Renderman reference manual

Skip to end of banner. Jira links. Go to start of metadata. Pixar's RenderMan For over 30 years RenderMan has been at the forefront of the visual effects revolution, and today RenderMan is a high-performance renderer built to tackle the most complicated 3D scenes imaginable.

Other Highlights Include: Bump Roughness — Innovative system developed at Pixar Animation for rendering micro details such as scratches efficiently and automatically, without expensive sampling. Resources Support Tutorials Resources Challenges. Connect Facebook Twitter Instagram. Powered by Atlassian Confluence 7. PxrPathTracer is a core final-quality integrator in RenderMan. It implements the forward path tracing algorithm, which excels in outdoor, highly specular scenes. The simplicity of the algorithm generally makes it easy to use and to implement.

Shortcomings may include slow convergence speeds, especially for scenes with significant caustic illumination see the clampLuminance and allowCaustics parameters, below, for more information.

For direct illumination, the numLightSamples and numBxdfSamples parameters determine the number of light vs. Bxdf material direct illumination samples, and the resulting direct illumination contributions are combined using multiple importance sampling.

When the sampleMode parameter is set to a value of "bxdf" the default value , then the number of indirect illumination rays spawned at each camera hit point is controlled by the value of the numIndirectSamples parameter, and the implementation of the Bxdf at each camera hit point controls the probability of generating indirect rays that are sampled from the diffuse vs.

When the sampleMode parameter is set to a value of "manual", then the value of the numIndirectSamples parameter is ignored and the user is responsible for manually controlling the total number of indirect rays per lobe of the Bxdf. Controls whether or not the path tracer will keep track of accumulated opacity along the path. The default is off. If you plan to render semi-opaque objects and care about alpha values for compositing, you might want to turn this on.

This feature does not function when using "manual" sample mode. We recommend the default of BxDF sampling. This is an advanced knob for rendering overlapping volumes. Similar to maxPathLength, this controls the upper bound on the maximum ray depth including continuation rays. A negative value will cause the path tracer to use an empirical heuristic to bound the ray depth.

A positive value will override this heuristic and cause the path tracer to use the parameter value directly as the maximum continuation ray depth. Now you can comb, style, and dye without having to wait!

Lighting Improvements — Changes to our light selection techniques improve convergence on scenes with many lights and many types of lights at the same time.

Move lights and change parameters with immediate results. UI Enhancements — Bridge products enjoy streamlined workflows to enhance our interactive rendering capabilities. Improved exposure of RenderMan Attributes and Options help users make decisions and see results at all stages of production.

Better integration means less looking for options, fewer clicks, and faster images. Render directly to Viewport 2. Time to first pixel is greatly reduced and your work is uninterrupted. A New Ray Tracing Core — To compliment our interactive always-on workflow, we've rewritten the ray tracing core to improve speed and quality. Scenes interact quickly and converge faster than ever before! Opacity from Presence — We now support partial presence values values between 0 and 1 for true opacity.

This changes to how we calculate presence on camera rays and results in partially opaque effects up to a user-specified depth in the integrator. DeclarePID: memory allocation failure.

InitSymbolTable: hash table memory allocation failure. InitSymbolTable failed to allocate memory for its hash table. RiDeclare attempted to redeclare a predefined symbol. Can't parse parameter declaration. Corrupt symbol table detected. An incompatible type was specified for the given parameter. RiOptionV: "rib" outputalldeclares is no longer supported "rib" outputalldeclares is no longer supported.

The token will not be added to the symbol table. An error code was returned while trying to create the object handle hashtable. More calls to End routines than Begin routines. An error code was returned while trying to create an entry in the handle hashtable.

Ri Handles: memory allocation failure. RiVArchiveRecord: Unable to allocate memory for archive string. RiVArchiveRecord was unable to allocate a temporary buffer to store the archive record. The record will be ignored. Invalid light handle. Either the data was never a valid handle, or the light has been deleted because it went out of scope see the RenderMan Interface Specification for light handle scoping rules. Invalid object handle. Either the data was never a valid handle, or the object has been deleted because it went out of scope see the RenderMan Interface Specification for object handle scoping rules.

