AMD ships Radeon ProRender 3.4 for Blender and Maya
AMD has released Radeon ProRender 3.4 for Blender and Maya, the latest versions of the Blender and Maya editions of the free, physically accurate GPU renderer.
Updated 7 November 2022: The Maya release has since been renumbered as version 3.3.55, and AMD has now put out a new update numbered Radeon ProRender 3.4 for Maya.
Both updates add Atmosphere and Fog controls, and the option to overrride shadow settings on objects.
In addition, the Maya plugin gets new extended Cryptomatte AOVs, while the Blender plugin is now compatible with both Blender 3.1 and the newly released Blender 3.2.
Both editions: new Atmosphere and Fog system, and shadow overrides
The update is something of an unexpected one, AMD having announced that the ‘classic’ Blender plugin was being superseded by its newer USD Hydra plugin for Blender, version 1.1 of which shipped last week.
New features common to both plugins include support for Atmosphere and Fog in the World Properties Panel, with controls to adjust density, falloff and height of the fog layer above the ground.
Users can also now override an object’s shadow settings, making it possible to prevent an object from receiving shadows, or to change the colour of the shadows it casts.
In addition, hair is supported in RPR interactive mode.
Changes specific to individual plugins
Blender users also get the option to change the random seed used for renders, and to use a model’s secondary UV set when generating outlines for toon renders.
Maya users get the option to link toon shaders to a specific light within a scene, “new extended Cryptomatte AOVs”, and fixes including support for assigning materials to Alembic files.
Availability and system requirements
Radeon ProRender 3.4 for Blender is compatible with Blender 2.80+ on Windows, Linux and macOS. Radeon ProRender 3.3.55 for Maya is compatible with Maya 2018+ on Windows and macOS.
Source code for both plugins is available under Apache Licence 2.0.
Read a full list of new features in Radeon ProRender 3.4 for Blender in the release notes
Read a full list of new features in Radeon ProRender 3.3.55 for Maya in the release notes