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Release date: January 6, 2022

RenderMan 24.3 brings some new functionality to artists, as well as several bug fixes.

These release notes build on the the release notes for 24.0, 24.1, and 24.2 so please see those notes first.

For each of the bridge product integrations, please see the Release Notes within each of their respective sections.

Dive right in using the table of contents below!

OSL: Custom LPE match and throughput values can now be accessed in OSL via getattribute("lpe:match"/"lpe:throughput","<customlpename>"/"<customlpeexpression>",val); This wires the RixCustomLPE API into OSL via a custom getattribute call. This will allow the shading to vary based on the throughput or in paths specified by a custom LPE. For example, a shader can respond and return different values depending on whether it a ray has refracted through a particular object or not.
Volumes: Improvements to render times via better light selection within volumes
LPEs: Added 'white' LPE flag, allowing the color of shading events to be excluded from light path expressions. This allows other properties of the shaded points to be written to AOVs without the color being multiplied in, extending the set of things which LPEs can be used to express.

Stats: Stability improvements. When running Live Stats it is no longer necessary to configure a port number. An available port will be chosen automatically by the system
Patterns: PxrFractal: Fixed a regression related to the application of the frequency parameter. Added a new parameter for backward compatibility if needed
Patterns: PxrFractal: Improved frequency clamping to optimize render times

Integrators: Issues with unpredictable random number generation for photon generation in the PxrVCM and PbsPathTracer/PxrUnified integrators have been fixed
Volumes: Issues with incorrect alpha channel results for volumes that are marked matte or holdout have been fixed, including cases where the matte volume holds out an overlapping non-matte volume. One remaining known issue in 24.3 is that matte volumes will not produce the correct alpha channel if accumOpacity is turned on in the PxrPathTracer integrator.
Volumes: An issue with artifacts in the shadows of aggregate volumes rendered with numLightSamples > 1 in PxrPathTracer has been addressed
Textures: Fixed incorrect derivatives when using mipBias or maxResolution in texture patterns
PxrVCM: Fixed a bug in caustics when the light source is a scaled rect light with emission defined by a texture
BxDFs: Parameters "iridescenceAnisotropy", iridescenceBumpNormal", "glassAnisotropy" and glassBumpNormal" are added to PxrLayerSurface
BxDFs: Lama: LamaDielectric and LamaGeneralizedSchlick now support the binding of interior aggregate volumes via the new parameter "volumeAggregate".
BxDFs + Integrators: Fixed an issue with PxrPathTracer when aggregate volumes were bound to the interior of an object via PxrSurface or LamaDielectric. This case now works.
Lights: Fixed a flickering issue when lights overlapped with each other
Lights: Fixed a case where mesh lights wouldn't properly cast shadows

BxDFs: Fixed XPU PxrSurface specular energy compensation for "specularFresnelMode" 1
BxDFs: Fixed a crasher that resulted if subsurface scattering from PxrSurface was used within nested instances
Geometry: Fixed an issue where some polygons could render black
Memory: Fixed several memory leaks that would manifest during interactive renders
Crop Windows: Fix XPU lockup when crop window is very small