Table of Contents
What is a renderman for maya plugin and what does it do
RenderMan for Maya is a plugin that provides seamless compatibility with the Renderman interface. You can render and edit in Renderman, or export to Renderman-compatible renderers. RenderMan for Maya also supports a variety of other plug-in formats and file types, such as Alembic, OBJ, and COLLADA. For more information about how to get started with the Maya plug-in, see the RenderMan for Maya Integration Guide.
You can use the Maya plug-in to render scenes that you have authored with RenderMan or those that you have created in other programs and rendered into Maya using the Arnold rendering engine. You can also integrate with RenderMan using Maya’s script connection interface or by using RendermanIO. You can mask out the topology you have created in Maya and create a new geometry that matches your Renderman topology.
To accommodate the differences between Maya and RenderMan, you can make use of the Renderman-specific interface and geometry that is compatible with the Maya pipeline. In addition, you can use standard Maya nodes for your Renderman geometry.
To render in Maya, you need a secondary renderer that is compatible with the Maya plug-in. You can use any rendering engine that is supported by Maya to create scenes and then render them using RenderMan for Maya. For features that are specific to Maya, refer to the Maya help pages.
How to install a renderman for maya plugin
Go to the renderman for maya download page. Click the Download link for your operating system (Mac OS X, Windows, Linux 64 bit or 32 bit). Enter a name and Comment for the installation package that you would like, then click Download. Install the package in your Maya folder. Make sure to install in the Maya folder, not the Plug-ins folder. The default location of the Maya folder is C:\Users\Username\Documents\maya6 Open Maya, and go to Window > RenderMan. The Renderman control panel will be opened. If you are using a Quadro, please follow the instructions below:
1. Click the button on the left side labeled “Configure…”
2. Select your machine configuration and click Update Settings (if you see an error that you have no available hardware, that is because you need a Quadro card to use RenderMan).
3. On the bottom of the window, select the version you have installed: “RenderMan for Maya 6.5 RC1” or “RenderMan for Maya 6.5”. Make sure to make no changes in any other field on this window, and click OK. Click Finish to close this window
4. Click “Restart Maya” and verify that your renderman is working properly (to get a list of results, switch to Window > Renderman Control Panel > Results).
How to use a renderman for maya plugin
When you are ready to render in Maya and preview your scene, go to Renderman > Show Renderman Simulation. In the Renderman Simulation dialog that appears, click on the New button to create a new scene for rendering. You can also toggle visibility of this dialog by pressing the Tab key.
You can now set up your renderman for maya configuration. Under the Basic Parameters tab, you don’t need to change anything. However, the Paths tab will allow you to set the directory in which Renderman stores its temporary files. You should also click on the Default button next to Default Path to make sure that the path is correct (if it is not correct, Maya will not be able to find Renderman during rendering).
Then go to the Advanced Parameters tab and make sure that the Preview Image Size is correct. Also make sure that you check the Conform Shading Parameter check box. This will render a default scene with all of Renderman’s default settings, so you can use it as a baseline for any other rendermans you may choose to set up.
Tips for getting the best results from your renderman for maya plugin
To render your scene, you can use the plug-in’s command line, or render settings menus. You can automatically generate a Renderman file by clicking the Auto Render button in the Renderman Simulation dialog. The new scene is invalidated if you save changes to the scene or check in the scene. The new scene will be re-rendered if you change settings, such as lights, cameras, etc.
The plug-in automatically creates a default cleanup file the first time you render. For subsequent renders, you can create a cleanup file by clicking the Create Cleanup File button. A cleanup file captures the state of the scene and is used by Renderman to re-render only changed areas of your scene. This can significantly reduce your render times because only changed areas are re-rendered. Additionally, if you have multiple layers or cameras, you can use the layer or camera’s name in the cleanup filename to further customize your renders. [Note: If you specify a valid renderman cleanup file in your scene, the cleanup file will be ignored.]
