Pixar has released RenderMan version 25.1, building upon the previous version, RenderMan 25.0, with minor enhancements and bug fixes.
The RenderMan Integrated Subdivision Surfaces (RIS) and XPU see minor improvements, including better constant fold space transformations and enhanced RIS performance. The built-in listeners for stats now expand environment variables for file names found in the stats.ini configuration file. Additionally, RenderMan now supports Python 3.10.
The updates also address various issues related to Boundaries Extension to Finite Elements (BxDFs), Geometry, and Ray Tracing. These updates aim to enhance user control, improve rendering quality, and reduce errors.
Enhancements to XPU, Pixar’s rendering technology, include improved support for denoising quality and compatibility. These enhancements also offer better behavior when the camera is placed in volume, improved performance for dsominmax 0 volumes, and fixes for issues related to underdicing geometry based on the aspect ratio.
The Denoiser feature of XPU also receives significant upgrades. XPU now fully supports the denoiser, and a new feature allows users to specify specific frames for denoising.
In terms of Stylized Looks, the Arbitrary Output Variables (AOV) names within all Digital Content Creation (DCC) tools have been simplified, alongside improvements to PxrStylizedControl and PxrStylizedHatching, all aimed at improving user experience.
Several bugs in Bridge Products have been fixed to enhance user experience and performance, including a fix for a bug where a user’s PYTHONPATH could cause denoise_batch to fail and an improvement where XPU responds to rapid light edits more quickly.
Various issues regarding the use of RenderMan within Houdini, Katana, Maya, and Blender have also been resolved, which improves functionality and provides a more seamless experience for users.
See Also:
- Anima 5.1 Released
- RenderMan Version 25 Released
- 3ds Max 2024.1 Released