Pixar’s award winning rendering software will be offering a free (non commercial) version with its next release. The free version will be identical to the professional version, just with an agreement in place that it will (only) be used for non commercial work.
For all CGI artists, RenderMan is a landmark advancement in cinematic rendering featuring a state-of-the-art ray tracing engine with the fastest progressive re-rendering in the industry, delivering immediate visual feedback for lighting and look development.
RenderMan is easily the most advanced and flexible solution for computing global illumination for visual effects and animation currently available.
Wall-E (image: copyright Pixar/Disney)
RenderMan is not a standalone animation system. It requires a modeling and animation solution to provide it with scene data to render photorealistic images.
Well known CG authoring solutions compatible with RenderMan include Autodesk Maya, Maxon Cinema4D, Side Effects Houdini, and The Foundry’s KATANA. We’ve also heard that a port is currently being written (by a third-party) for the open-source CG authoring software Blender.
Importantly, free Non-Commercial RenderMan is the same version as the commercial RenderMan used by film studios around the world and provides complete access to its capabilities. There are no limitations at all, with the singular exception that the software is only to be used for non-commercial purposes. Otherwise, Non-Commercial RenderMan is identical.
“If you think you know RenderMan then think again. The brand new RIS mode offers blazing fast, photorealistic artist friendly workflows. I lit a heavy production scene with GI on my laptop and the RIS re-renderer smashed it!”
Tom Painter, Director, Bigman.
Ratatouille (image: copyright Pixar/Disney)
Price & Availability
RenderMan Non Commercial is in beta testing and will be made available soon. You can register for a free licence here.
A Commercial Licences: starting at US$495
More Info: http://renderman.pixar.com
Excerpts from Press Release
