Welcome to RenderMan for Maya 24!
This new release of RenderMan for Maya 24 (RfM), includes a number of new features to address feedback as well as many improvements to RenderMan for Maya workflow and performance. Many parts of the plugin have been completely rewritten to improve integration into Maya and simplify workflow.
What's New
RenderMan for Maya has been extended to support all of the features of RenderMan 24, including:
- XPU™ – Switch to XPU for doing Look Development. XPU is Pixar’s hybrid CPU + GPU rendering technology is a next-generation rendering engine, rewritten for speed and efficiency on film production assets. This first phase of XPU is focused on accelerating look development for shading artists. XPU is only available if you have a Commercial license of RenderMan
- Lama – Use RenderMan 24's new Layered Materials developed at Industrial Light and Magic. It introduces a modular approach for building materials.
- Stylized Looks™ – Move beyond physically based shading and lighting into a world where you can easily create a variety of styles for your projects. You can non-destructively control outlines, create sketch patterns, and develop a wide range of unique looks. Stylized Looks are only available if you have a Commercial license of RenderMan
- OpenColorIO – Robust support for the industry standard ACES color management system and other color spaces
- Live Statistics – Watch your rendering resource usage live, thanks to a completely redesigned statistics system that prioritizes interactivity and extensibility
OSL Patterns – We have converted the great majority of C++ patterns to OSL. This conversion allows the sharing of code between RIS and XPU, which provides confidence that the renders from RenderMan XPU are representative of what you will see in RenderMan RIS. C++ patterns are still supported, but they will only work in RIS
- And more!
Miscellaneous and Important Changes
- RfM: Color and float ramp widgets are not enclosed in an extra group anymore, if they share the same label as the enclosing group
- RfM: The Pixel Variance fields have a five-digits precision instead of 3.
- Bridge product (Maya, Katana, Houdini, Blender) initial integrations are available, but are turned off by default. Artists can turn on the statistics through the buttons in the UI.
Developer Documentation
You can find a useful Doxygenated developer documentation in the Developers' Guide under RfM2
Known Limitations
RenderMan for Maya
- Deselecting "Receive Shadows" does not work.
- Light Linking volumes is not currently supported
- The Holdout shelf button fails to operate, use the shape node render stat setting Maya to create the holdout object.
- Creating a mesh light from existing geometry during IPR will duplicate the geometry in-render. Restart the render to remove the duplicate.
- We do not support Camera Facing Curves in Xgen
- Xgen will not reflect changes in the Collection
- Maya Fur Feedback is not supported