Toy Story, Brave, Monsters University, Inside Out, Finding Dory, Coco – these are just a few of the enchanting and well-loved movies from Pixar that have become part of children growing up and even kids at heart. Not only do they convey such heartwarming stories, but Pixar’s animations have also captivated its viewers with its seamless graphics and visual effects. And this is where the magic of Presto comes in.
Many artists wonder if Pixar’s animation software Presto comes with a fee. Presto is Pixar’s proprietary animation software and is not available for sale. And it may or may not be available to the public.
Let’s dig deep as you read along this article to know more about Presto animation software, its features, and Pixar’s system requirements. You will also learn about their fully-functional, rendering software – RenderMan. Presto might not be available to the public but RenderMan is a whole new ball game because it’s free.
To read more about Presto’s origins, check out this article where i go extremely in depth about where it came from and what makes it special.
Presto – Facts, Features, and More
There is no wind about Presto being available for public use. I wouldn’t really be surprised if Pixar doesn’t really allow access to the software. They are at the forefront when it comes to animated movies thanks to Presto and of course they will most likely want to keep it that way. Let’s take a quick look on how Presto came to be instead.
Looking Back: A Little Background Knowledge Of Presto
Pixar Animation Studios began with Lucasfilm in 1979 as their Computer Division called Graphics Group. And in 1986, Steve Jobs bought it from Lucasfilm and established it as an individual company as we know today. He became CEO of Pixar until The Walt Disney Company acquired it in 2006.
Pixar did not start as an animation studio right off the bat. They started out as a hardware company that sells Pixar Image Computer (PIC). But because of the high price tag, it did not sell enough to reach sustainability and was eventually shut down.
In between the hardware selling, Pixar’s proprietary animation system called “Menv” short term for “Modeling ENVironment and pronounced as “MEN-vee”, or Marionette (as it is known outside the studio), was used for the first time in 1988. Menv allows the animators to model, animate characters, and add lighting effects. It has been the studio’s main animation software for more than two decades.
Fast Forward To The Beginning
Pixar started developing Presto from the ground up in 2005. Though its predecessor has done many animations before, it still needs a lot of improvements, especially in the ever-changing visual effects and animation world. Plenty of challenges were present when animators used Menv to animate. Different aspects of the animation were spread across different formats that using them together is not possible. With Presto, this problem became a thing of the past.
Finally in 2012, Presto officially replaced Menv as the studio’s second-generation animation software. This software was initially developed to be used in the movie “Brave” but it was eventually carried over in every movie Pixar created since then. Presto got its name from the animated short film of the same title about the magician and his uncooperative rabbit.
This animation software was developed in collaboration with Autodesk. The team utilized the techniques that are usually used in film making to build this animation software. The reason why it is not released in the market is that for one, it is Pixar’s way to get ahead of the competition, and second, it is a bleeding edge technology.
And such technology will require proper customer support that can only be achieved if the user is within Pixar’s campus. Also, having proprietary software is an advantage to Pixar because they can easily edit the program if there will be any problems or adjustments to suit the needs of their animators.
In 2018, the team behind the Presto animation software was awarded the Technical Achievement Award at the Oscar’s Sci-Tech Awards. Citing the Oscar’s, “Presto allows artists to work interactively in scene context with full-resolution geometric models and sophisticated rig controls, and has significantly increased the productivity of character animators at Pixar”.
Presto Software Features
Presto is designed to be more of a creative tool rather than a technical tool. It has a live, interactive environment where the animators can move and animate the characters in real time. This is important because the animators can see the outcome of their work and can edit it if necessary which cuts down the need for corrections at a later time.
This includes the character’s features such as facial expression, shadow, movements, articulation, and more. It also supports the integrated workflow within the environment such as scene layout, rigging, and simulation. The best example of how good Presto has evolved is by comparing the dog in the first Toy Story movie to the cat in Toy Story 4. Add to that the head-to-toe fur of Sullivan in Monsters, Inc which has a million hair that seamlessly moves along with the character.
Presto also incorporates other software tools in their pipeline such as their own RenderMan for rendering, Autodesk Maya for modeling, Nuke for lighting, and Houdini for visual effects. They also have other proprietary tools in use for all their animation.
