You can open the Preset Browser by adding a tab/panel in Houdini > New Pane Tab Type > RenderMan Preset Browser
Presets include categories for light rigs, environment lights, and materials.
You can search for assets by name, usage category, or metadata.
You can choose two sizes of preset images.
Materials
Saving/Exporting a material is easy!
Select the PxrMaterialBuilder Node (the export will recognize connected nodes) Be sure there's a (single) BxDF inside the Material Builder or we don't know what to save/render.
Choose the category you want from the Preset Browser
Choose the Save icon (the material ball+ icon underneath the preview image)
Give it a useful name and any desired metadata for your pipeline
RenderMan will generate a preview swatch render, this will auto-populate in the Preset Browser
Importing/Using a saved asset
Simply right-click and choose "Import and Assign" to a selected object
Make any adjustments for your object as needed!
Environment Maps
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!