RIB archive, why?

In this tutorial you will understand the benefit to use RIB archive rather than Softimage Stand-in or any other archive method.

With 3Delight for Softimage, there are many way you can use RIB archive. You can completely convert your scene into a RIB archive and then use 3Delight Studio to render it with renderdl or you can use the stand-in ability to replace object inside your scene by RIB archive or you can use the RIB archive.
In this tutorial we will consentrate on the stand-in part and mainly why you should use the RIB archive.
What are the advantage of one versus the other one:

That is why the focus of this tutorial is related to the RIB archive. Since the RIB archive is a geometry property it needs an host that will support it. Most of the case it should be a simple representation of the real object. In this tutorial we will first show you how to create an host that will cover the bounding box of the original object. To be more pipeline oriented, we will use a simple Python script in order to generate the bounding box of a selected object:

1. Open Softimage’s script editor and add the following Python code (make sure the scripting language is set to Python)
   

   Softimage - Python

   import os
   # First verify if you have an object selected
   if( len( Application.Selection ) > 0 ):
       object = Application.Selection( 0 )
       # Get the bounding box of the object
       bounding_box = Application.GetBBox(  )
       bb_x_min = bounding_box( 0 )
       bb_y_min = bounding_box( 1 )
       bb_z_min = bounding_box( 2 )
       bb_x_max = bounding_box( 3 )
       bb_y_max = bounding_box( 4 )
       bb_z_max = bounding_box( 5 )
       # Create the host of RIB property. We are using a mesh in order to use any SI property on it.
       cube_bounding_box = Application.ActiveSceneRoot.AddGeometry( 'Cube', 'MeshSurface' )
       cube_bounding_box.Name = object.Name + '_BBox'
       cube_bbox_final_name = object.Name
       cube_bounding_box.length = 1
       # The host of the RIB property should cover the bounding box of the original object.
       cube_bounding_box.PosX = ( bb_x_max + bb_x_min ) / 2
       cube_bounding_box.PosY = ( bb_y_max + bb_y_min ) / 2
       cube_bounding_box.PosZ = ( bb_z_max + bb_z_min ) / 2
       cube_bounding_box.sclx = bb_x_max - bb_x_min
       cube_bounding_box.scly = bb_y_max - bb_y_min
       cube_bounding_box.sclz = bb_z_max - bb_z_min
       Application.FreezeObj( cube_bounding_box )

2. Select an object
3. Execute the script

This should have generate the bounding box of the selected object.
Now, that this is done, we need to create the RIB archive and assign it to the bounding box using the RIB archive.
To perform this action add the following code line to the previous file:

delight_pref = Application.Dictionary.GetObject( 'preferences.3Delight', False )
    if( delight_pref != None ):
        delight_pref.ExportMaterialsAndAttributes = False
        delight_pref.ExportTransformations = False
    # Promp a folder browser to select the location of your RIB File
    rib_location = XSIUIToolkit.PickFolder( XSIUtils.ResolvePath( '[Project Path]' ), 'RIB Package Location' )
    if( len( rib_location ) != 0 ):
        rib_file = XSIUtils.ResolvePath( rib_location + os.sep + object.Name + '_RIB.[Frame #4].rib' )
        # This will generate the object RIB for this Frame only
        Application.ExportObjectRenderArchive( object, rib_file, int( XSIUtils.ResolvePath( '[Frame #4]' ) ), int( XSIUtils.ResolvePath( '[Frame #4]' ) ), 1, False, False )
        # This will add the RIB Property to the object bounding box
        rib_property = cube_bounding_box.AddProperty( '3Delight RIB Properties', False, object.Name + '_RIB_PROPERTY_3DELIGHT' )
        # This will make sure we are using the delayed mode
        rib_property.Parameters( 'ArchiveType' ).Value = 'Delayed'
        # This will make sure we are rendering the RIB and not the bounding box object
        rib_property.Parameters( 'EnableArchive' ).Value = True
        # This will add the RIB file path to the RIB property
        rib_property.Parameters( 'ArchiveName' ).Value = rib_file
    
    Application.ResetTransform( cube_bounding_box, 'siCtr', 'siScl', 'siXYZ' )
    Application.DeleteObj( object )

At this point, you have just exported your first object as a RIB file and use it for rendering.
You will see that when rendering the result will display the “real” object with the exact same look. Also with this solution, you will still be able to apply transforms to the RIB object and also you will be able to edit the shader, override it or even use camera projection on it.
This can be a major advantage when you are working on very complex scenes.