Report -
MacRenderMan plug-in project
This is not a product announcement, but a status report on an
experimental project to update the VIDI Presenter 3D plug-in module
for MacRenderMan. The module converts the model to a Pixar RIB file,
then submits the file to MacRenderMan for rendering.
This programming for the project is by Doug Ward
(dsward@webnation.com),
based on source code and technical support provided by
VIDI. VIDI will evaluate the module
at a later date to determine if it should be released. The module is
compiled for PowerPC systems only.
Project status as of August 29, 1997
Alpha test projects
- Convert from Think Pascal to Code Warrior C
- Interface to Render Manager, Display Manager, Render Interact
- Replace built-in RIB text routines with calls to Pixar RIB
Client Library
- Camera setup
- Spheres
- Cylinders
- Cones
- Planes
- Discs
- Tori
- Polygons
- Joined-vertex polygons with normals - needs option to turn
smooth shading on/off
- Cubes
- Prisms
- Spline meshes
- Spline patches
- Disc end-caps for cones and cylinders
- Groups
- Background color
- MakeTexture
- Projector Lights
- Fog Atmosphere
- RenderMan surface and displacement shader support
- Shadow bias bug is fixed
- Write RIB only
- Shadows
- Insertion groups
- Motion blur
- Stereo pair
- "Primitive" solid type - Set in Shader Esoterica solid menu
- Object metamorphosis
- ASCII / Binary RIB format
- Background images
- Fixed RenderMan CSG Boolean bugs
- Fixed Displacement Bounds bug
- Texture mapping - mostly working
- Fixed transparency map bug at bottom of texture map
- Add RI_ST values for polygons with three or four vertices
- Remove conversion of feet to inches (division by twelve) Old
models may need adjustment.
- Improve communication between Presenter and MacRenderMan
- Fixed disappearing Shader Esoterica button bug in Presenter
main app
- Composite images from Presenter Ray Tracer and MacRenderMan
(RiMatte)
Future projects
- Fix ScreenWindow bug for shadowdistant lightsources (clips
shadow)
- Fix projectorlight problems - rotation doesn't match ray
tracer
- Texture wrap on a group of primitives sometimes doesn't match
ray tracer
- Fix background animation project
Discontinued features in old module
- Custom RIB statements in headers and objects (not supported by
RIB Client Library)
- Indention of RIB statements (not supported by RIB Client
Library)
Possible future projects
- Environment mapping (lat-long mirror and cube-face
reflections)
- Add RI_ST values for polygons with more than four vertices
- Calculate (up,at) and (origin,x,y,z) parameters for shaders
- Hierarchical lightsources in folders.
- Optimize parameters for rendering speed (near-clipping plane,
etc)
- Allow user-controlled shading rates for Presenter texture
mapping
- Shadow controls for lightsource shaders (samples, filter
width, etc.)
- Form endcaps with NURBs and Trim Curves, instead of polygons
- Submit to BMRT renderer (needs built-in FTP, RPC, etc.?)
- Transfer shader parameter dialog routines from Presenter
application to plug-in module
- Folder container for Presenter attributes window (shader
folders, etc.)
- Auto-redraw switch in Presenter, and Command-D manual redraw
in Presenter
- Two-pass RIB generation to insert Custom RIB statements
New feature - smooth shaded polygon
meshes
Sample image by Peter Ratner
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