The instance request is ignored. RiProcedural: Procedural definition not available. RiProcedural2: definition not available. Custom procedural bound definitions are not available in the RIB-based environment. This is stub function, and is not meant to be invoked directly by client applications. It should only be passed as a function pointer to RiProcedural. RiTransformPoints: function not available. The -ch option was specified without including a list. The -o option was specified without including x and y offsets.

The -dspy option was specified without including the driver name. The -dspyfile option was specified without including the file name. The -scale option was specified without including a scale factor. An unrecognized option was given to tiffdiff. Too many channels were specified in the channel list given with the -ch option.

An unrecognized channel was specified with the -ch option. A zero-length channel list was specified with the -ch option. Tiffdiff can only handle 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and bit pictures.

Tiffdiff can only handle 1, 3, and 4-channel pictures. Tiffdiff can not handle bit colormapped images. The colormapped TIFF file is missing one or more of the required colormaps.

Tiffdiff was unable to allocated a scanline buffer due to insufficient memory. Tiffdiff was unable to allocated an internal buffer due to insufficient memory. Tiffdiff was unable to initialize the display services due to an error return from either DspyName or DspyOpen. Tiffdiff was unable to allocate a display buffer due to insufficient memory. The -bitdepth option was specified without including a value for it. Rif missing plug-in name.

No Rif name was provided on the command line. Rif missing plug-in arg terminator -rifend. No Rif terminator -rifend was provided on the command line. Rif missing rifmarker name. No Rif marker was provided on the command line. Invalid rifcontrol request. An invalid rifcontrol request was encountered. An undefined rifcontrol marker was encountered. RifChain stack phase error more pops than pushes.

Either the file doesn't exist, or is not readable. The required entrypoint can't be found. The DSO is newer than the library. The DSO is older than the library. A provided file name for a shader, texture, or some consumable matches a directory rather than a true file. ClientPortRead: No connection to server. The dspy client is attempting to read from the dspy server where no connection has yet been established. ClientPortWrite: No connection to server.

The dspy client is attempting to write to the dspy server where no connection has yet been established. The file was probably built for the wrong architecture or has undefined symbols in it.

An illegal Z file compression type was specified. The only valid values are "zip" and "none". DspyClose: never got a response from display server. Never got a response to our close message from the display server. DspyData: can't call DspyData on a "deep" channel. Use DspyDeepData. DspyData doesn't support channels with variable-sized pixel data.

DspyImage: deep channels can't resize format data A deep display driver has requested a data format with a different size than expected. This is not supported.

DspyImage: deep channels can't rearrange format data A deep display driver has requested data format rearrangement. This is not supported for deep data. DspyImage: mixed byte-order netrender of deep data not supported.

A deep display driver has requested data format in non-native byte-order. DspyImage: can't open deep images over a pipe. The display system tried to spawn a deep display using the Pipe interface, which isn't supported for deep channels. You have specified a display driver which doesn't implement "DspyImageDeepData", but you have specified a mode which provides deep data. You have specified a display driver which doesn't implement "DspyImageData", but you have specified a mode which requires it.

DspySwapData can't byteswap entries of that type. See ndspy. DspyOpen: Don't support deep pixel format with heterogeneous byte orders. DspyOpen doesn't support pixel formats which include ArrayBegins and which have elements with different byte orders. Specify the same byte order mask for all pixel format elements. You are trying to send point cloud information to a display driver which does not support point cloud output based on the PkPointCloudQuery.

You are trying to send point cloud information to a display driver which doesn't implement "DspyImageDeepData". The output image could not be opened due to a renderer limit on the number of simultaneously opened display channels, when using netrender or parallel mode renders. Unterminated string found for map specification.

