Whats New - Version 6.4.0

October 5 2012

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• Pixar's Rib-in-.zip
• Pixar's stdrsl Header Files
• Compiling RSL - Includes
• Reformat Rib Statement
• Open RenderMan Look File

Pixar's Rib-in-.zip

With release 4 of Pixar's RenderMan Studio (RMS), multiple archive rib files are now contained, in binary format, in a zip file. To make it easier for users to inspect a zipped rib file Cutter can now upzip a specific entry and convert it from binary to ascii format - figure 1. Zipped archives can be recognized by the .zip file extension followed by the '!' character. To automatically unzip and convert a binary rib to ascii format simply right mouse click anywhere within the path and choose Open Selection.

Figure 1

Pixar's stdrsl Header Files

When writing "plausible" shaders extensive use is made of structures defined in header files within the "lib/rsl/stdrsl" directory. Command + double clicking on the name of a struct in a shader source code document (.sl) will open the header file that implements the struct. Figure 2 illustrates that command + double clicking on "stdrsl_Lambert" opens the "Lambert.h" header file.

Figure 2

To quickly access a header file specified by the #include directive, right mouse click in the name of the file and choose "Open Selection" - figure 3.

Figure 3

Compiling RSL - Includes

Cutter now uses the following values for the include (-I) flag when using Pixar's "shader" compiler.

/PATH_TO_RPS_INSTALLATION/RenderManProServer-XX.X/bin/shader
-I/PATH_TO_RPS_INSTALLATION/lib/shaders          <- normals.h & materials.h
-I/PATH_TO_RPS_INSTALLATION/lib/rsl/include      <- stdrsl headers for plausible shaders
-I/PATH_TO_RPS_INSTALLATION/lib/examples/volumes <- patterns.h. noises.h, filterwidth.h & cloud.h
-I/PATH_TO_PREFERENCES_SHADER_SOURCE_DIRECTORY   <- refer to "user directories"
-I/PATH_TO_CURRENT_SHADER_SOURCE_DIRECTORY       <- headers in the same directory as the src file
-o
/PATH_TO_PREFERENCES_COMPILED_SHADERS_DIRECTORY/test.slo
/PATH_TO_CURRENT_SHADER_SOURCE_DIRECTORY/test.sl

Reformat Rib Statement

To make it easier to inspect long lines of parameter values a "Convert To Multi Line" item has been added to the popup menu for rib files - figure 4. The following rib statements can be reformatted:

    Surface         Displacement
    LightSource     Shader
    Imager          Volume
    Procedural      Attribute
    Display         Option
    Transform       ConcatTransform 

Right-mouse clicking on a statement will automatically select it. The parameters of a typical LightSource statement, after reformatting, are shown in figure 5.

Figure 4 - LightSource parameters on one line before reformatting.

Figure 5 - Parameters reformatted across several lines.

Transformation matrices are reformatted as follows.

    ConcatTransform
         [
         0.772734 -0.442022 -0.455521  0       
         0         0.71766  -0.696393  0       
        -0.634731 -0.538127 -0.55456   0       
         0         0         8.38798   1
         ]

Open RenderMan Look File

RMS version 4 introduced the use of RenderMan Look Files (rlf). A rlf file associated with a rib can be conveniently opened using the popup menu - figure 6. It is assumed the rlf file will have the same name as the rib file being edited with Cutter.

Figure 6

Editing a RenderMan Look File

Cutter applies syntax coloration to .rlf files. A long line of parameters can be reformatted using the popup menu - figures 7 and 8.

Figure 7

Figure 8

The "Open Parent RIB" menu item will open the .rib file that uses the current .rlf document. The "Render Parent RIB" menu item will render the rib file. The keyboard shortcut alt+e, control+e or apple+e will also render the parent rib.

Figure 9

The colors used for syntax coloration can be set using the Preferences tool - figure 10.

Figure 10