 |
 |
Pixar Announces Ray Tracing and Global Illumination in RenderMan® Release 11
EMERYVILLE, CA, April 2, 2002 – Pixar Animation Studios (Nasdaq: PIXR) today announced the latest version of its RenderMan® (PRMan) 3D rendering software. RenderMan® Release 11 significantly extends the range of creative possibilities available to rendering professionals through its support for ray tracing, global illumination and deep shadows. These important new features, combined with significant performance gains, represent a major enhancement to the 3D rendering system widely recognized as the industry standard for film and video production.
Pixar's RenderMan® Release 11 employs an innovative hybrid rendering architecture that delivers global illumination and ray tracing effects under precise control of the artist as a natural part of the REYES architecture. Special effects such as reflections, refractions, color bleeding, and shadow penumbras have been achievable in PRMan, but with Release 11’s new ray tracing subsystem these effects can be produced with greater accuracy. Also, because the renderer itself can calculate effects that previously required manual intervention, the artist's setup time for a shot can be dramatically reduced. There is no performance penalty imposed on shots that don't require Release 11’s features, and when these special effects are required, Release 11 offers unprecedented levels of artistic and computational control.
The performance gains in Release 11 are the direct result of testing and analysis in Pixar's own intensive feature film production pipeline. Sophisticated improvements to hair and fur rendering as well as shadows generation and the ability to handle dense scenes with high depth complexity, have led to dramatic performance gains.
Pixar's RenderMan® Release 11 will enter beta testing in June, 2002 and will be released in Q4, 2002.
New Features in Pixar's RenderMan® Release 11
- Selective Ray Tracing
- Reflections and Refractions
- Translucency and Colored Shadows
- Soft Shadow Effects
- Arbitrary Ray Probes
- Indirect Illumination
- Caustics
- Global Illumination
- Hemispheric Lights
- Pixar's Innovative "Deep Shadow" Technology
- Shading Optimization
- Improved Culling of Hidden Geometry Before Shading
- More Efficient Sharing of Shading Contexts
- Improved Caching
- Geometry Handling
- Hair and Fur Optimizations
- Elimination of "Eyesplits" Problems
- Aggressive Code Optimizations
- Release 11 Features are Seamlessly Integrated with all Existing PRMan Functionality Including:
- Distributed Parallel Network Rendering
- High Dynamic Range Imagery (HDRI)
- Level of Detail
- Availability:
- Beta in June 2002
- Release Q4 2002
About PhotoRealistic RenderMan®
Leading digital effects houses and computer graphics specialists use Pixar's RenderMan® because it is the highest quality renderer available anywhere and has been production tested through successful use in feature films for over ten years. Pixar's RenderMan® is stable, fast, and efficient for handling complex surface appearances and images.
RenderMan's® powerful shading language and anti-aliased motion blur allow designers to believably integrate stunning synthetic effects with live-action footage. In addition, RenderMan® is backed by Pixar's technical staff who know the challenges of creating digital effects.
For more information on RenderMan®, including product descriptions and price lists, please visit http://www.pixar.com/renderman/index.html.
About Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar Animation Studios (Nasdaq: PIXR, http://www.pixar.com) combines creative and technical artistry to create original stories in the medium of computer animation. Pixar has created four of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time: Academy Award ®-winning Toy Story (1995); A Bug's Life (1998); Golden Globe-winner Toy Story 2 (1999); and Monsters, Inc. (2001). Pixar's four films have earned more than $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office to date. The Northern California studio's next film, Finding Nemo, will be released in summer 2003. Pixar Animation Studios films are produced in partnership with Walt Disney Pictures.
|
|
