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Pixar Releases RenderMan for Maya 4.0 and RenderMan Studio 3.0

Pixar Animation Studios today announced the release of RenderMan Studio 3.0 and RenderMan for Maya 4.0.

Press Release from Pixar

EMERYVILLE, CA – (October 22nd, 2010) Pixar Animation Studios today announced the release of RenderMan Studio 3.0 and RenderMan for Maya 4.0. Both new versions offer substantial gains in performance, enhanced workflows, and new state-of-the-art technologies for rendering visual effects and animation.     

RenderMan for Maya 4.0 provides any user of Autodesk’s Maya with fast and easy access to the core rendering technology developed by Pixar and used to create the stunning visual effects seen in the majority of today’s feature films. This latest release delivers significant increases in performance from a host of core optimizations to the internal renderer, including the addition of unlimited threading. Additionally, RenderMan for Maya 4.0 includes enhanced interaction with Maya’s Render Layers, a new unified interface for RenderMan Controls, and support for Maya Fluids.

RenderMan Studio 3.0 includes all of the above while also featuring powerful new shading and lighting tools. RenderMan Studios 3.0 includes the latest version of Pixar’s shader authoring toolset Slim 9.0, providing excellent integration with RenderMan for Maya, a new production-quality shader library, co-shader support, Ptex support, and more. Also included is a new relighting tool built on RenderMan’s re-rendering API. In addition, RenderMan Studio includes Tractor 1.0, Pixar’s new distributed render management solution, featuring an innovative architecture designed with the flexibility and power to manage small or large, multi-core render farms.

To complement the release of RenderMan Studio 3.0, Pixar is also pleased to announce the impending availability of a fully updated version of the RenderMan Courseware, providing in-depth, production-focused tutorials describing all the latest features. Please visit http://www.escapestudios.co.uk/find-a-renderman-tutorial/

AvailabilityRenderMan for Maya 4.0 is compatible with Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6, Windows 7, Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit, and Windows Vista 64-bit HPC Server. In addition to the above, RenderMan Studio 3.0 is also compatible with Linux 32-bit and 64-bit. Tractor 1.0 is included in RenderMan Studio and is also available as a standalone product. Tractor 1.0 is compatible with Mac OS X and Linux 32-bit and 64-bit, but can deploy tasks to Windows 7, Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit, and Windows Vista 64-bit HPC Server also.

Pixar’s annual maintenance program benefits customers with access to ongoing support and free upgrades. For more information please visit www.pixar.com or contact rendermansales@pixar.com.

About Pixar Animation StudiosPixar Animation Studios, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is an Academy Award®-winning film studio with world-renowned technical, creative and production capabilities in the art of computer animation.  Creator of some of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time, including Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL•E, Up and most recently, Toy Story 3. The Northern California studio has won 24 Academy Awards® and its eleven films have grossed more than $6.5 billion at the worldwide box office to date. The next film release from Disney*Pixar is Cars 2 (June 24, 2011).

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Rick DeMott
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