LogInPixar has released RenderMan 23.3 bringing support for baking illumination, both to 2D textures and 3D point clouds.
The latest update is said to bring back functionality cut after the transition from the old Reyes pipeline to RenderMan’s new RIS framework. Also, it extends the software’s original baking capabilities.
The toolkit allows you to use Light Path Expressions to isolate arbitrary components of the global illumination in a scene for baking.
The update brings more possibilities for precomputing pattern graphs and baking lightmaps: you can optimize renders within RenderMan itself or generate assets that can be used inside game engines like UE4.
Please note that baking is not compatible with curves for now. Also, it can’t be used with the PxrVCM bidirectional path tracer or stop-and-resume rendering.
You can learn more here.