HYBRID RENDERING
Today, Chaos Group releases V-Ray 3.6 for 3ds Max, an update to its leading renderer that introduces new hybrid rendering technology, improved compositing output, and compatibility with Autodesk 3ds Max 2018.
V-Ray’s new hybrid rendering technology adds CPU support to its NVIDIA CUDA-powered GPU renderer. Now, with V-Ray Hybrid artists will have greater flexibility to render a scene using GPUs, CPUs or a combination of both. The rendered images will be identical, regardless of hardware. This allows artists to use any and all hardware, from high-powered GPU workstations to CPU render nodes.
“GPU rendering is on the rise, and V-Ray Hybrid solves two important issues that could make it even more popular,” said Vlado Koylazov, Chaos Group co-founder. “It lets artists use all of their existing hardware, and it gives them a fallback solution if they run into GPU RAM limitations. This makes GPU rendering a more practical solution for a much wider audience.”
JUNE 26, 2017
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/06/prweb14441420.htmPIXAR UNVEILS RENDERMAN XPU
Pixar also unveiled RenderMan 22 and RenderMan XPU: the next release of the renderer, and a work-in-progress technology.
The former is the next scheduled release of RenderMan, and will add a new live link between the renderer and compatible DCC applications, plus faster evaluation of shader networks.
The latter is a new “combined CPU and GPU solution”, and will be rolled out after RenderMan 22.
RenderMan XPU: new combined CPU and GPU rendering solution
There’s even less information on RenderMan XPU, beyond the fact that it’s a “combined CPU and GPU solution [that] renders on both CPUs and GPUs concurrently, taking full advantage of workstation resources”.
However, the fact that Pixar feels that XPU is close enough to release to talk about at all is interesting.
Of RenderMan’s main rivals, Arnold is still purely CPU-based, its much-anticipated GPU support having failed to materialise in Arnold 5 this year; while Redshift is GPU-based, and takes little advantage of the CPU.
V-Ray does have a new hybrid CPU/GPU rendering system, rolled out in V-Ray 3.6 for 3ds Max earlier this year, but it’s only for the V-Ray RT interactive renderer, not the production renderer.
If Pixar can be first to release a hybrid solution that works on typical final-quality renders, it would be an important boost for RenderMan: a product that has had much of its thunder stolen by its rivals in recent years.
Monday, August 7th, 2017
http://www.cgchannel.com/2017/08/pixar-unveils-renderman-22-and-renderman-xpu/