A mapping was specified, but the mapping syntax was not terminated correctly with ]. The mapping will be ignored. Bad zone specified for directory mapping. A mapping was found to have an invalid zone syntax. Bad 'from' directory specified for directory mapping. A mapping was specified with an invalid syntax for the 'from' directory. Bad 'to' directory specified for directory mapping. A mapping was specified with an invalid syntax for the 'to' directory. Rendering will continue without the directory.

Rendering will try to continue without the copied file. A provided file name for a shader, texture, or some consumable is exceedingly long and contains patterns which require substitution.

Patches cannot be blurred from rational to non-rational. The renderer does not support motion blur of bilinear patches between rational and non-rational forms. Only the initial patch will be displayed. Out of memory splitting a bilinear patch. Memory could not be allocated for a bilinear patch split. The renderer does not support motion blur of bicubic patches between rational and non-rational forms.

Unknown type in mesh vertex vector. The patch will be discarded. Polygon primitives cannot be diced. Since the dicing subroutine should never be called, there must be a bug in the renderer.

Polygons with fewer than three 3 vertices cannot be split. Since the splitting subroutine should not be called in this case, there must be a bug in the renderer. A polygon must have at least three 3 vertices. A polygon primitive was detected with fewer than three 3 vertices.

The primitive has been discarded. Out of memory splitting general polygon. Ran out of memory during splitting of a general polygon. The general polygon will be discarded. Procedural primitives cannot be diced.

The renderer could not restore the attribute state specified. Most likely this is because no such attribute state was saved using Resource "attributes", or that state is no longer within ResourceBegin scope. The integrity of renderer's token store may have been undermined. Quadric primitives cannot be diced.

Rational bilinear patch dice routine unimplemented. Due to a bug in the renderer, unimplemented dicing functionality was needed. Out of memory dicing curve. The renderer ran out of memory while trying to dice a curve. Out of memory computing dicing rate for curve. The renderer ran out of memory while trying to determine the dicing rate for a curve.

Bad length of point-blob array. The length of an Implicit's point-blob array must be a multiple of Bad length of segment-blob array. The length of an Implicit's segment-blob array must be a multiple of Ill-formed instruction for Implicit. An instruction in the code sequence defining an Implicit had an unrecognized opcode or a bad operand. The surface will be discarded. Out of memory allocating an Implicit. Memory could not be allocated to hold the data describing an Implicit surface.

Out of memory allocating grid data for an Implicit. Memory could not be allocated to hold the grid data describing an Implicit surface. Part of the surface will be discarded. Bad length of repulsion array The length of an Implicit's repulsion array must be 4 times the number of repulsion files. A zfile mentioned in an implicit repeller could not be opened.

A zfile mentioned in an implicit repeller was of the wrong format. A zfile mentioned in an implicit repeller must be created using an orthographic camera. Can't allocate memory. An implicit repeller could not allocate space into which to read a zfile.

Blobby threshold offset out of range and ignored. The threshold offset specified for the RiBlobby is out of range, and would result in an invisible blob. The offset will be ignored. Bad length of dso parameter array The length of an Implicit's dso parameter array must be 4 times the number of dso files. The given Implicit plugin cannot be opened.

It will be ignored. The Implicit plugin has no "ImplicitFieldVersion" variable defined. The plugin will be ignored. The version number in the Implicit plugin is outside the implemented range.

The Implicit plugin either must contain a function named "ImplicitFieldNew" to allocate and initialize the plugin. The "ImplicitFieldNew" function in an Implicit plugin must allocate and initialize the plugin. Failing that, the plugin will be ignored. Out of memory while freeing Implicit. Memory could not be allocated while freeing an implicit surface. This is a severe error, and the renderer should abort. Out of memory while splitting Implicit. Memory could not be allocated while splitting an implicit surface.

The implicit primitive will be dropped. Out of memory while evaluating Implicit surface. Memory could not be allocated while evaluating an implicit surface. The implicit surface may render incorrectly as a result. Blobby levelset out of range and ignored. The levelset specified for the RiBlobby is out of range, and would result in an invisible blob. Out of memory allocating stitch data. Memory could not be allocated to hold data for crack elimination.

