1.
Create a Mantra Render Output Operator
From the Network
pane, select Network > Outputs.
With your cursor over the Network pane list, press
tab > Generators > Mantra. This creates
a Render Output Operator.
2.
Choose a Camera
In the Parameter
pane, set Camera
to one of the cameras in your scene. If you don't have one then
create a camera at
the object-level. Cameras contain important information required
by Mantra and should be set up properly.
Note:
You should also make sure you have lights in your scene. Without
lights your scene will likely render out black.
3.
Set the Output Picture format
You can set
the Output Picture
to render out either a still image or a sequence of images. Select
from the arrow icon [>] as either an image that will be shown
in mplay or a sequence to be saved to disk. The HIP prefix will
put the images with the Houdini file you are rendering from and
JOB will put the images in a predetermined project path.
Padded
Files: If you select padded file names then you will
get an output name that includes the variable $F4 which will create
the following numbering scheme: 0001, 0002, 0003...... You can change
the number to control the amount of padding.
4.
Set the Image formats
Set the Image
Format to determine how your images will be
saved. Click on the black arrow [V] to the right of the format to
view the options for that format. For instance, there are different
kinds of tiff
files available depending on which program you are sending the images
to. For instance, Adobe Deflate
works best for Adobe Photoshop while Standard
Deflate works best for Adobe After Effects.
Houdini
is the default pic
format that offers a robust file format for use in a Houdini pipeline.
It is also a great format for Apprentice users because it renders
images with no wordmark. This lets Apprentice artists use Houdini
Master or Halo to composite clips. The wordmark will only appear
when the images are output later in a different format.
5.
Frame Range
By default
the Global Animation options determine your Start
and End frames
and Step value.
You can also choose to control these values specifically within
the Render Output operator.
6.
Aliasing
The Anti-Aliasing
quality of your rendering images is determined by the
Super Sample settings. The setting of 3,
3 is good for many cases but may need to be
increased to get the best quality possible.
7.
Image Resolution
By default,
the Image resolution
is acquired from the settings found in your chosen camera under
the View tab.
You can choose to use the Override
Default Resolution option to create a Render
Output specific resolution.
Starting
a Rendering
Once you have
all your settings in place, you can either click on the Render
bar at the top of the Parameter pane or on the Render
button found to the right of the Render Output in the Network pane
list. The results of this can then be viewed in the Viewer pane
where you can kill
a rendering and watch its progress.
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