Solid Angle Katana 2.5(2.6) to Arnold 2.0.4.0

Solid Angle has released version 2.0.4.0 of Arnold for Katana (or KtoA). This plug-ins provides a bridge to the Arnold renderer from within the standard Katana interface. KtoA is now shipping with the latest Arnold 5.0.1+ core.

KtoA 2.0.4.0 Release notes:

Enhancements
- Updated to Arnold 5.0.1.4: Updated Arnold core version to bring a few bug fixes. See the release notes for Arnold 5.0.1.3 and 5.0.1.4 for more information.
- Added more plugin load information by default: When loading plugins such as shaders, KtoA is generally very quiet and does not report most failures to the console. By default it now outputs more information. This can be adjusted with the environment variable KTOA_LOAD_VERBOSITY where the possible values are quiet, normal, debug, with debug being the default. (#212)
- Forced material export with name override: If a material is not attached to a location, KtoA previously would not send the shader or shader network to Arnold. Using the ArnoldMaterialSettings node, users can ensure materials are sent, and even override their name inside Arnold. This is particularly useful for renderer procedurals that do not have any easy way of identifying materials nor ensuring they get exported for the procedural to use. (#215)
- node/pointer user data: A reference to a Katana location can be set as user data and turned into a node/pointer parameter in Arnold in the ArnoldUserData node by using the "location" type. This is usually used to to attach shaders via user data, such as is required for sss_irradiance_shader (a special user-data pointing to a shader that Arnold recognizes and uses when gathering indirect lighting for subsurface scattering). Any referenced locations will be processed by KtoA as appropriate. (#214)
Bug Fixes
- #212 Plugin load failures hidden
- #216 Point-based instancing quaternions incorrect

About Foundry Katana. Katana's highly efficient, collaborative approach to lighting and look development gives you the creative scope and scalability to meet the needs of today’s most demanding CG-rendering projects. Equally suited to both short and long-form animation and VFX projects, Katana’s unique design lets you work with massive scenes and high volumes of shots; easily reuse looks; and make revisions without repeating scene setup work, so you can spend more time achieving higher quality results.

About Solid Angle. Solid Angle is the technology company behind the Arnold rendering software. With offices in Madrid and London, Solid Angle’s customers include ILM, Framestore, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Rodeo FX, Luma Pictures, Image Engine, The Moving Picture Company, Digic Pictures, The Mill and Psyop. Arnold was designed to efficiently process the complex geometric datasets required for feature-length CGI animation and big-budget visual effects, while at the same time simplifying the pipeline. This unique renderer has been used to create the VFX seen in “Guardians of the Galaxy”, “Elysium, “Gravity”, “Pacific Rim”, Marvel's “The Avengers”, and “Alice in Wonderland”, to name just some. Marcos Fajardo is the founder of Solid Angle and lead architect of Arnold. The software is now available as a standalone renderer, as a C++ API and as a set of plug-ins for leading 3D applications such as Maya, Softimage and Katana on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.

About The Foundry.The Foundry develops award-winning computer graphics and visual effects (VFX) software used globally by leading artists and designers. The portfolio lets users create inspiring and technical high-end visuals across a wide range of industries including film, TV, commercial and games, as well as the CAD, design and architecture markets. Together we constantly strive to produce innovative solutions that meet the needs of our customers and the ever-changing environments in which they work.

Product: Solid Angle Katana 2.5 (2.6) to Arnold
Version: 2.0.4.0
Supported Architectures: x64
Website Home Page : www.solidangle.com
Language: english
System Requirements: PC / Linux
Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7even or newer / Linux RHEL 6+ or compatible glibc
Software Prerequisites: The Foundry Katana 2.5v6+, 2.6v1+
Size: 100.6 mb