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Archives allow Houdini to be more efficient when generating scripts for renderers since: a) Houdini can have different geometry displayed b) Houdini doesn’t have to send the geometry down to the renderer every frame.
Mantra archives are stored as geometry files (typically .bgeo files)
and material archive files.
RenderMan archives will contain geometry exactly as it would appear in a RIB file generated by the RenderMan output driver. This means that sub-division surfaces, curves, points etc. will be output rather than the default geometry saved by .geo to .rib conversion.
Arguments may be passed to the script and variable expansion is done before calling the script.
Parameters
Save to Disk
Begins generation of archives.
Frame Range
Generate archives for multiple frames.
Renderer
Which renderer the archives are intended for.
Camera
When generating RIB archives, motion blur can be "baked" into the archive. The motion blur parameters are picked up from the camera.
Visible Objects
List of objects which should be included in the archive. When generating mantra archives, all objects are merged into a single .bgeo file. Care must be taken with regards to differing attributes in different geometries.
Unload SOPs
Unload SOP geometry after used by the render.
Transform Object
This field specifies the "origin" or "frame of reference" that all objects in the archive will be relative to. If the field is left blank, objects will be output relative to the world origin.
Use Display SOP
Use the display SOP instead of the Render SOP.
Initialize Simulation OPs
Forces all simulation OPs to be reset. This includes DOP Networks, POP SOPs, and other OPs that cache their results.
Binary Script
Outputs binary files where possible.
Script File
Filename of the archive to create.
Motion Blur
Specifies whether motion blur is allowed. If set to set to disallow, motion blur is globally turned off regardless of individual object settings. The Explicit option is only implemented for RIB files. This option causes motion blur output in the RIB to be independently determined by the motion blur settings of the rendering camera/light and individual geometry objects.
Motion Blur Type
The default motion blur type for rendering. This can be overridden by an individual object. Currently, this is only implemented for RIB files, since mantra will blur between multiple geometry files with deformation blur (or use the velocity attribute stored in the geometry file if required).
Mantra SHOP References
Hardening SHOP references will cause the shader strings
associated with the SHOP to be evaluated and stored in the
archive. If the SHOP references variables like $OBJ, this may be
required.
NOTE: Point attribute indirect references are handled differently and are not considered when de-referencing indirect SHOPs.
RIB Version
Output RIB for the target version of RIB.
RIB Allow Nested Archives
If an object chosen is set to render using an archive, nesting archives will output the referenced archive into the created archive. If this option is turned off, then the geometry for the object will be output instead.
RIB RiCurve Basis
Curve bases used for generating open polygons.
Pre-Render Script
Execute this script before any rendering.
Pre-Frame Script
Execute this script before each frame.
Post-Frame Script
Execute this script after each frame.
Post-Render Script
Execute this script after all rendering.
Locals
N
The current frame of the range specified. This always starts at 1.
NRENDER
Total number of frames being rendered.
| See also |
Mantra
RenderMan
