Aqsis Renderer

Aqsis is a high quality, open source 3D rendering solution adhering to the RenderMan standard.

Renderman is a standard defined by Pixar to define a method of communications between modelling/animation software and renderers. It is designed to be rendering technology agnostic. The RenderMan standard has been used in film and television visual effects since it's introduction in 1989. Pixar has used their own implementation for all of their award winning CG features, and provided their implementation for use in the visual effects of most major blockbuster films over the last 2 decades. The Aqsis project offers a way for individuals and organisations alike to gain experience with the RenderMan interface without the cost of commercial software licenses.

Aqsis implements all the required features of the Renderman standard, and some of the optional features. It is a fully functional Reyes (a scanline rendering algorithm) renderer. It supports procedural shaders in the Renderman Shading Language (RSL) format, via the shader compiler aqsl, one of the suite of tools that makes up the Aqsis toolset.

Aqsis comprises a command line rendering tool, a tool for compiling shaders in the RSL language, a tool for preparing textures for optimal use, and various developer libraries to enable integration with third party tools.

Features include:

• 3D Depth of field
• Motion blur
• Programmable shading
• True displacements
• NURBS
• Subdivision surfaces
• CSG
• Procedural plugins

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Last Updated Sunday, June 10 2012 @ 03:24 AM EDT