RfM 23
Customizing

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Introduction

The instructions on this page match the features of version 23 of Pixar's RenderManProServer, RenderManForMaya and Arnold. It is suggested the reader uses the following directory structure.

    maya/
       |_ projects/
       |          |_ Arnold_osl/src/
       |          |_ Arnold_shaders/src_c++/
       |
       |_ scripts/
       |
       |_ rfm_scripts/
      	            |_ config
      	            |_ image_tool
      	            |_ mel
      	            |_ nodes/
                    |      |_ Args
                    |      |_ src_c++
                    |      |_ src_osl
                    |
                    |_ proc_prims/
                    |            |_ src_c++
      	            |_ python
                    |
                    |_ rif_plugins/
                                 |_ src_c++

Step 1

Download customize_rfm23.zip and unzip the file. It's contents are shown on the right. Open the maya.env and the rfm_scripts/config/rfm.json files and edit the paths that begin FULLPATH/TO so that the paths are correctly specified.

Step 2

Move the Maya.env file to the appropriate 201X folder. For example,

Windows
    C:\Users\YOUR_NAME\Documents\maya\2019\Maya.env
  
Linux
   /home/YOUR_NAME/maya/2019/Maya.env
  
MacOSX
    /Users/YOUR_NAME/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/2019/Maya.env

Step 3

Move the 6 mel scripts from the directory named "scripts" to your maya/scripts directory. The most important script is the one named userSetup.mel. It sets up the python environment used by several custom scripts.

MacOSX Users

Because the Maya.env script (step 2) adds a path to the users maya/scripts directory you can create a scripts folder in your Documents/maya directory. In this way general purpose .mel and .py scripts can be conventiently stored in the Documents/maya/scripts folder rather than in the (hidden) Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/scripts folder.

Step 4

Move the folder named "rfm_scripts", and it's sub-directories and documents, to your maya directory.

Downloads/customize_rfm23/
                        |_ Maya.env   <-- editing required
                        |
                        |_scripts/
                        |        |_ aimY.mel
                        |        |_ getNormals.mel
                        |        |_ getParticleData.mel
                        |        |_ getVertices.mel
                        |        |_ maya_proj_utils.py
                        |        |_ userSetup.mel
                        |
                        |_rfm_scripts/
      	                             |_config/
                                     |       |_ rfm.json  <-- editing required
                                     |
      	                             |_image_tool/
                                     |           |_ Histogram.py
                                     |           |_ it.ini
                                     |           |_ SaveAll.py
                                     |
      	                             |_mel/
                                     |   |_ addConstColorPrimVar.mel
                                     |   |_ addConstFloatPrimVar.mel
                                     |   |_ addFaceColorPrimVar.mel
                                     |   |_ addFaceFloatPrimVar.mel
                                     |   |_ addFloatPrimVar.mel
                                     |   |_ addVertexColorPrimVar.mel
                                     |   |_ addVertexFloatPrimVar.mel
                                     |
      	                             |_nodes/
                                     |     |_Args/
                                     |     |   
                                     |     |_src_c++/
                                     |     |   
                                     |     |_src_osl/
                                     |              |_ stToColor.osl
                                     |
                                     |_proc_prims/
                                     |          |_ src_c++/
                                     |
      	                             |_python/
                                     |       |_ batch_rif.py
                                     |       |_ batch_writer.py
                                     |       |_ batch.py
                                     |       |_ rif_it.py
                                     |       |_ rif_mesh2blobby.py
                                     |
      	                             |_rif_plugins/
                                                  |_ src_c++/
                                                            |_ Mesh2Blobby.cpp

Trouble Shooting

Launch Maya and open the script editor and scroll to the top of it's history panel. Look for the lines of text similar to those shown below in blue.

If the path for MAYA_USER_DIR is incorrect open the Maya.env script. Edit line 11 so that the path is correctly specified. For example on Windows if the users name is john,

MAYA_USER_DIR=D:/Users/john/Documents/maya

Drive "D" is shown above merely as an example. Make sure it matches your actual drive letter. Notice the use of forward slashes - even on Windows. Save any changes that you make to the Maya.env script and restart Maya. Recheck the values of the MAYA_USER_DIR in the script editor. It is very easy to make a mistake when specifying a path so always double-check line 11 in the Maya.env script.