Renderman, Pixar’s amazing software that can simulate extremely realistic lighting on 3-D objects, is now free to download for non-commercial use on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
The small catch is that while Renderman can be downloaded and used non-commercially without paying anything, it has not been open-sourced. Although there are no time limits, watermarks, or other restrictions on the software, if you want to release your Wall-E fan fiction to theaters or use it in other commercial ways, you’ll have to license it for $500.
To download the Academy Award-winning software, all you need to do is register for a forum account and provide a valid e-mail address. Once that’s done, you are given an installation package which in turn downloads the actual Renderman components appropriate for your operating system and 3D package. However, you can’t just grab Renderman and get your CGI on, because Renderman is only a rendering engine. In order to actually do anything with it, you need a 3D modeling and rendering application or application suite, like Autodesk Maya, which can cost thousands of dollars. The most popular free 3D application, Blender, doesn’t yet work with Renderman.
If you want more info, Pixar has also set up a FAQ page with additional details on specifics of the Renderman noncommercial release. It appears that the company is keeping to a very strict definition of “noncommercial,” since one answer on the page explicitly states that nonprofit entities which “generate revenue through entrance or member fees, service charges, subscriptions etc” (like churches or charities) are considered commercial users and are ineligible for the noncommercial free release.
Even still, given that Renderman has been used in everything from Pixar’s monstrously successful animated films like Toy Story, Cars, and Up, to the visual effects in big budget Hollywood blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s exciting to consider what you could produce for free, given enough skill, creativity, and effort.
