[Bf-committers] Render API Design

[Bobby Parker]

>The downside that I see is that a translator need to exist for all
>renderers, even if they are fully Renderman complient, but a
>GenericRenderman lib could be offered with the release distro.  Then
>if people want extensions for their renderer of choice, they can mod
>the GenericRenderman lib and release it as an add-on, much the way
>python scripts are done now.

This isn't really an issue. Most renderman renderers will ignore Ri
primitive calls
that aren't supported by that implementation. Say for instance, Aqsis
supports RiBlobbies but
pixie does NOT. Renderman supports an RiErrorHandler option that
allows you to determine whether
the renderer aborts the render in case of an error or not. Instructing
Pixie to use RiErrorIgnore
will have the result that pixie will render everything it can, and
what isn't supported, simply
isn't rendered.

Where things get interesting is when you start looking at
renderer-specific things like
object attributes & renderer options, but those should be easily
handled by ID properties
assigned by an exporter interface (like say,
<shameless_plug>Neqsus</shameless_plug>).

Bobby
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