Pixar Reveals Latest RenderMan Technology
at SIGGRAPH 2006
New products include RenderMan Studio 1.0, RenderMan for Maya 2.0,
and RenderMan Artist Tools 7.0
EMERYVILLE, CA – (July 28th, 2006) Pixar Animation Studios today
revealed the next stage in RenderMan development at the SIGGRAPH
2006 conference in Boston, where the studio will demonstrate the
latest upcoming RenderMan products, including version 2.0 of its
popular RenderMan for Maya plugin, the latest RenderMan Artist
Tools 7.0, and the debut of its next generation successor: RenderMan
Studio.
Available later in 2006, RenderMan Studio 1.0 combines the ease
of use of RenderMan for Maya with the advanced capabilities of the
existing RenderMan Artist Tools and can be used either standalone
or as an interface to render farms using RenderMan Pro Server 13.0.
Consisting of a Pro version of the RenderMan for Maya plugin with
RIB output, plugin shader functions and procedural geometry
support, together with the latest versions of Slim, “it”, and
Alfred, along with an embedded RenderMan renderer built into Maya,
RenderMan Studio is the most comprehensive and powerful rendering
solution available anywhere.
At SIGGRAPH 2006 Pixar will demonstrate the latest version 7.0 of
RenderMan Artist Tools including major feature and GUI upgrades to
Slim, enhancements to “it” and support for Maya 8. As RenderMan
Studio will ultimately replace RenderMan Artist Tools, all users on
current maintenance will be offered the option of a free transition
to RenderMan Studio at a time of their convenience.
Pixar will also reveal RenderMan for Maya 2.0, the latest version
of Pixar’s acclaimed Maya rendering plugin bringing RenderMan’s
peerless feature film quality to all Maya artists. Version 2.0
incorporates multiple enhancements including multi-threading,
ray-tracing optimizations, and Maya 8 compatibility. In addition,
from the first day of the SIGGRAPH 2006 tradeshow, all new
purchasers of the current RenderMan for Maya 1.2 will be offered a
free upgrade to version 2.0 when it is released later in 2006.
“Pixar is investing heavily in both the core RenderMan renderer
and its supporting software for artists and TDs. RenderMan Studio
in particular brings all our artist tools together in one
comprehensive solution,” said Dana Batali, Development Director for
RenderMan at Pixar Animation Studios. “RenderMan Studio also unifies
the RenderMan product family by providing a natural upgrade path
from RenderMan for Maya.”
Relied on by artists and technical directors worldwide, RenderMan
is the recognized industry standard for CG feature animation and
visual effects rendering and has been used in each of the last 30
movies nominated for a Visual Effects Oscar® by the Academy of
Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.
SIGGRAPH 2006 attendees are invited to visit the Pixar booth
(#811) to see the latest developments in cinematic rendering
technology and to meet with RenderMan sales and development
personnel. For more details on RenderMan products and Pixar
Animation Studios please visit www.pixar.com
About Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar Animation Studios combines creative and technical artistry to
create original stories in the medium of computer animation. Pixar
has created seven of the most successful and beloved animated films
of all time: Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc.,
Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Cars. Pixar has won 20 Academy
Awards® and its seven films have grossed more than $3.4 billion at
the worldwide box office to date. The Northern California studio's
next film release is Ratatouille (Summer 2007).
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