Mathematica Import/Export Format

RIB (.rib)

RenderMan RIB user entity file.
3D geometry format.
Used for photorealistic modeling and rendering.
Stores 3D object definitions and scene descriptions.
Native format of the RenderMan application.
RIB is an acronym for RenderMan Interface Bytestream.
Developed by Pixar in 1990.

Import and Export support Version 1.1 of the RIB entity file format.

Import reads planar convex polygon data from RIB entity files, ignoring possible directives for geometric transformations.

IMPORT AND EXPORT

Import["file.rib"]imports a RIB file Graphics3D object.

Export["file.rib", expr] exports a Graphics3D expression to a RIB file.

Import["file.rib"] returns an expression of the form Graphics3D[ GraphicsComplex[vertices, primitives, opts]].

Import["file.rib", elem] imports the specified element from a RIB entity file.

Import["file.rib", {elem, sub_a, sub_b, ...}] imports a subelement.

Import["file.rib", {{elem₁, elem₂, ...}}] imports multiple elements.

The import format can be specified with Import["file", "RIB"] or Import["file", {"RIB", elem, ...}].

Export["file.rib", expr, elem] creates a RIB entity file by treating expr as specifying element elem.

Export["file.rib", {expr₁, expr₂, ...}, {{elem₁, elem₂, ...}}] treats each expr_i as specifying the corresponding elem_i.

Export["file.rib", expr, opt₁->val₁, ...] exports expr with the specified option elements taken to have the specified values.

Export["file.rib", {elem₁->expr₁, elem₂->expr₂, ...}, "Rules"] uses rules to specify the elements to be exported.

See the reference pages for full general information on Import and Export.

ImportString and ExportString support the RIB format.

ELEMENTS

General Import elements:

	"Elements"	list of elements and options available in this file
	"Rules"	full list of rules for each element and option
	"Options"	list of rules for options, properties and settings

Data representation elements:

	"Graphics3D"	RIB user entity file represented as a Graphics3D object
	"GraphicsComplex"	list of GraphicsComplex objects, each representing a 3D geometry stored in the file
	"PolygonData"	polygon data in indexed form
	"PolygonObjects"	list of Polygon primitives given in absolute coordinates
	"VertexColors"	colors associated with each vertex, given as a list of color primitives
	"VertexData"	list of vertex coordinates
	"VertexNormals"	normal vectors corresponding to the vertices given by "VertexData"

Import and Export use the "Graphics3D" element by default for RIB files.

The "VertexData" element corresponds to the first argument of GraphicsComplex.

When rendering a RIB color model, Import automatically uses the setting Lighting->"Neutral".

OPTIONS

General Import options:

Background	Automatic	what background color to use
ImageSize	Automatic	overall size of the graphics to display
Lighting	Automatic	what simulated lighting to use in coloring 3D surfaces

Meta-information options:

"Comments"	None	list of strings, representing user comments
"CreationDate"	Automatic	time and date when the file was created, given as a string
"Creator"	Automatic	application used to generate the file
"Scene"	Automatic	scene name associated with the entity file