Pixar RenderMan

To speed up rendering, Pixar engineers performed experiments with parallel rendering computers using Transputer chips inside a Pixar Image Computer. The name comes from the nickname of a small circuit board (2.5 × 5 inches or 6.4 × 13 cm) containing one Transputer that engineer Jeff Mock could put in his pocket. During that time the Sony Walkman was very popular and Jeff Mock called his portable board Renderman, leading to the software name. ==Technology==

RenderMan used the RenderMan Interface Specification (RISpec) to define cameras, geometry, materials, and lights. This specification facilitated communication between 3D modeling and animation applications and the render engine that generates the final high-quality (HQ) images. In the past, RenderMan used the Reyes Rendering Architecture. The Renderman standard was first presented at 1993 SIGGRAPH, developed with input from 19 companies and 6 or 7 big partners, with Pat Hanrahan taking a leading role. Ed Catmull said no software product met the RenderMan Standard in 1993. RenderMan met it after about two years. When Pixar started development, Steve Jobs described the original goal for RenderMan in 1991: During this time, Pixar used the C language for developing Renderman, which allowed them to port it to many platforms. RenderMan 19 had the new RenderMan Integrator System (RIS) and could use Monte Carlo path tracing to generate images. With RenderMan 27, XPU (extreme processing unit) is the main renderer, set to replace RIS (now in maintenance mode). ==Awards==

RenderMan has been used to create digital visual effects for Hollywood blockbuster movies such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Toy Story, Jurassic Park, Avatar, Titanic, the Star Wars prequels, and The Lord of the Rings. RenderMan has received four Academy Scientific and Technical Awards. The first was in 1993 honoring Pat Hanrahan, Anthony A. Apodaca, Loren Carpenter, Rob L. Cook, Ed Catmull, Darwyn Peachey, and Tom Porter. The second was 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 "for significant advancements to the field of motion picture rendering as exemplified in Pixar’s RenderMan". The third was in 2010 honoring "Per Christensen, Christophe Hery, and Michael Bunnell for the development of point-based rendering for indirect illumination and ambient occlusion." The fourth was in 2011 honoring David Laur. It has also won the Gordon E. Sawyer Award in 2009 and The Coons Award. It is the first software product awarded an Academy Award. == Filmography ==

Feature films • Jurassic Park (1993) • Toy Story (1995) • ''A Bug's Life'' (1998) • Toy Story 2 (1999) • Chicken Run (2000) • Monsters, Inc. (2001) • Finding Nemo (2003) • The Incredibles (2004) • Valiant (2005) • Chicken Little (2005) • Cars (2006) • The Ant Bully (2006) • Ratatouille (2007) • Tinker Bell (2008) • WALL-E (2008) • Up (2009) • Astro Boy (2009) • Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (2009) • Toy Story 3 (2010) • Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (2010) • Tangled (2010) • Cars 2 (2011) • Brave (2012) • Monsters University (2013) • Planes (2013) • Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014) • Inside Out (2015) • The Good Dinosaur (2015) • Finding Dory (2016) • Cars 3 (2017) • Coco (2017) • Incredibles 2 (2018) • Toy Story 4 (2019) • Onward (2020) • Soul (2020) • Luca (2021) • Turning Red (2022) • Lightyear (2022) • Elemental (2023) • The Garfield Movie (2024) • Inside Out 2 (2024) • Elio (2025) • Hoppers (2026) ==Notable studios using RenderMan==

North America United States • Pixar • Industrial Light & Magic • Walt Disney Animation Studios • Laika • Tippett Studio Canada • Bardel Entertainment • Bron Studios • Mr. X • Spin VFX South America Brazil • StartAnima Europe United Kingdom • DNEG • Locksmith Animation • Moving Picture Company France • Mac Guff • TeamTO • Zag Inc. Germany • Rise FX • Trixter Asia China • Base FX • Light Chaser Animation Studios South Korea • Dexter Studios == Gallery ==

File:RendermanPlaque1.jpg|Development of Computer graphics and Visualization Techniques Plaque outside of Pixar headquarters. File:Renderman3.jpg|Development of Renderman plaque outside of Pixar Headquarters. File:Renderman2.jpg|The plaques by IEEE. ==See also==