Renderman

[Rodney]

Its a bit early to release this but some major changes to configuration and pricing are pending for Renderman and the Renderman suite of tools.

 

A few details are now emerging at the Renderman site.

Of note is the (free) non-commercial license.

A commercial license is now a much more accessible $495 per seat.

 

Ed Catmull has a (very) short video making the announcement here:

 

http://renderman.pixar.com/view/non-commercial

 

From the site:

Free Non-Commercial Use

With the upcoming release RenderMan will be free for non-commercial usage.

Examples of non-commercial use-cases include evaluations, personal learning,

experimentation, research, and the development of tools and plug-ins for RenderMan.

 

Note: I registered with my current renderer entered as "Animation:Master (Netrender)".

One never knows when someone's interest at Disney/PIXAR might be piqued enough to experiment and further bridge the gap.

 

For those that believe using Renderman is too far a stretch for A:M users it should be noted that at one time several plugins were created for converting A:M files to .RIB format for exactly that purpose.

 

For those with a keen interest in programming and rendering it will be well worth your time to study Renderman as they continually invest in technology and lessons learned will apply elsewhere. For more information check out Renderman University.

 

According to the Renderman FAQ the roll out is to coincide with SIGGRAPH 2014.

[Rodney]

The following expresses a major shift that Disney/PIXAR has been moving toward over the past few years.

I'm sure a lot of this is due to competition from other rendering solutions but it's also an acknowledgement that high priced entry points interfere with access and innovation.

This is the strategic aspect they refer to as without this move they will certainly lose significant ground as other more accessible solution abound.

 

Why is Pixar making RenderMan free for non-commercial use?

This is a strategic and long-term commitment by Disney / Pixar to the advancement and dissemination of the production industries most advanced rendering technologies and the interchange of assets in common formats. First, RenderMan going forwards will be the conduit through which applicable rendering technologies developed within Disney / Pixar research will be channeled into the public domain to establish a common platform for production, research and development, trials and experimentation, learning, and other applications. Second, it is Pixar’s belief that limitations on software access have become a brake on the development of the production industry, and that universal access and a set of common standards and practices can only stimulate greater growth and development. Third, existing trial and evaluation methods of providing access through watermarked or time-expiry licenses are unsatisfying for proper evaluation. The resources and technology now being invested in RenderMan are of superior quality and will continue to anticipate the needs of film production imagery as Pixar has over the past 25-years. Providing RenderMan free for non-commercial usage represents the commitment of Disney / Pixar that RenderMan is the long-term film rendering standard.

*Emphasis added

[Rodney]

For additional videos featuring Ed Catmull:

 

http://renderman.pixar.com/view/future-of-renderman

[largento]

This is very interesting, indeed.

[Rodney]

For those that would like to use Renderman with A:M and those that have been making inroads to use A:M with Blender this should be of interest...

 

The (initial) Renderman for Blender plugin was released back in Jun/Jul and allows use of the non-commercial license of Renderman.

I don't know much more on the subject but wanted to update this topic.

There are quite a few issues with the plugin and some documented pitfalls can be avoided by following the development of the plugin on github.

 

For the latest Renderman release (currently v20) see: http://renderman.pixar.com

For some getting started info: https://community.renderman.pixar.com/article/906/introduction-to-prman-for-blender.html

[Rodney]

For those that dream of cutting edge rendering technologies as seen on the big screen ala PIXAR...

 

The latest Renderman has been released for non-commerical users.

 

Video of features: xhttps://vimeo.com/188229735?mc_cid=7e106f0830&mc_eid=4bb0c32348

 

Non-commercial release info: https://renderman.pixar.com/view/non-commercial-renderman

 

 

The most likely approach to rendering from A:M to Renderman at present would appear to be by way of Blender although the command line approach would work as long as A:M files are converted to the RIB format that Renderman can recognize. Concerning the command line the PIXAR site states:

 

Stand Alone with Renderman

Call RenderMan as a simple executable from the command-line, and render 3D data in RenderMan's native RIB file format. These RIB files are the backbone of any Renderman pipeline and are highly customizable, offer Python bindings and allow many types of data to be converted to RIB and rendered with Renderman.

The downside: Anyone willing and able to invest the time into working out connectivity between A:M and Renderman would likely be outside of the scope of non-commercial use of Renderman and require paid licensing for their productions.