The ribExport plug-in adds the new file format RIBexport to the File > Export All options menu. This lets you export scenes created in Maya to the RIB (Pixar^® RenderMan^®) format.

The ribExport plug-in supports ambient, directional, point, and spot lights. Simple non-textured shaders are supported, although only the shader color is exported. All other shading attributes are ignored. Phong and Blinn shaders are exported as “plastic”; Lambert shaders are exported as “matte.” Per-face shading groups are not supported; only shading groups that are assigned to objects or object instances are exported.

When exporting Maya scenes into RIB, note that the # character is a special formatting character in RenderMan image names. To include a real # character in a RenderMan image name, you must use “##”. (See section 4.1.10 of the RenderMan user manual for information on formatting.)

The image name constructed by the ribExport plug-in includes the contents of the “imageName” attribute of the renderable cameras. If you want to include the special RenderMan formatting characters in an image, the imageName attribute is the place those characters should be placed.

To load the ribExport plug-in

1. Open Maya and select Window > Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager.
2. Click the loaded check box for the ribExport plug-in.

To export a file in RIB format

1. Select File > Export All.
2. In the Files of type field, select RIBexport as the file type and then click Export All.