RenderMan for Katana
RenderMan for Katana
About RenderMan for Katana
RenderMan for Katana (RfK) is a repackaging and update of the standard PRMan plugin shipped with Katana. The standard plugin supports a basic set of features available up through RenderMan Pro Server version 17 (hence the PRMan17 nomenclature). Pixar's RenderMan for Katana expands the PRMan feature set to include the latest capalities available from each successive version of RenderMan Pro Server. For example, the RfK plugin for RenderMan Pro Server 19.0 and above will include full support for RIS rendering.
The Tools
RenderMan Plugin
The primary component of RfK is the RenderMan plugin itself. Once installed it will present itself as the "prman" renderer option in the RenderSettings node. No changes to a scene are needed in order to render using PRMan's Reyes-style rendering. RIS rendering is enabled by simply enabling a few specific settings PrmanGlobalSettings.
"it"
"it" is a robust framebuffer/render view window, offering complete floating point support and a powerful and flexible catalog, as well as a fast and powerful imaging tool that is capable of production-qualilty image manipulation and compositing usually found only in high-end standalone products. Thanks to its integration with the plugin and an all-new Python scripting interface, "it" gives users the ability to incorporate sophisticated post-render image operations into their rendering pipeline. Select the it render display option in PrmanGlobalSettings.
Slim
Slim is a powerful, extensible tool for creating, manipulating, using, and reusing RenderMan shaders, offering a PRMan-centric alternative for building materials. Users can construct RenderMan shaders by interactively combining modules into networks, editing their parameters, and previewing the results, all without writing any code, or they can create custom templates, library palettes, or scripted solutions tailored to their production's needs. Note that Slim is only available in RenderMan/Reyes mode at this time.
slimtoargs
The helper application slimtoargs can convert the Slim meta data found in properly compiled .slo or .slim files into Katana's .args format. Because it only converts Slim format files to args it cannot handle the tags flags that Katana needs to properly ennumerate co-shader binding features, so users will need to manually edit the .args file to add the <tags/>.
Next Steps
The RfK Users Guide is the place to go for exploring the many features offered by RfK including:
- Built-in RIS and RSL production-ready shaders
- Geometric area lights
- Enhanced live rendering ability
- Plugin customization