Implementing RenderMan - Practice, Problems and Enhancements

Abstract

The RenderMan interface has been proposed as a general interface to rendering systems, yet only a few implementations of the interface exist. In this paper we describe the implementation of the RenderMan interface on a general rendering architecture that supports various rendering algorithms. Specifically we discuss the implementation of the RenderMan Shading Language and its integration into our rendering architecture. Special attention is focused on the problems that we have encountered and how they can be solved. Additionally, we suggest extensions and enhancements to the current interface definition, which would make RenderMan easier to implement and more flexible to use.