RenderMan Renderer Setup

Because MayaMan relies on the external rendering packages to render its images, it is important that they are set up correctly, and MayaMan knows where to find them. This page details how to ensure you have your renderer(s) set up correctly for use with MayaMan.

Pixar's Photorealistic RenderMan (PRMan)

For PRMan to be correctly installed for use with MayaMan, you need to have the RMANTREE environment variable set, and you need PRMan to be correctly licensed. To test if PRMan is correctly installed and licensed, open a new command prompt, and type the following:

echo %RMANTREE%
cd %RMANTREE%\etc\setup
make.bat

The first line should correctly report the location of your PRMan installation (e.g. c:\Program Files\Pixar\PhotoRealistic RenderMan 3.9.2). The second line takes you into a subdirectory of the PRMan installation, and the last line runs a batch file included with PRMan for the purposes of testing. After running make.bat you should see no errors, and it should finish with a line like:

The images are identical.

If any of the above steps failed (e.g. if you had a FlexLM license problem) you should correct your PRMan installation before continuing with MayaMan.

Also, be sure to keep up to date with the latest PRMan releases for maximum compatability with MayaMan.

Exluna's Entropy

To use MaxMan with Entropy, you need to ensure that the ENTROPYHOME environment variable is set correctly. To test if Entropy is correctly installed, open a new command prompt, and type the following:

echo %ENTROPYHOME%

This should correctly report the location of your Entropy installation..

Also, be sure to keep up to date with the latest Entropy releases for maximum compatability with MaxMan.

Blue Moon Rendering Tools (BMRT)

To use MaxMan with BMRT, you need to ensure that the BMRTHOME environment variable is set correctly. To test if BMRT is correctly installed, open a new command prompt, and type the following:

echo %BMRTHOME%

This should correctly report the location of your BMRT installation (e.g. C:\BMRT2.5).

Also, be sure to keep up to date with the latest BMRT releases for maximum compatability with MaxMan.

DotC Software's RenderDotC (RDC)

To use RenderDotC, you need to have the RDCROOT environment variable set correctly. To test if RDC is correctly installed, open a new command prompt, and type the following:

echo %RDCROOT%
cl

The first line should correctly report the location of your RDC installation (e.g. C:\RDC). The second line should correctly call the MSVC++ compiler. The compiler is a requirement when using RDC in order to have MaxMan compile the RenderMan shaders when emulating your Max materials.

Also, be sure to keep up to date with the latest RenderDotC releases for maximum compatability with MaxMan.

Other RenderMan Rendering Packages

While MaxMan has only direct support for the packages above, the RIB files it outputs should be able to be rendered by any RenderMan compliant rendering package. However, MaxMan won't know where it is or how to call it, so you will need to invoke the rendering of the RIB files manually. Also, any extended capabilities of other renderers will not be taken advantage of without direct support by MaxMan.

If you have written or know of a good RenderMan compliant renderer that you would like MaxMan to support, please let us know.

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