Rendering with Renderman
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This document provides some information to know when rendering with Renderman.

Make sure you first read installation instructions for your platform:

Renderman Version

As of Multiverse | USD  v6.4.0 it is possible to render with Renderman 23 on all operating systems supported by Multiverse (Windows/Linux/macOS). We strongly recommend to use the latest version of Renderman,  v23.2.

Output All Shaders

By default the Renderman for Maya translator does not translate shading engine nodes that are connected with custom attributes to Maya shape nodes.
You must set “Output All Shaders” rendering setting set to on (note that the default for this value is off) in order for MEOW shader overrides to work as expected. So, when using Multiverse, always

Renderman attributes on Maya set nodes

The Renderman for Maya plug-in does not provide Renderman attributes on the useful Maya set nodes. 
Multiverse for Maya solves this problem by adding the attributes and taking care of translation and rendering. All Renderman attributes are therefore available on Maya set nodes.

  • NOTE — “Set” nodes are very useful for attribute overrides using MEOW and also allow for rendering-agnostic setup so you can quickly render the same scene setup with Multiverse with any supported renderer without switching materials and attributes. Read more about this on: +Rendering Attributes , the +mvSet node, and +MEOW — Attribute Overrides.



Known issues & limitations

  • Due to a limitation in the Renderman,  R08008 - Attribute grouping:membership isn't supported inside Renderman procedurals. Therefore reflect/refract/shadow set will only work “globally” on a mvUsdCompoundShape node, but not “selectively” on items in MEOW. This has been reported to Pixar also by other users, hopefully it will be fixed in newer versions of Renderman.
  • Turning a mvUsdCompoundShape node into a mesh light is supported, however “selective” mesh light on items via MEOW is not supported yet. It is technically possible to achieve this, so if you are a customer affected by this limitation please contact us to speed up fixing this issue.
  • The Renderman for Maya translator has a small UI bug that adds all Renderman attributes also to shading engine nodes (since shading engines nodes are a type of set nodes).