a component-based and physically plausible shading system know as Lama for "Layered Materials". This system is available in RenderMan RIS for high end effects and shading, covering everything from skin and hair to gemstones and clothing. Create, render, and even save complex networks for use in your projects. Presets are available to get your started.
Stylized Looks – Users can now take advantage of non-photorealistic or stylized rendering in RenderMan RIS, producing images that look like they were hand drawn or painted. This rendering effect is extremely flexible and allows control down to individual custom texture usage and profile line tweaks or blurring.
USD – Further improvements to USD mean better and easier results from sharing assets and rendering in RenderMan. Systems like Houdini's Solaris see improved support and increased options.
Selected highlights of RenderMan are:
Bump2Roughness — The Pixar technique in Cars 3 for rendering fine details such as swirl marks on car paint are now available to users of RenderMan.
Blender Returns — A new plugin for Blender is now available for users with modernized workflows and support for more Blender options such as the Grease Pencil.
Previous documentation versions (prior to 22) can be found through the RenderMan Support Forums for download. View your archive downloads and find the version you need, the documentation bundle is available on the page after selecting "Next" from your version choice.
The Doxygen package for software developers is available under the Developer's Guide.