Advanced RenderMan: Creating CGI for Motion Pictures (Paperback)

Advanced RenderMan: Creating CGI for Motion Pictures is precisely what you and other RenderMan users are dying for. Written by the worlds foremost RenderMan experts, it offers thoroughly updated coverage of the standard while moving beyond the scope of the original RenderMan Companion to provide in-depth information on dozens of advanced topics. Both a reference and a tutorial, this book will quickly prove indispensable, whether youre a technical director, graphics programmer, modeler, animator, or hobbyist.

Explore the Power of RenderMan

• Use the entire range of geometric primitives supported by RenderMan.
• Understand how and when to use procedural primitives and level of detail.
• Master every nuance of the Shading Language.
• Write detailed procedural shaders using texture, displacement, pattern generation, and custom reflection models.
• Write shaders for special effects relating to volumes, custom lighting, and non-photorealistic media.
• Use antialiasing to ensure that your shaders are free of artifacts.
• Minimize the expense of rendering scenes by optimizing input.

Other Features from Advanced RenderMan

• Offers expert advice and instruction applicable to any RenderMan-compliant renderer.
• Filled with technical illustrations and many full-color representations of effects supported by the RenderMan standard.
• Includes a chapter reviewing key math and computer graphics concepts.

Authors:

Tony Apodaca is Director of Graphics R&D at Pixar Animation Studios, co-creator of the RenderMan Specification, and lead engineer of the PhotoRealistic RenderMan. His film credits include Tin Toy, Knick-knack, Toy Story, and A Bugs Life. In 1993, Tony and five other engineers received a Scientific and Technical Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for work on PhotoRealistic RenderMan.

Larry Gritz is a co-founder of Exluna, Inc., where he is a co-designer and the current technical lead of the Entropy renderer. Prior to joining Exluna, Larry was the head of the rendering research group at Pixar Animation Studios and editor of the RenderMan Interface 3.2 Specification, as well as serving as a lighting and shading TD on film and commercial projects. His film credits include Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc. Larry has a BS from Cornell University and MS and PhD degrees from the George Washington University. Prior to joining Pixar in early 1995, Larry was the original creator of BMRT. Larry's research interests include global illumination, shading languages and systems, and rendering of hideously complex scenes.

Update:

Larry Gritz, co-author of Advanced RenderMan: Creating CGI for Motion Pictures, has been hard at work over at Exluna, putting the finishing touches on their first commercial product. The folks over at Exluna, who include Larrys co-founders, Craig Kolb and Matt Pharr, just celebrated their one year anniversary on July 24th after the three left Pixars research and development team to start up their new venture.

Their first product, Entropy, is a powerful, professional-quality rendering system designed for creating the most advanced 3D graphics seen today similar to those found in recent blockbuster movies such as Shrek, Final Fantasy, Atlantis and Tomb Raider and Jurassic Park III. With Entropy, Exluna is the first to bring tools and techniques worthy of a major film project to a wider audience of 3D artists.

Table of Contents:

Preface

Introduction
1. Photosurrealism
2. Review of Math and CG Concepts

Scene Description
3. Describing Models
4. Geometric Primitives
5. Handling Complexity
6. How PhotoRealistic RenderMan Works

Shading
7. Introduction to Shading Language
8. Texture Mapping and Displacement
9. Illumination Models and Lights
10. Pattern Generation
11. Shader Antialiasing
12. A Gallery of Procedural Shaders

Tricks of the Trade
13. Storytelling Through Lighting
14. CG Lighting Controls
15. Volumetric Shaders for Visual Effects
16. Non-Photorealistic Rendering
17. Ray Tracing in PRMan

Afterword

Bibliography

Web-Enhanced:

Index to all of the shaders, examples, etc.
User Contributions.
Other RenderMan-related resources.
Errata.

Related Titles:

Computer Graphics & Geometric Modeling