Pixar’s RenderMan is the premier professional rendering software used by talented creators and studios large and small, to generate the photorealistic visuals used in most visual effects and animated movies including all of Pixar's films. Non-Commercial RenderMan is exactly the same RenderMan software used across the production industry, the only restriction being it can only be used 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 30 years. Providing RenderMan free for non-commercial usage represents the commitment of Disney / Pixar that RenderMan is the long-term film rendering standard.

RenderMan supports Houdini, Maya, Katana, and Blender. If you don't already have these DCC apps, download and install the trial versions. Houdini does not support third party renderers in their trial version, Houdini Indie is needed.

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The newest version of RenderMan has just shipped and we have a great section to get you up to speed on the latest developments with RenderMan. 

As professional rendering software at the leading edge of technical development, familiarity with general computer graphics modeling, animation, lighting, and rendering concepts is important to properly utilize RenderMan's capabilities. If you are not familiar with the process of rendering images, we recommend becoming familiar with one of the supported CG authoring solutions listed above first.

Full reference documentation is available on the RenderMan website at along with examples of various rendering challenges and their solutions. In addition, the RenderMan community website is a powerful resource for all RenderMan users to share and swap information, assets, tips and tricks, along with our new RenderMan Answers for advice and help. Here you will also find video tutorials, material libraries, case studies, and workflow examples from both Pixar and the broader RenderMan community to help your learning.

For questions related to RenderMan, please contact RenderMan Sales.

RenderMan is available for use in all territories, except those restricted by USA sanctions, such as: Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. For more detailed information, please read the EULA and visit the US Treasury website.

Upon renewal you will need to participate in a quick survey. This will help us understand usage and feature requests, which will guide us in improving the product for artists like you.

Simply any usage of RenderMan that does not involve direct commercial use to generate profits. Example non-commercial use-cases include evaluations, personal learning and familiarization, student usage, any type of experimentation, research, and the development of tools and plug-ins that complement RenderMan. Educational content that generates indirect revenue through video platforms such as Youtube or Vimeo are also considered non-commercial.

In general, no. Non-Commercial RenderMan is intended for individual use. For classroom deployment or other educational use cases, please contact rendermansales@pixar.comto discuss whether other options such as floating license grants may apply.

If a fee is charged to access content that is created by Non-Commercial RenderMan, then that usage falls into the category of commercial use. We appreciate there are borderline situations so please contact us at RenderMan Sales if you require additional clarification.

No. There is only one RenderMan and the free non-commercial RenderMan is exactly the same as the commercial version except for access to Stylized Looks. Beyond that, there are no watermarks. Upon acceptance of the EULA at installation, the software must only be used for non-commercial purposes. Technical support for Non-Commercial RenderMan is supplied by the active and highly technical community itself.

Yes. Indirect revenue generating activities such as personal images or clips posted on YouTube or Vimeo that may result in advertising revenue are permitted. Please include a credit that your work was rendered with Pixar's RenderMan. You can download the logo here. RenderMan Sales for clarification.

No. Non-Commercial RenderMan can be obtained from the RenderMan website by automatic download after registration.

No. Only node-locked versions of the free Non-Commercial RenderMan are available.

Simply contact us at rendermansales@pixar.com, and we will register you as a commercial user and create a custom commercial licensing package for your requirements.

Yes, as long the images are not sold for profit or used for commercial advertising purposes. Please include the following “rendered with RenderMan” credit to indicate Non-Commercial RenderMan usage.

Yes. Non-Commercial RenderMan cannot be used directly for commercial use, but we encourage you to use RenderMan as a development platform for your own tools, technologies, and complementary solutions that are made available to the community commercially.

Knowledge of RenderMan is a key asset if you are interested in a career in visual effects, animation or the visual media, or want to learn modern production workflows. As the primary renderer used to create todays photorealistic pixels in feature films, Non-Commercial RenderMan makes it easy for you to access the production industries most sophisticated rendering technology for your creative experimentation.

Yes. You are welcome to use Non-Commercial RenderMan on any class or personal project that is non-profit. Please include a credit that your work was rendered with Pixar's RenderMan. You can download the logo here.

Yes. Please include a credit that your work was rendered with Pixar's RenderMan. Download the Logo

Yes. Because Non-Commercial RenderMan uses a node-locked license by default and unsuitable for campus networks, please have your system administrator contact RenderMan Sales to discuss a floating license for your school campus network.

We simply request that RenderMan is used to support actively taught classes in computer graphics, animation, media, science, architecture, or any other course that has a need for advanced rendering capabilities.

Certification for RenderMan can be granted on a case by case basis. To qualify, evidence that RenderMan is being regularly taught to an accepted standard is required.

You are welcome to use the specific Pixar's RenderMan logo if your school is teaching RenderMan and to use it with work produced by your school. The Pixar Studio (only) logo should not be used under any circumstance.

Up to two Node-Locked licenses are provided free of charge for each RenderMan forum registration.

When you run the RenderMan Non-Commercial Installer, it will automatically request a node locked license connected to the machine the installer was executed on.

No you cannot copy or transfer Non-Commercial RenderMan to another machine once it is installed. Instead you will need to execute the RenderMan Non-Commercial installer on another machine, which can be done on 2 different machines.

Please contact RenderMan Sales where we can help you with your needs.

Though floating licenses are available as a benefit of commercial RenderMan, only node-locked licenses are available for free Non-Commercial RenderMan.

macOS 10.15 - 13.x, Windows 10 - 11, and CentOS/RHEL 7.2-7.9

If you are working on a Windows platform, you will need to download the RenderManNC installer to your primary disk where your "Program Files" directory exists. Generally this is located on C:. If you install and run the RenderManNC installer from a different drive, then the pixar.license file might be installed on the wrong disk. To correct, simply copy the pixar.license file from the wrong drive (example: D:\Program Files\Pixar\pixar.license) to the C: drive (example C:\Program Files\pixar.license) and restart RfM. Alternatively, if easier, you can uninstall the RenderManNC installer, re-download to your primary drive, and run the installer again. This will retrieve a new license and put it in the correct location.

Many times the operating system will fail to acknowledge the new environmental variables set by the RenderMan installer. To fix this, simply restart your computer and you should be up and running in no time.

Change the permission of the existing pixar.license file so the RenderManNCInstaller application can write to it. Open the Pixar folder in the Applications folder. Select the existing pixar.license, on the file menu choose Get Info. Under the permissions section change the permissions so “everyone” can read and write to that file. Close the Get Info dialog, re-run the RenderManNCInstaller app.

Installation problems can be posted on the unofficial RenderMan Discord.