[Originally posted on 10/19/17]

Radeon™ ProRender is our free, fast, and accurate physically-based rendering engine that enables creative professionals to produce stunningly photorealistic images. Along with the plug-ins and add-ins currently available for many popular 3D content-creation applications, Radeon ProRender now offers open-source availability for developers, is integrated into MAXON Cinema 4D Release 19 (R19), and is planned for the Foundry’s Modo in 2018.

Today’s big news is that we’ve made Radeon ProRender even better with improved rendering performance and new features in updated versions of our plug-ins for Autodesk® 3ds Max®, Autodesk Maya® (Windows® version only), and Blender™ and in our add-in for SOLIDWORKS®. The new features include a Shadow Catcher material and IES lights support for the 3ds Max, Maya, and Blender plug-ins, and the SOLIDWORKS add-on now supports SOLIDWORKS 2018.

Performance Improvements

Our updates to Radeon ProRender bring improved performance to both final rendering and interactive viewport rendering. The updated Radeon ProRender plug-in for Blender provides up to 29% faster rendering than the previous version1, the 3ds Max plug-in up to 35%2, the Maya plug-in for Windows up to 28%3, and the SOLIDWORKS add-in up to 14%4. This increased performance allows artists to work faster and gives them more responsive interactive rendering.

Shadow Catcher Material

Available in our updated Radeon ProRender plug-ins for 3ds Max, Maya for Windows, and Blender, the new Shadow Catcher material allows you to collect shadows and reflections from your rendered objects for compositing objects to IBL (Image-Based Lighting) environments or backplate images.

IES Lights Support

Based on real-world lighting files, IES lighting and the ability to load the IES file-format lets you use the exact scattering and fall-offs of real-world lighting. All you have to do is find your lighting manufacturer, find an IES file, attach the IES file to the light, and render. IES lights support is available in the updated Radeon ProRender plug-ins for 3ds Max, Maya for Windows, and Blender.

Simplified Sampling

We’ve made sampling easier in all our plug-ins and add-ins. You no longer have to set AA sampling, now all rendering samples are used for anti-aliasing. This is applies to all the plug-ins and add-ins.

Physically Based Rendering (PBR) Shader Support

We’ve implemented a PBR shader material, closely matching Unreal Engine’s PBR materials, into our Radeon ProRender plug-in for 3ds Max, and support is planned soon for our Maya and Blender plug-ins.

SOLIDWORKS Add-in Updates

The Radeon ProRender add-in for SOLIDWORKS has been updated with support for SOLIDWORKS 2018. We’re also adding physically accurate sun and sky simulation.

Get the Updated Plug-Ins and Add-ins Now

You can download the latest versions of our Radeon ProRender plug-ins and add-ins below.

Blender Plug-in 1.4.0 Updates

GET THE UPDATED RADEON™ PRORENDER PLUG-IN FOR BLENDER™

Autodesk 3ds Max Plug-in 2.1.4.0 Update

GET THE UPDATED RADEON™ PRORENDER PLUG-IN FOR 3DS MAX®

Autodesk Maya Plug-in 2.2.4.0 for Windows Update

GET THE UPDATED RADEON™ PRORENDER PLUG-IN FOR MAYA®

SOLIDWORKS Add-in 1.0.3.1 Update

GET THE UPDATED RADEON™ PRORENDER ADD-IN FOR SOLIDWORKS®

Mech-Spider title image by Theory Studios created using Radeon™ ProRender for Blender™.

Wine Cellar image by The Pixelary created using Radeon™ ProRender for Blender™.

Alexander Blake-Davies, Software Product Marketing Specialist for Professional Graphics at AMD’s Radeon Technology Group. Links to third party sites and references to third party trademarks are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only. Unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links, and no third-party endorsement of AMD or any of its products is implied. Use of third party names or marks is for informational purposes only and no endorsement of or by AMD is intended or implied.

