DreamWorks Animation's MoonRay Now Supports VFX Reference Platform

Last year, DreamWorks Animation's ray tracing renderer, used on animated features like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, became open-sourced along with Arras, its distributed rendering framework. It's not the first time DreamWorks made their software publically available, but MoonRay is different as it's a modern high-performance Monte Carlo ray tracer with hybrid GPU/CPU rendering mode and allows support for Hydra delegates.

MoonRay can be compiled from source on Linux only and comes with a list of build instructions in the online documentation.

The newest MoonRay 1.5 update now provides support for the CY2023 specification of the VFX Reference Platform and Rocky Linux 9, where MoonRay can be built instead of CentOS that is soon to be discontinued.

VFX Reference Platform, which is essentially a common library of tools and digital software packages with the purpose of easing the integrated pipelines and encouraging the adoption of Linux by studios and software vendors, has already finalized CY2024 already as of now. The platform includes annually updated specifications that set out which versions of common software intended for visual effects pipelines should be used and the access to it surely would be of use to creators.

MoonRay 1.5 includes other miscellaneous features such as hdMoonRay, a Hydra render delegate, now being compatible with Foundry's Nuke 15, the latest version of the software, all thanks to CY2023 support.

Since the release of MoonRay 1.0, several new features have been introduced, including a new ramp control for volumes, a default XPU mode (hybrid CPU/GPU rendering), and support for PresenZ VR rendering.

Check out the official site for more information and don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.