Pixar has announced the release of Renderman 24 introducing a new rendering architecture called RenderMan XPU. New feature made possible by this change include the ability to use both CPU and GPU resources, live rendering got immediate feedback, a new shading system for layered materials called Lama. The latter was originally developed at ILM and has been used there in production for many years. According to the announcement, “the shading system provides RenderMan’s first step towards a deep MaterialX integration”.
Other features include a new toolset for crafting non-photorealistic renders, called RenderMan Stylized Looks, OSL support when GPU rendering, streamlined support for the ACES colour management system, live statistics, advancements in surface realism, and a complete rewrite of RenderMan for Blender.
Find out more on the RenderMan website.