Get It Free! Pixar RenderMan 3D Toy Story Software Can Be Yours (Video)
Attention all animators: Pixar is releasing it’s famous RenderMan 3D software for free to noncommercial users per The Register. This is the Pixar software used by Academy Award winning animators for Disney/Pixar films such as Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Cars 2, and Wall-E.
BBC reported a statement released by Pixar stating that “it would release a free version of RenderMan “without any functional limitations, watermarking, or time restrictions.” Pixar continued to state, “Non-commercial (Pixar) RenderMan will be freely available for students, institutions, researchers, developers, and for personal use.”
Pixar RenderMan has already been available to businesses for commercial use for the price of $495.00 per Slash Gear, but that was a steep price to pay for those who just have an interest in the form of a hobby. So, Pixar decided to release RenderMan to those who are just getting started in the industry to give them the opportunity to practice using Pixar, and even offer developers the chance to make plug ins, per Slash Gear.
Pixar’s RenderMan is an incredible software. In fact Ian Dean, editor of 3D World, told BBC that Pixar RenderMan having been around for more than twenty-five years, “was very important at the higher end of entertainment animation and visual effects industries.”
Nick Cannon, director of technology and operations at MPC Film (Who produced the visual effects of Godzilla and Life of Pi), told BBC that he fully supports the free release of the Pixar RenderMan software. He states, “It’s great news that anyone with an interest in computer graphics will be able to have free access to a state of the art renderer from Pixar, the very same software that the world’s leading computer graphics artists use to render the images seen in the vast majority of feature animation on live action visual effects films.”
Slash Gear reveals that the free Pixar RenderMan software should be released for download alongside the release of the new commercial version in August. Our hats are off to Pixar and we look forward to the Pixar RenderMan freebie. Thanks, Pixar!
photo credit: Sari Tonkr via photopin cc
