RIB (.rib)

• 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.

Background & Context

• • 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 & 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 following reference pages for full general information:

• 	Import, Export	import from or export to a file
  	CloudImport, CloudExport	import from or export to a cloud object
  	ImportString, ExportString	import from or export to a string
  	ImportByteArray, ExportByteArray	import from or export to a byte array

Import Elements

• General Import elements:

• 	"Elements"	list of elements and options available in this file
  	"Summary"	summary of the file
  	"Rules"	list of rules for all available elements

• 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