RenderMan: pursuing the future of graphics

RenderMan, a powerful, consistent, yet simple 3-D interface that can adequately describe the most common rendering techniques and provides expandability for future growth is described. The RenderMan interface partitions the process of generating realistic images into two distinct areas, modeling and rendering. RenderMan's features are briefly outlined, and the RenderMan Shading language and interface bytestream protocol are examined. Hardware independence and the acceptance of RenderMan are discussed.<<ETX>>