.RIB Octopus
This page demonstrates the basics of how a 3D scene is represented by Pixar's RenderMan scene description (rib file) protocol. In a production environment rib files are generated by applications such as Maya, Houdini and Nuke. However, writing rib files with a text editor focuses attention on the way that geometric primitives, attributes, lighting and coordinate systems are represented by Pixar's RenderMan.
Creating Curves: To create these curves I first used points as a visual, to plot the position of the shape of the curves that I wanted. After I plotted my points I copied the coordinates and duplicated the first and last points. I later created a "catmull-rom" curve to create the tentacle. Keeping in mind that the default curve is a Bezier curve I switched it to a Catmull-Rom curve. Opposed to Bezier curves, Catmull-Rom splines pass through each point used to define the shape of the curve, except the first and last points This process was repeated 8 times and put into an Archive where I would later read all 8 curves and rotate them 45 degrees around the "body" of the octopus.
Modeling: The process of switching from modeling using a program such as Maya's interface to using .rib was a significant change and challenge. Once I got used to the basic coordinate system it became a lot easier to use, but tedious compared to an interface.
Conclusion: Expierimenting with the basics of scripting with Pixar's RenderMan scene discription (rib) protocol gave me a new appriciation of modeling,shading, and lighing. Also this project has helped me gain the knowledge of what goes behind the scences while I'm using an interface. The constant tweaking and translations has provided myself with an excellent knowledge of the coordinate system and working in a three-dimensional space.