FOOTNOTES:

1. The Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Blender™ 1.4.0 provides up to 29% faster rendering performance than the previous Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Blender™ 1.2.8 version. Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of Oct 12th, 2017, on a test system comprising of an Intel Core i7-7820HQ @ 2.9 GHz, 48GB LPDDR3 RAM, 256GB SSD storage, Radeon™ Pro WX 7100, Windows 10 64-bit, and AMD Radeon Pro Software Enterprise 17.Q3.1 graphics driver. Benchmark Application: Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Blender™ using GPU rendering option. Measurement: Render times for Cornell_ProRender scene at its default scene resolution shown in parentheses, with a 100-pass limit and production quality preset set to "high.” Cornell_ProRender scene (2048 x 1840) with the Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Blender™ 1.2.8 render time: 168 sec. Cornell_ProRender scene (2048 x 1840) with the Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Blender™ 1.4.0 render time: 119 secs. Performance differential: 28.97% faster with the Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Blender™ 1.4.0. Scores are estimates based on AMD internal lab measurements/modelling and may vary. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. Performance may vary based on use of the latest drivers. RPS-5

2. The Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for 3ds Max® 2.1.4.0 provides up to 35% faster rendering performance than the previous Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for 3ds Max® 2.1.0.19 version. Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of Oct 12th, 2017, on a test system comprising of an Intel Core i7-7820HQ @ 2.9 GHz, 48GB LPDDR3 RAM, 256GB SSD storage, Radeon™ Pro WX 7100, Windows 10 64-bit, and AMD Radeon Pro Software Enterprise 17.Q3.1 graphics driver. Benchmark Application: Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for 3ds Max® using GPU rendering option. Measurement: Render times for Helmet scene at its default scene resolution shown in parentheses, with a 100-pass limit and production quality preset set to "high.” Helmet scene (1920 x 1080) with the Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for 3ds Max® 2.1.0.19 render time: 678 sec. Helmet scene (1920 x 1080) with the Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for 3ds Max® 2.1.4.0 render time: 438 sec. Performance differential: 35.40% faster with the Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for 3ds Max® 2.1.4.0. Scores are estimates based on AMD internal lab measurements/modelling and may vary. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. Performance may vary based on use of the latest drivers. RPS-7

3. The Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Maya® 2.2.4.0 provides up to 28% faster rendering performance than the previous Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Maya® 2.2.0.1 version. Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of Oct 12th, 2017, on a test system comprising of an Intel Core i7-7820HQ @ 2.9 GHz, 48GB LPDDR3 RAM, 256GB SSD storage, Radeon™ Pro WX 7100, Windows 10 64-bit, and AMD Radeon Pro Software Enterprise 17.Q3.1 graphics driver. Benchmark Application: Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Maya® using GPU rendering option. Measurement: Render times for Helmet scene at its default scene resolution shown in parentheses, with a 100-pass limit and production quality preset set to "high.” Helmet scene (1280 x 720) with the Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Maya® 2.2.0.1 render time: 713 sec. Helmet scene (1280 x 720) with the Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Maya® 2.2.4.0 render time: 515 sec. Performance differential: 27.69% faster with the Radeon™ ProRender plug-in for Maya® 2.2.4.0. Scores are estimates based on AMD internal lab measurements/modelling and may vary. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. Performance may vary based on use of the latest drivers. RPS-6

4. The Radeon™ ProRender add-in for SOLIDWORKS® 1.0.3.1 provides up to 14% faster rendering performance than the previous Radeon™ ProRender add-in for SOLIDWORKS® 1.0.0.9 version. Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of Sept 29th, 2017, on a test system comprising of an Intel Core i7-7820HQ @ 2.9 GHz, 48GB LPDDR3 RAM, 256GB SSD storage, Radeon™ Pro WX 7100, Windows 10 64-bit, and AMD Radeon Pro Software Enterprise 17.Q3 graphics driver. Benchmark Application: Radeon™ ProRender add-in for SOLIDWORKS® using GPU rendering option. Measurement: Render times for Piping Demo model at its default scene resolution shown in parentheses, with a 100-pass limit and rendering quality preset set to "high.” Piping Demo model (800 x 600) with the Radeon™ ProRender add-in for SOLIDWORKS® 1.0.0.9 render time: 318 sec. Piping Demo model (800 x 600) with the Radeon™ ProRender add-in for SOLIDWORKS® 1.0.3.1 render time: 275 sec. Performance differential: 13.72% faster with the Radeon™ ProRender add-in for SOLIDWORKS® 1.0.3.1. Scores are estimates based on AMD internal lab measurements/modelling and may vary. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. Performance may vary based on use of the latest drivers. RPS-4