Pixar’s System Specs To Run Presto
Pixar uses a mix of computer devices as their workstation. Different tasks require different types of computers. Some may think that Pixar uses exclusive Macs since Steve Jobs is one of the founders of Pixar. But because Mac or any computer for that matter, cannot do everything an animator needed, using different computers for specific tasks is still inevitable.
To be able to run their animation software, Pixar has a typical workstation composed of the following hardware:
- Intel 16-core processor, 2.3GHz
- 64 GB of RAM
- 12 GB NVIDIA Quadro M6000
If an animator requires more power in their animation, an additional dual-CPU configuration with two of the Intel 16-core processor, a pair of 12-GB NVIDIA Quadro M6000s, and 128GB of RAM is readily available.
And of course, they also use Apple in their production. Mac Pro has 8‑core to 28‑core Intel Xeon W processor, up to 1.5 TB of DDR4 ECC memory in 12 user-accessible DIMM slots, up to 8TB of SSD storage, and two MPX Modules with up to four GPUs.
As you noticed these are powerful hardware tools to run Presto. This is because animators require fast interaction in all their tasks. Aside from that, it helps to run the applications smoothly especially if they will be using it together with other software tools such as RenderMan.
The majority of the work in Pixar is done using the Linux operating system. Linux has the advantage of using Windows operating systems, too. So if an animator will use Window-based software, they can do so by using the same computer. While the rest of the production is done with Mac OSX.
Can’t Get Presto, Get The Unmatched Flexibility Of RenderMan Instead
Let’s face it, it might be a long time or never for Pixar to open their doors to allow the public to get their hands on Presto Animation System. There is, however, a rendering software called RenderMan that is also Pixar owned but is open to the public.
PhotoRealistic RenderMan (PRMan), as it is formerly known, is another one of Pixar’s proprietary software. It has been their core rendering software launched the same year as Menv in 1988. Both softwares have been used for the first time to create the award-winning animated short film “Tin Toy”. What RenderMan does is that it flesh out a 3D model or animation to make it more realistic through shading and lighting.
Although Menv retired in 2012, RenderMan still goes hand-in-hand with its successor, Presto and both are used by Pixar at the same time. This software is not only used in Pixar’s animation but it is also used in the biggest Hollywood movies within Pixar and throughout the industry. Solo: A Star Wars Story, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Spiderman: Far From Home, Godzilla: King of Monsters, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom are some of the movies that used RenderMan.
But unlike Presto, RenderMan is available to download for free as long as it is for non-commercial use. You may use it for research, evaluations, education, and personal animation projects. It is fully functional with all the features of the paid version included, without watermarks and time limits.
The only limitation this free software has is that you cannot use it commercially. But if you do intend to use it for commercial purposes, a $595 per license will take effect. It comes with one free license of Tractor that is used for network rendering, it also gives you access to the batch renderer and allows you to access the archive where you can use the previous versions.
You can also add the yearly maintenance for $250 per RenderMan license which includes full support, upgrades, and beta access.
Pixar’s System Specs to Run Renderman
The latest version of RenderMan and all of its plugins are compatible with the following operating systems:
- 64-bit Linux – CentOS/RHEL 7.2 – gcc6.3 and glibc 2.17
- 64 bit Mac OSX – versions 10.13+
- 64-bit Windows – 8.1 and 10
For the hardware, the requirements for GPU is NVIDIA’s CUDA 8.0 and a capable NVIDIA graphics card with support, a multiple core CPU and Hyper-Threading and for the memory, a minimum of 4 GB RAM. But to achieve the best performance, an 8 GB RAM is recommended or more, depending on scene complexity.
It is also compatible with the Digital Content Creation (DCC) tools such as Autodesk Maya, SideFX’s Houdini, and The Foundry’s Katana. For Blender users, you’ll have to wait for the official plugin once RenderMan 24 is released, which will support Blender 2.83 up to the latest version. The RenderMan version that works with Blender is currently outdated and does not support the newer versions of both software.
Conclusion
Even though Presto is not commercially available, you can still use RenderMan in your animations, which is the same rendering software Pixar uses. Use it together with other free DCC software like Blender once the new version is released, and continue to hone your skills. Don’t forget, these are just software tools that can help bring your imagination to life. Because what makes a great animator is talent, creativity, perseverance, and the will to create amazing animations that can lead to success.