MoonRay: DreamWorks Animation’s Open Source Renderer
MoonRay open source renderer has become a pivotal technology in the world of animation and visual effects, especially since its debut in DreamWorks Animation feature films in 2019. Now, this cutting-edge renderer is taking a significant step forward by joining the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF). This move marks a new chapter for MoonRay and the global animation and VFX community.
Welcoming MoonRay to the Academy Software Foundation
The Academy Software Foundation, renowned for advancing open source software within the motion picture and broader media industries, has officially welcomed MoonRay as its newest hosted project. Developed by DreamWorks Animation and released under the Apache 2.0 license, MoonRay is a sophisticated path-tracing renderer coded in C++ and features a USD Hydra render delegate for seamless integration into modern content creation pipelines.
With over 20 existing projects such as OpenColorIO, OpenEXR, OpenVDB, OpenTimelineIO, and Open Shading Language, the addition of MoonRay open source renderer further strengthens the Foundation’s commitment to fostering innovation and collaboration in the industry. Bill Ballew, CTO of DreamWorks Animation, is set to deliver a keynote at ASWF Open Source Days in July 2026, emphasizing the importance of open source renderers in contemporary film production.
MoonRay’s Impact on DreamWorks Animation
Since its adoption, MoonRay has played a central role in the visual storytelling of DreamWorks Animation. Notable features created with MoonRay include How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, The Bad Guys, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Kung Fu Panda 4, The Wild Robot, and The Bad Guys 2. David Morin, Executive Director of the Academy Software Foundation, highlighted that “some of the most beautiful animated movies of our time have been rendered with MoonRay.” The Foundation is honored to provide a platform for ongoing collaborative development.
MoonRay was built with a focus on efficiency, scalability, and artistic flexibility. Its architecture, free from legacy code, allows artists and technical directors to iterate quickly and achieve both photorealistic and stylized visuals. The renderer leverages a vast library of production-tested, physically based materials, ensuring that filmmakers are not limited in their creative ambitions.
Key Features of MoonRay Open Source Renderer
The MoonRay open source renderer offers a wide range of high-performance features:
- Open source under the Apache 2.0 license
- Distributed rendering support for large-scale productions
- Pixel-matching XPU mode, accelerating performance by utilizing both GPU and CPU
- Bundled path tracing for advanced image generation
- USD Hydra Render Delegate for OpenUSD standard integration
These capabilities enable MoonRay to deliver diverse art styles, from graphic novel-inspired visuals to ornate fantasy and painterly aesthetics. By providing this flexibility directly from the renderer, MoonRay empowers filmmakers to push creative boundaries.
Community and Future Development
With the transition to the Academy Software Foundation, MoonRay will benefit from a broader pool of contributors and an active global community. DreamWorks Animation continues to support MoonRay’s growth with dedicated engineering resources. Developers, technical artists, and animation professionals interested in contributing or using MoonRay can find more information at openmoonray.org and join the ASWF Slack channel at slack.aswf.io.
Jeff Budsberg, Visual Effects Supervisor for The Wild Robot, expressed excitement about the renderer’s open source future, stating, “By facilitating stylization directly out of the renderer, it provides filmmakers with the freedom to achieve diverse art styles… We are excited to get MoonRay into the hands of the rest of the industry and hope our work inspires future filmmakers.”
ASWF Open Source Days 2026
To celebrate MoonRay’s new role in the open source community, DreamWorks Animation CTO Bill Ballew will keynote at the 2026 ASWF Open Source Days event in Los Angeles. His talk, “How to Train Your Renderer: MoonRay’s Journey from DreamWorks’ Dragons to the ASWF,” will explore the renderer’s evolution, the technical and community-building challenges faced, and why the Foundation is essential for the future of open source rendering.
The Call for Proposals for ASWF Open Source Days 2026 is open until May 24, 2026, inviting engineers, artists, and technical directors involved with open source in visual effects, animation, or digital content creation to participate and share their insights.
About the Academy Software Foundation
Founded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Linux Foundation, the Academy Software Foundation is dedicated to supporting open source software development in the film and entertainment industries. With 21 hosted projects and four working groups, ASWF provides resources, community, and a collaborative space for advancing image creation, visual effects, animation, and sound.
For more about the Academy Software Foundation and its projects, visit aswf.io.
This article is inspired by content from Original Source. It has been rephrased for originality. Images are credited to the original source.