RenderMan & RISpec, RIB Entity files

by **igorantonio@gmail.com** » Fri, 29 Jul 2005 00:53:53 GMT

Hi,

I am working on an importer/exporter of RIB *Entity* files for a
program that will generate 3d graphics models and I'm having a hard
time finding sample files to test my code. This software won't be
rendering RIB files, but simply creating/importing models from/to the
entity files.

Would anyone here know of any websites or trial software that comes
with some sample files? Or, even better, would anyone have some entity
files that I could use? At this time, I'm just looking for files
containing quadradic surfaces and, more impotantly, polygons. Ideally,
they will not have any transformations, such as a unit cube created by
rotations and 6 sets of squares.

Thanks,

Igor

by **varunbondwal** » Fri, 29 Jul 2005 16:15:01 GMT

I have Maya running on my pc and it can export RIB files of 3d models.
but what do you mean by *entity* files??

by **Igor** » Sat, 30 Jul 2005 00:04:12 GMT

RIB Entity files are files containing only a single entity ("model").
It doesn't have all the information to describe how to render the
image. They have a special header as the first line of the file
(without the quotes):

"##RenderMan RIB-Structure 1.1 Entity "

Exports from Maya are "full" RIB files that describe everything needed
to render the image, so that won't quite work... :-(

by **Rick LaMont** » Mon, 01 Aug 2005 07:04:18 GMT

RIB Entity files as defined in the spec never caught on:

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.graphics.rendering.renderman/msg/b158e0f47c7417b5

People just use ReadArchive "geometry.rib" to include incomplete RIB
files into the parent. Such snippets do not require header hints.

Rick LaMont
Dot C Software, Inc.
http://www.dotcsw.com/

by **Igor** » Tue, 02 Aug 2005 01:45:04 GMT

Thanks, Rick. I guess I'll just try to find some complete RIB files,
pull out the geometry manually and test it out with that data.

What I'm doing sounds similar to what was written on
( http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.graphics.rendering.renderman/msg/b158e0f47c7417b5 )

This software just exports the geometry and whoever uses it should then
include it in a complete RIB file to be rendered.

Regards,

Igor

by **Rick LaMont** » Tue, 02 Aug 2005 04:17:50 GMT

That depends on your choice of RIB export plug-in. Mai-Tai, for example,
prefers to export each geometric primitive into its own RIB file:

http://www.dotcsw.com/doc/globals.html #files

You have four choices for RIB Structure:
1. Single File - Put all frames in one big RIB file.
2. File Per Frame - Put each frame in a single RIB file.
3. Read Archive - Put each primitive in a RIB file. Use ReadArchive in parent.
4. Delayed Read Archive - Like #3 except use DelayedReadArchive in parent RIB.

The RIB export plug-in that comes with Maya doesn't have this degree of
flexibility.

Rick LaMont
Dot C Software, Inc.
http://www.dotcsw.com/

RenderMan & RISpec, RIB Entity files

RenderMan & RISpec >> RIB Entity files

RenderMan & RISpec >> RIB Entity files

RenderMan & RISpec >> RIB Entity files

RenderMan & RISpec >> RIB Entity files

RenderMan & RISpec >> RIB Entity files

RenderMan & RISpec >> RIB Entity files