PhotoRealistic RenderMan

PhotoRealistic RenderMan, or PRMan for short, is a proprietary photorealistic RenderMan-compliant renderer.

It primarily uses the REYES algorithm but is also fully capable of doing ray tracing and global illumination.

PRMan is produced by Pixar Animation Studios and used to render all of their in-house 3D animated movie productions. It is also available as a commercial product licensed to third parties, sold as part of a bundle called RenderMan Pro Server, a RenderMan-compliant rendering software system developed by Pixar based on their own interface specification.

RenderMan for Maya is a full version of PRMan that is designed to be completely integrated with the Maya high-end 3D computer graphics software package; however, it is still in its infancy and is not yet capable of the things Maya can currently accomplish.

Awards

As part of the 73rd Scientific and Technical Academy Awards ceremony presentation on March 3, 2001, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors honored Ed Catmull, Loren Carpenter, and Rob Cook, with an Academy Award of Merit (Oscar) "for significant advancements to the field of motion picture rendering as exemplified in Pixar’s RenderMan." This was the first Oscar awarded to a software package for its outstanding contributions to the field.

External links

* [http://renderman.pixar.com/products/tools/rps.html Pixar's official PRMan website]