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• You can save an Environment Map using the image icon+ underneath the large preview swatch in the Preset Browser
  • Select the Environment category in the Preset Browser
  • Choose the desired OpenEXR or .HDR file from the file browser window
  • You can add/change metadata in the dialog or change the name.
  • Then we convert the image to a compatible .tex format. This may take time depending on the original image size.
  • A preview render is then performed and automatically populated in the browser category.
• Using a saved map is easy.
  • Right-click the asset and import.
  • Changing the map is as easy as double-clicking another environment map asset!

Asset Dependencies

When an asset is saved to disk, all its dependencies are saved to disk too. 

Image Added

These include :

• Textures : stored in tex format, UDIM is supported.
• HDRI environment maps : stored in tex format. We use a specific combination of flags to compress the texture as efficiently as possible.
• OSL shaders : stored in oso format to protect your IP, but you can manually add the osl file in the asset directory if you want to share the source code.

These dependencies can increase the size of a preset on disk and you should bear that in mind if you want to distribute them over the internet.

Cross-Application Materials

RenderManAssets have been designed to be easily transferable from one application (like Houdini) to another (Katana, Maya, Blender, etc) and vice-versa.

Compatibility Issues

Still, it is possible to run into compatibility issues if your material contains native Houdini nodes. To mitigate these problems, each RenderManAsset maintains a list of used nodes and use it to evaluate the preset's compatibility with the current host application and display a warning if it is not compatible.

The system will check :

• if the asset contains host-specific nodes
• if the asset's renderer version is superior or equal to the current version
• if the asset contains host-specific nodes, make sure the current host version is superior or equal to the asset's host version.

Best Practice

If you want to ensure cross-application compatibility, avoid non-Pixar BxDFs and Patterns.

Library Configuration

RenderMan ships with a standard library that can be found in : $RMANTREE/lib/RenderManAssetLibrary

Environment variable

The location of the asset library can be set through the RMAN_ASSET_LIBRARY environment variable.