Doug,
Renderman is generally used to produce photorealistic stills. It uses
PIXAR's Renderman technology as opposed to 3D Studio's texture mapping,
phong shading method. The Renderman technology (shaders) is generally
accepted to produce the most realistic stills. Also it offers incredible
control over texture mapping and texture projection. It comes with an
animation package to do 3D animations.
It cannot be compared with 3D studio for animation. 3D studio is a
dedicated animation package. The advantage of using Renderman over 3D
studio is that you can do animations and still images for far less money
and unless you are planning on diving into deep waters (ie. learning 3D
studio) it may be all one needs.
Thanks for your interest.
Thanks for the explanation! It turns out that the fellow I know really
just needs an upgrade, and unfortunately, I think I'll hold off myself
until finances are a bit better before deciding which way to go. However,
best of luck! doug