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Welcome to RenderMan for Houdini 22!

This new release of RenderMan for Houdini 22 (RfH), includes a number of new features to address feedback as well as many improvements to RenderMan for workflow and performance. The plugin has been completely rewritten to improve integration and simplify workflow.

Rendering with RenderMan will not operate on Houdini Apprentice editions
Houdini Indie is only compatible with 17.5, you must be using at least version 17.5.210 or higher
Your lights will no longer function from previous betas unless you update their shader path: lightSHOP/light_risnet/pxr* -> matnet/pxr*
PxrCollect will no longer function from previous betas, see the note about PxrMaterialBuilder below

The PxrMaterialBuilder node is now used to create networks for materials, this better mimics standard Houdini workflow. (This cannot currently be exported as a digital asset.)

New Features

Added pxrwireframe, pxrswitch, and pxrshadedside hdas
Updated PxrMarschnerHair hda
Now support pre-transforms, "keep position when parenting" parameter, and input independent transforms
Allow automatic creation of intermediate directories for output display path
Change to render shelf button for IPR rendering. Renders at current frame rather than frame specified by ROP and renders to mplay or "it" depending on "ri_ipr_device" parameter
We now override Houdini curve basis with RenderMan parameters
Updated parameter ranges and default LPE expressions
We now support User Color creation in RfH
Invisible geometry is no longer evaluated for rendering
We now obey focalunits
Fix issue with scale of lights in light rigs from the preset browser not being correct
Supply stereo offset and stereo depths parameters on the camera
Alembic xform motion blur now applied at SOP level
We can now render interactively from pxrmaterialbuilder digital asset
Added autocrop option to openexr, deepexr, and tiff display options
Removed error when stopping render
Add options for the ri_lensshader
OSL user options added in the ROP node, Batch OSL execution is defaulted to on
pre/post render and pre/post frame script attributes should now work on RIS and denoise ROPs
The Preset Browser in RfH now correctly remembers added libraries
Renamed BUILDARRAY to DYNAMICARRAY
Fixed correctness of forcing/candidate subnets
PxrCollect has been removed, added PxrMaterialBuilder to be used in creating material networks
- The preset browser will now put the material network inside a PxrMaterialBuilder node when importing a material asset
- Exporting materials to the preset browser now requires a PxrMaterialBuilder node to be selected
- Shader Shelf buttons create and populate PxrMaterialBuilder
We now support multi-channel OpenVDBs
APIs are all updated to the release versions of 16.5, 17.0, and 17.5
Obey Object Tab's candidate lights/objects when starting IPR, but edits during IPR will restart the render session
RenderMan ROPs renamed to distinguish them more clearly
Read shop_materialpath attribute on instances (previously only read for face sets)
We now apply material or transformation overrides to packed Alembic archives
RfH now supports creating SHOP procedural nodes from args files
Geometry with changing topology should now motion blur correctly when velocity is present
The Denoise channels have been removed from the UI. RfH will add these for the user when Denoise is turned on
The master of instanced geometry can now be hidden using the usual Houdini display flag, without hiding all the instances
Added an "As Archive" checkbox under the RIB tab of the RenderMan22 ROP. The RIB that is written is usable as an archive, via a PxrDelayedReadArchive procedural SHOP
The default RIB format is now binary. This can be changed under the RIB tab of the RenderMan22 ROP
On versions of Houdini that support it, Mplay is now launched with the appropriate OCIO LUTs enabled
Pxr Light colors are now reflected in the light color guides in the sceneview

We are hard at work to create the best experience for RenderMan 22 with Houdini. Here are some of the changes to Beta 4:

Fixed crash when packing geometry
Instancing primitives now works
- Point attributes set through AttributeWrangle nodes now apply to instances as expected
- Fixed a crash that would occur on instanced geometry when the point instancer contained attributes that had no data in them
Light filters
- PxrLightfilterCombiner has been fixed
- PxrBlockerlightFilter now renders correctly
Various fixes to the lights UI and parameters
Various fixes to solve crashes when using portal lights
We now ignore warnings about non-RenderMan lights
An issue with the preset browser that would cause Houdini's hython to exit prematurely has been addressed
PxrVolume density float primvar defaults to density correctly
Added a fix for subdivision surface normals being emitted incorrectly
The "About RenderMan" text box can no longer be edited
The Capture RIB while rendering capability has been added
Various Pxr Pattern nodes have had their user interfaces cleaned up and updated
Fixed a crash when creating OSL shaders from Houdini nodes
Fixed a bug that prevents the alpha channel from being displayed correctly with Mplay
Interactive Rendering allows artists to manipulate their scene and get immediate feedback on their choices
Improved integration into the Houdini menus and options
Simplified output and AOV creation
Use Emissive Volumes as light sources with PxrVolume
Enhanced Light Selection speeds up rendering for scenes with many lights
Automatic texture creation
Preset browser integration
Interactive rendering in the Scene View with Render Regions
PxrSurface Layering
AI Denoising from Nvidia in "it"
Full integration with "it", interactive cropwindow and object selection
Force candidate nodes and lights now works as expected
NuPatches now render correctly
Continued improvement to preset browser
Automatic texture conversion
Material Layering is now available
Auto light creation during interactive renders
Interactive rendering of VDB dagta now works
RIB output/batch rendering from RIB with VDB data now works
When RenderMan 22 is loaded, RenderMan 21 is disabled
Denoising of renders during batch processing now works (as a separate ROP node)
Fixed a bug with texture coordinates that could cause a crash
Improve user experience where light filters automatically reference VOP
Added patterns to the submenu for VOP parameters
Spare RenderMan parameter names have been changed. Parameters need to be reapplied to OBJ nodes. (See Warning)
Fix a bug that provided input parameters for PxrVisualizer integrator
.oso shaders found in $RMAN_SHADERPATH are automatically converted to otls, and stored in $HOUDINI_USER_PREF_DIR/otls/rfh_osllib.hda
Added transformation and deformation motion blur (see Known Issues)
Added support to render emissive volumes as light sources
Fixed a bug where primvar attributes (eg: Cd) are not set correctly on packed instances
Added a node to support RenderMan procedurals (see Known Issues)
Added autorender, cropwindow adjustment, and object picking from the "it" image tool
Added support for interactive render regions in Houdini's Scene View window (see Known Issues)
Fixed a bug where a portal light's referenced dome light would not be found
Custom SOHO parameters are no longer overwritten by RfH
Light linking via the light bank interface now works

Known Issues

PxrMaterialBuilder cannot currently be exported as a digital asset
Applying undo of deleted nodes or collapsing to subnet may not work as expected
Interactive Render Regions may require adjustment to start rendering
Rewiring subnet indirect inputs
No error messages when OSL shader fails to compile
Auto camera creation for IPR
RenderMan clipping planes
If a light instance's master is disabled, the first render/update will still show the master

Known Limitations

Tractor Integration
Rendering with Mantra lights
Bypassing shader nodes
Rendering with Houdini VOPs