DreamWorks to make its own MoonRay rendering software open source

Dreamworks is going to make its MoonRay render tool open source. The software has been used to create, among other things, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, The Bad Guys, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which is due out in December.

MoonRay comes with an extensive library of textures and materials that have been tested across multiple productions. In addition, the software is not based on older code. DreamWorks is going to make its cloud rendering framework Arras open source in addition to MoonRay. By using the tools side by side, the user can simultaneously display multiple lighting conditions or locations in an environment.

“Demand for rendering at scale is growing every year, and MoonRay can meet that need. We expect the codebase to improve with community involvement,” writes Andrew Pearce, vice president of global technology at DreamWorks, in a statement.

MoonRay will be available later this year under an Apache 2.0 license. Interested parties can contact DreamWorks to see if they qualify for early access to the tool.

The Bad Guys (2022). Source: DreamWorks