Pixar launches RenderMan On Demand online service
Pixar has teamed up with cloud services firm GreenButton to offer RenderMan rendering as an online service.
The system works like a standard online render farm: jobs can be submitted through a new website, RenderMan on Demand, with pricing starting at 70 cents per processor core per hour.
“Working within a tight deadline has always been difficult, especially when rendering animation at the very last minute”, said Nicolas Chaverou, Golaem Crowd Project Manager, one of the system’s beta testers.
“In spite of the time difference [between France and the US], the process was very straightforward, asset upload and distribution on the cloud, and 54 minutes of cloud rendering later it was in a wrap instead of the 20 days it would have otherwise required. Magic!”
PRESS RELEASE (Excerpts)
Pixar Animation Studios today launched a new cloud rendering service called “RenderMan® On Demand™.” Developed in collaboration with pioneering cloud services provider GreenButton, this service is now available on Microsoft’s Windows® Azure with Linux availability following later in 2012. “RenderMan On Demand” offers nearly instantaneous burst rendering access to hundreds and even thousands of additional cores, enabling artists and studios to deliver the highest-quality cinematic imagery with unprecedented economy and efficiency.
For two decades, Pixar’s Academy Award®-winning RenderMan has led the revolution in rendering visual effects and animation, and is the standard for creating the outstanding levels of visual photorealism that audiences expect. Today’s announcement is the result of an extensive development effort incorporating the expertise and feedback of both RenderMan users and GreenButton technical personnel with production experience. The initial phase of “RenderMan On Demand” is targeted at small to medium-sized studios based on Microsoft Windows environments. Over the next two years “RenderMan On Demand” will be expanded into a comprehensive solution for users of all levels and studios of all sizes.
Availability
Pricing is based on the cloud computing industry metric of a CPU core hour, consisting of RenderMan license(s), computer (core) processing charges, and GreenButton managed service fees for one hour (or part thereof) and may vary depending on performance requirements.