Materials
Renderman’s material system is similar to Cycles in that it is physically based. However, the editing method is very different. Whereas Cycles asks you to create and hook together simple ‘building blocks’ into large and complex node trees, Renderman gives you one material with numerous parameters and inputs. While it may not have the ultimate flexibility Cycles has to do some truly wild materials, Renderman’s materials are more intuitive to set up and do not require the complex workarounds needed for realistic materials in Cycles.
- PxrSurface: This powerful übershader is used by Pixar in actual productions (such as Finding Dory). It has a large amount of parameters but they are segmented into several subgroups that deal with specific aspects of the material. Almost any kind of material can be created with this system.
- PxrLM System: This is a legacy shader system from Renderman 20. It is very similar to the PxrLayer system and is included for backwards compatibility.
- PxrMarschner: This shader is specifically designed to product realistic hair with subtle reflections and refraction, and is also used by Pixar in actual production. Experimentation is a must.
- PxrDisney: This is a legacy shader from Renderman 20. It is Pixar’s implementation of the Disney Principled BRDF. It is another übershader type material, like PxrSurface, but it lacks some of the versatility (no subsurface scattering, for instance). It is mainly included for legacy purposes.
- PxrVolume: This is a versatile volumetric shader. For more detail, please see the volumes page.
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PxrDisplace: This shader is used to physically change the structure of an object by changing its shape (displacing). For more detail, please see the displacement page.
For most every circumstance except hair and volumetric renders, PxrSurface should be your first choice. While it has a lot of sliders to investigate, it is a truly powerful shader that has been tested, tweaked and optimized specifically for heavy raytracing, as demonstrated in actual Pixar films.