Pixar Animation Studios has made all the animation students happy who want to practice the art and polish their skills before entering into the big bad business world.
The studios in-house rendering software RenderMan is now free to download and use but only condition is that it cannot be used in a commercial way. If you make something you do want to profit from, you can pick up the commercial license for the software for $495 (USD).
Films like Guardians of the Galaxy, The Lego Movie and Captain America: The Winter Soldier have been through RenderMan is now completely free for non-commercial use on Windows, Mac, and Linux. The free version includes all the features of the paid version, time limits or watermarks free.
“The latest release of RenderMan is a technological reinvention. It’s the result of focused research and development at both Pixar and Disney, and these advancements are now freely available to the visual effects and animation community through Non-Commercial RenderMan.” said Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios president Ed Catmull. “We look forward to seeing what our users create.”
RenderMan currently supports Autodesk’s Maya (which has a free trial available for download) and The Foundry’s Katana and puts out animation to make it more realistic with interactive lighting and shading. Not only is it used for Pixar films, it’s also the industry standard for special effects.
