Pixie (renderer)
Encyclopedia
Pixie is a free
(Open Source), photorealistic raytracing renderer for generating photorealistic images, developed by Okan Arikan in the Department of Computer Science at The University of Texas At Austin. It is RenderMan
-compliant (meaning it reads conformant RIB, and supports full SL shading language shaders) and is based on the Reyes rendering
architecture, but also support raytracing for hidden surface determination.
Like the proprietary BMRT
, Pixie is popular with students learning the RenderMan Interface, and is a suitable replacement for it.
Contributions to Pixie are facilitated by SourceForge
and the Internet where it can also be downloaded free of charge as source code or precompiled. It compiles for Windows
(using Visual Studio
2005), Linux
and on Mac OS X
(using Xcode
or Unix-style configure script).
Key features include:
Pixie is developed by Okan Arikan and George Harker.
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
(Open Source), photorealistic raytracing renderer for generating photorealistic images, developed by Okan Arikan in the Department of Computer Science at The University of Texas At Austin. It is RenderMan
RenderMan Interface Specification
The RenderMan Interface Specification, or RISpec in short, is an open API developed by Pixar Animation Studios to describe three-dimensional scenes and turn them into digital photorealistic images...
-compliant (meaning it reads conformant RIB, and supports full SL shading language shaders) and is based on the Reyes rendering
Reyes rendering
Reyes rendering is a computer software architecture used in 3D computer graphics to render photo-realistic images. It was developed in the mid-1980s by Loren Carpenter and Robert L. Cook at Lucasfilm's Computer Graphics Research Group, which is now Pixar. It was first used in 1982 to render images...
architecture, but also support raytracing for hidden surface determination.
Like the proprietary BMRT
Blue Moon Rendering Tools
Blue Moon Rendering Tools, or BMRT, was one of the most famous RenderMan-compliant photorealistic rendering systems and was a precursor to NVIDIA's Gelato renderer. It was distributed as freeware. BMRT was a popular renderer with students and other people who were trying to learn the RenderMan...
, Pixie is popular with students learning the RenderMan Interface, and is a suitable replacement for it.
Contributions to Pixie are facilitated by SourceForge
SourceForge.net
SourceForge is a web-based source code repository. It acts as a centralized location for software developers to control and manage open source software development. The website runs a version of SourceForge Enterprise Edition, forked from the last open-source version available...
and the Internet where it can also be downloaded free of charge as source code or precompiled. It compiles for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
(using Visual Studio
Microsoft Visual Studio
Microsoft Visual Studio is an integrated development environment from Microsoft. It is used to develop console and graphical user interface applications along with Windows Forms applications, web sites, web applications, and web services in both native code together with managed code for all...
2005), Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and on Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
(using Xcode
Xcode
Xcode is a suite of tools, developed by Apple, for developing software for Mac OS X and iOS. Xcode 4.2, the latest major version, is available on the Mac App Store for free for Mac OS X 10.7 , and on the Apple Developer Connection website for free to registered developers Xcode is a suite of tools,...
or Unix-style configure script).
Key features include:
- 64-bit Capable
- Fast multi-threaded execution.
- Possibility to distribute the rendering process to several machines.
- Motion blurMotion blurMotion blur is the apparent streaking of rapidly moving objects in a still image or a sequence of images such as a movie or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single frame, either due to rapid movement or long exposure.- Photography :When a camera...
and depth of fieldDepth of fieldIn optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image...
. - Programmable shading (using RenderMan Shading Language) including full displacement support.
- Scalable, multi-resolution raytracing using ray differentials.
- Global illuminationGlobal illuminationGlobal illumination is a general name for a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes...
. - Support for conditional RIB.
- Point cloud baking and 3D textures.
Pixie is developed by Okan Arikan and George Harker.