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• Introduction
• Workspace
• Slim
• Illumination
• Geometry
• Rendering

We strongly recommend consulting the Slim documentation for a complete rundown of Slim's functionality, much of which is new in version 7.0. Here's a quick rundown of a few important things:

Attach/Detach

Assigning appearances has been handed over to Maya. Appearances are created in Slim and then “added” to your Maya scene. The appearances are then attached to Maya nodes via the usual Maya ways, e.g. Hypershade, the Lighting/Shading menu, MEL, et cetera.

Ensemble Adaptors

Slim's Ensemble Adaptors are not supported by RenderMan for Maya. Instead, there is a special RenderMan Attribute that can be added to Maya Shading Groups via the Attributes menu of the Attribute Editor: Add Adaptation. The adaptation attribute appears under the Extra RenderMan Attributes and gives users the same “adaptive” behavior as Ensemble Adaptors in RAT.

Light Shaders

Currently, there is no integrated workflow for adding Slim's light shaders to Maya scenes. There is, however, a “workaround”:

1. Build your light shader appearance in Slim.
2. Compile the shader (e.g. click on the preview swatch). This will create a .slo file in the appropriate /slimshaders directory.
3. Create a corresponding light in Maya.
4. Attach a Custom Light Shader via the Attributes menu for your light's Shape node: Attributes-> RenderMan-> Add Custom Light Shader.
5. In the Extra RenderMan Attributes, click on the widget to create a new RenderManLight node.
6. The Shader field in your new node allows you to browse to the aforementioned .slo file.

MapGen

Instead of MapGen nodes, users must create a Reference Pass.

RIBBox

RIBBox functionality is now achieved via Ri for MEL.

Archiver

Users can now use Maya's Export menu to export RIB archives.

TCLBox

There is no direct support for adding TCL via RfM. Users can employ TCL via MEL scripts, e.g. rman tcl subst "tcl bits" or rman tcl eval "tcl whatnots".

There are three critical differences in illumination techniques when you start using RenderMan Studio. First, as mentioned above, there is no integrated workflow for adding Slim Light shaders to your scene. Second, shadows are created by adding Shadow Attributes to Maya lights. And third, global and image-based illumination are now done via a RenderMan Environment Light.

For more information on the shadow workflow, please see the Deep Shadow tutorial. Further discussion of global illumination techniques using the Environment Light can be found in the Global Illumination tutorial.

MTOR Subdivision Surfaces

MTOR subdivs “just work”. Existing subdivs are rendered properly by RfM and, because the MTOR subdiv plugin is unlicensed, in RMS 1.0 users can load the plugin and use it, happily and without incident, with the RfM. Creases, crease strength, corners, etc. are translated “automagically”.

RIB Archives

As mentioned above, RIB archives are created via Maya's Export menu in RenderMan for Maya. They are then referenced via a MEL script attached to, for example, a Maya locator.

In this case, select the Locator and attach a Pre Shape MEL via the Attributes menu. In the Extra RenderMan Attributes, enter RiReadArchive "archive name"; in the window for the MEL script.

The big difference is probably the most obvious: renders are now initiated via Maya's UI. A basic rundown is available in the Getting Started section of the documentation.

Here are a couple of additional notes on rendering with RenderMan Studio:

Spooling Renders via Alfred

Simple Alfred-spooled renders can be started via Maya's Batch Render UI. Selecting the options box gives users access to several different modes:

• mayabatch local (no RIB)
• mayabatch remote (no RIB)
• immediate rib, local render
• deferred rib, remote render
• remote rib, remote render

Note that the Mayabatch “remote” renders still require Alfserver to be installed on your render nodes.

The Batch Render UI also offers the usual complement of job options, such as Frames per Server, Job Priority, and Renderer Arguments.

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Miscellaneous

Ray Tracing Features

Special ray tracing features (e.g. blur parameters for reflections and refractions) are accessed by adding “controls” to Maya material nodes.

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