Render Settings

The Render Settings Window allows to create and configure a render nodegraph for the current scene. It can be opened from the render shelf by clicking to the Render Settings icon:

Note

If a render nodegraph is not presented yet, the application will offer to create it:

After creation, the render nodegraph will be displayed in the Outliner panel and the USD Render Output will be accessible.

Render Preferences

Warning

Some Hydra properties might not appear in the Render Settings because they are populated using the HydraDelegate Fallback Proxy. The Render Settings don’t use these properties directly but maps them to the application’s API schema. Available parameters depend on the render_delegate value set via the HydraRenderSessionAPI.

The available Render node properties depend on the chosen render delegate. Access the property list using the HydraRenderSessionAPI within the Metadata section of the options node.

Note

The HydraRenderSessionAPI belongs to the application and has only the render_delegate attribute which allows to pick the Hydra Renderer and save it in the UsdStage. This feature can be useful for shading/lookdev workflows.

Render Attributes

Render Settings configure what and how a scene is rendered, including material handling. Key attributes include:

Attribute	Description
includedPurposes	Specifies the imageable purposes to include during rendering.
materialBindingPurposes	Specifies the material binding purposes to use when rendering materials.
camera	Specifies the Camera prim to use for rendering.
products	Lists the RenderProduct prims that define the output data generated.

UsdRenderSettingsBase is a base schema that provides core attributes for configuring the rendered output itself, such as:

Attribute	Description
aspectRatioConformPolicy	Specifies how output resolution conforms to the aspect ratio.
dataWindowNDC	Specifies the renderable pixel region in normalized device coordinates.
instantaneousShutter	Disables motion blur when true.
pixelAspectRatio	The aspect ratio of individual pixels in the output.
resolution	Specifies the output resolution in pixels.

HydraRenderSessionAPI allows render delegate selection:

Attribute	Description
renderDelegate	Specifies the name of the delegate renderer.

Render Products

Render Products represent individual rendered output artifacts, such as an image file or auxiliary data like a depth or normal buffer. A RenderSettings prim can contain one or more RenderProduct prims to specify what outputs should be generated for that render setting. RenderProducts can override some configuration from the parent RenderSettings, such as specifying a different camera to use for that particular output. RenderProducts have product-specific settings, like the output filename for an image file.

Within a RenderProduct, one or more RenderVars can be specified. A RenderVar represents a channel or quantity of data that should be output, like color, alpha, depth, direct diffuse lighting, etc. RenderVars let you configure what values the renderer should compute and output for that channel of the RenderProduct.