Pixar RenderMan for Maya 1.0 購入計画(続)

Hello

We much appreciate your email. Let me answer your questions:

> For long time, I have waited for your RenderMan for Maya/MacOSX.
> Then, I have some below questions.
>
> (Q1) I stay in Japan. Can I buy it, only by your web site?

Yes you can buy and download it directly in minutes from our website through credit card or money order payment. If you would prefer to deal directly with a reseller in Japan, we can put you in touch with them though there may be a price differential. You would probably find it more convenient to download directly.

> (Q2) I would like to use a custom shader for it with MacOSX. I
> would like to know whether I may have only a RenderMan Pro
> Srever for MacOSX, a RenderMan for Maya, and an Alias Maya 6.5
> for MacOSX at least.

If I understand your question correctly, as part of RenderMan for Maya (RfM) we are including a shader compiler. (The source code is just a text file, and a shader can be written in any tool, which writes text) You could use shaders created in RenderMan Pro Server and RenderMan Artist Tools and use them in RfM. You could also for example use the graphical shader editor slim in Artist Tools to create shaders for RfM.

However RenderMan for Maya can not import RIB files from RenderMan Pro Server, so where as you can read in shaders you can not read or edit entire scenes made in RenderMan Pro Server. If you require a more editable and configurable RenderMan solution, then Pro Server and Artist Tools are more suitable.

RenderMan for Maya is designed to be more of a "plug and play" version of RenderMan that will automatically translate all entities in the Maya Hypershade into RenderMan equivalents.

> (Q3) In the future, How will provide a upgrade for it? I can find
> only a technical support in your web site.

We are working on a v2.0 upgrade for next year. This will be available at a low cost upgrade price (much like Alias) for existing RfM customers. We will post details nearer the time and inform all customers by email.

> (Q4) Can a custom shader imported from Pro Server's one access
> raster image files as a texture, a shadow map and so on.

Using the shader compiler you should be able to import any shader and it dependencies.

> (Q5) Doesn't it include a shader compler for itself? Though, your
> article before the release said that it includes the compler.

See answer above. Your shader is compiled with the command: shader foo.sl, where foo.sl is the source shader text file. The foo.sl is compiled into foo.slo, which is the shading language object file, which is loaded and used by RenderMan for Maya.

We are happy to assist you with any questions. Please ask - we are here to help!

Best regards