Vex, Otl and Ifd Files
In addition to using vcc to compile vex shaders for
Houdini, Cutter can also directly test your shaders with Mantra
via ifd scripts. Cutter can also invoke Houdini's rmands utility after
a shader has been compiled to append or create an otl file.
When a .vfl source code file is compiled via Cutter
the compiled code can be either combined with an existing otl file
or it can create a new otl that is specific to the shader being compiled.
Refer
to the Houdini section on the whats new
index page.
Rsl and Otl Files
Houdini relies on otl files to "import" GUI information and vex shaders.
A similiar situation exists for RenderMan Rsl shaders. However, in the
case of RenderMan, an otl only contains GUI information. The compiled
shader is not contained within an otl but remains in the directory
into which it was originally compiled. When a rib file references a
shader, prman must be able to "find" it as a result of looking at its
shader searchpaths.
A Houdini environment variable HOUDINI_RI_SHADERPATH must be set with
the appropriate informaion in order for Houdini to place information into
a rib file ie.
Option "searchpath" "shader" "HOUDINI'S_PATH_INFO"
Ideally, the HOUDINI_RI_SHADERPATH variable should be set permanently. However,
if you are not able to modify your systems environment variables you can run
either of the two following scripts. They setup the HOUDINI_RI_SHADERPATH and
then launch Houdini. For Windows simply double click on the bat file. For linux,
cd to the script directory and then enter,
./setup_houdini.sh
|