Part of the surface may have cracks. Out of memory allocating tessellation cache. Memory could not be allocated for the cache of tessellated ray-traced geometry. This is a severe error and the renderer should abort. Out of memory allocating radiosity cache. Memory could not be allocated for the cache of color and opacity values for ray-traced geometry.

VisNewFrame: Out of memory. VisNewFrame failed to allocate memory for one or more of its required structures. Out of memory in tablesinit. Some pixels may contain incorrect hidden surface results. Out of memory in VisStartBucket.

VisStartBucket failed to allocate memory for one or more of its required structures. Subpixel output overrides specified PixelFilter. The subpixel hider option requires the use of a unit box filter. The specified PixelFilter is overridden. Visible point shading: Out of memory. Failed to allocate memory for one or more required structures for visible-point shading. Unable to open connection to X display for OpenGL hider. The renderer was unable to open a connection to an X display, required for OpenGL hiding.

The renderer will abort. X display does not support GLX extension. X display does not support required OpenGL visual. Unable to create GLX rendering context. This may indicate insufficient X resources. The renderer was unable to create a memory device context for OpenGL hiding. This may indicate insufficient graphics hardware resources. Unable to create device independent bitmap for OpenGL hiding. The renderer was unable to create a device independent bitmap needed for OpenGL hiding.

Unable to set appropriate pixel format for OpenGL rendering context. The renderer was unable to select a desired pixel format for OpenGL hiding. Unable to create OpenGL rendering context. The renderer was unable to create a context for OpenGL hiding. Attempt to resize OpenGL rendering context. The renderer attempted to resize the OpenGL rendering context. This may indicate an attempt to use variable sized buckets with the OpenGL rendering context, which is currently not supported. The OpenGL implementation on this system does not have enough auxiliary buffers to handle the requested number of arbitrary output variables.

Only the indicated number of channels will have valid data. Unable to choose pixel format OpenGL hiding. The renderer was unable to define the appropriate buffer and renderer attributes used for OpenGL hiding. Unable to create or set context for OpenGL hiding. The renderer was unable to create or set the rendering context used for OpenGL hiding. Unable to create pixel buffer for OpenGL hiding. The renderer was unable to create a pixel buffer used for OpenGL hiding.

Unable to bind pixel buffer to rendering context for OpenGL hiding. The renderer was unable to bind a pixel buffer to a rendering context used for OpenGL hiding.

Out of memory when allocating occlusion buffer. The renderer ran out of memory when trying to allocate an occlusion buffer for hiding. The renderer should abort. Specified depth mask file cannot be opened as zfile or a deep texture file.

Out of memory in hider initialization. The hider failed to allocate memory for one or more of its required structures. An edge was specified that connected a nonexistent vertex.

The face which specified the edge will be ignored. A non-manifold edge incident to more than 2 faces was found. An edge connecting two vertices was specified more than once. It's likely that an incident face was flipped its orientation being defined by the right-hand rule around its constituent vertices.

One of the faces which specified the edge will be ignored. The tag will be ignored. An edge of the subdivmesh specified to be sharp does not exist. A vertex of the subdivmesh specified to be sharp, does not exist.

A face of the subdivmesh specified to be a hole, does not exist. The tag is ignored. The specified subdivmesh contains disconnected surface components. Some data will be lost when this mesh is rendered.

The given subdivmesh split into 0 surface patches. This may have been due to bad mesh data. Unable to refine a patch of the given subdivmesh. Either the input data is bad or there is a bug in the renderer. Arbitrary limit on vertex valence exceeded The normal at this vertex will be incorrect. The dice routine expects xyz points in order to calculate their normals. An edge was specified that connected a vertex to itself. A vertex or edge edit tag was specified with less than two integer values or with a number of string values that is not a multiple of three.

This is an incomplete tag specification, and will be ignored. A hierarchical edit tag was specified with a base face index first integer which does not exist on the mesh. A hierarchical edit tag had a path component which pointed at a invalid subface or vertex.