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R E D S H I F T

generation of new render solutions

Redshift

Render solutions

Redshift is the world’s first fully GPU-accelerated, biased renderer. Redshift renders scenes many times faster than existing CPU-based renderers. Save time and money, and unleash your creativity!

Redshift Reel

interview
REDSHIFT

Rendering solutions

& software

INTERVIEWER

Izmaylov Alexander

founder of VFXmagazine

Do today's individual talented artists and small studios have any shortcuts to get a production to the same quality as big Hollywood VFX companies? If yes, can you elaborate.

Now they can!

There are many talented individual artists and small studios out there who, until recently, faced unsurmountable technical (and, subsequently, budget) challenges regarding the rendering of large or complicated projects.

Rendering such projects on time meant a considerable investment in terms of hardware, software, electricity and IT management. Such costs, in conjunction with the fiercely competitive prices of the VFX market, in turn meant smaller studios were limited to either smaller projects or projects that didn’t require high-quality rendering.

The advent of the GPU in production rendering and renderers like Redshift means that a large percentage of the aforementioned costs is now eliminated! 

Redshift can render much faster than CPU renderers (users claim ratios between 5x and 40x) and without loss of quality so an individual or studio will naturally needs much fewer computers and software licenses for their rendering needs. Which, in turn, means they can now bid on and successfully complete projects they couldn’t before. 

Redshift users have found that the extra rendering speed means being able to use more complicated shaders, more in-camera effects like bokeh and motion blur, more lights and, generally, being able to produce a higher-quality result at a fraction of the cost – which gives them a considerable competitive edge.

Many artists use a lot of approaches and techniques in their work. What kind of software does Redshift support?

Redshift is tightly integrated with 3d apps like Autodesk Softimage (Windows), Autodesk Maya (Windows and Linux) and Autodesk 3dsMax. Rendering plugins for Maxon’s Cinema4D and SideFX Houdini are currently in development. Redshift’s deep level of integration means new users will feel right at home. Our new users are often excited not just by Redshift’s speed but when they find the majority of their favorite 3d app’s features are actually supported – something that cannot be said for every renderer out there.

Apart from deep integration, the Redshift plugins also aim to offer a consistent user experience across the supported 3d apps - within the limits of each 3d app, of course! This is important for the reason you mentioned: many artists these days find themselves having to jump between different 3d apps, depending on their project’s needs. We wanted to provide a seamless experience for such users.

The unique rendering algorithms in your solution brings back a lot of render farms based on the canonical CPU hardware architecture. Could you shed a little spotlight how Redshift works and what the main advantage if gives your users?

Redshift was designed from the ground up to be a production-strength, biased GPU renderer. "Production strength" means the software is stable/reliable and can handle large datasets, i.e. scenes containing tens or even hundreds of millions of polygons and tens of gigabytes of textures. Redshift can support large datasets that exceed the GPU memory capabilities due to its out-of-core architecture which allows data to efficiently be moved between the CPU and the GPU. 

“Biased” means allowing artists to tweak shading in non-physical ways and achieving the look they require. It also means being able to approximate certain lighting aspects with less accurate but faster-to-render techniques. “Biased” should not be confused with a lack of physical correctness - which Redshift also supports! It should be interpreted as “better control”. And, finally, because Redshift is optimized to run on the GPU, this means it offers all of the above while being albe to render several times faster than its CPU counterparts!

Due to Redshift's stability and degree of customer support we offer in our forums, our users know they can rely on Redshift for even the most demanding projects. Redshift’s rendering control means users can achieve the look they (and their clients) want. And Redshift’s speed means they can bid on hard-to-render projects and complete them on time, at the required quality, without stress, and without having to invest in a large renderfarm and the necessary software licenses.