RenderMan 25

SOFTWARE REVIEW - PRICE Available on request COMPANY Pixar WEBSITE renderman.pixar.com

- Paul Hatton

RenderMan has always been a bit of an enigma in my experience. The fact that it's been used to render some of the biggest and most high-profile animated feature films only contributes to this mystery.

It has been a perfect renderer for animation and VFX studios to create breathtaking final-frame films, but it's other renderers such as V-Ray and Arnold that have become the go-to programs for the overwhelming majority of the 3D industry.

RenderMan, now at version 25, is a powerhouse, owing its developmental success largely to the fact that it has been used in such big-budget films. With each film providing new technical challenges and directors desiring to push the boundaries even further, its developers have regularly been encouraged and pushed to add new features and refine existing ones.

Version 24 was a big update, with the most notable addition its all-new hybrid CPU and GPU renderer called XPU. The version under the spotlight in this review isn't quite as big and bold, but still definitely packs a punch. Let's take a look at its new denoiser, improvements to XPU, and further developments to the Stylized Looks tools.

DENOISER