Appendix B: Image File Formats Supported by RAYZ

The current version of RAYZ imports and exports the file formats in the list below. However, you can add support for other image formats by writing a RAYZ plug-in.

File Format

Default Extension

Adobe Photoshop

psd

Alias

als

Alias Camera Depth

depth

Chalice Direct Image

cdi

Cineon DPX

dpx

Cineon Fido

cin

FRP (Fast real-time Playback)

frp

JPEG

jpg

Maya

miff

Microsoft Windows Bitmap

bmp

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

png

QuickTime

mov or qt

Raw

raw

SGI Image

rgb

Softimage

pic

Targa

tga

Tiff

tiff

Wavefront RLA/RLB

rla

YUV

yuv

Image Format Notes

This section provides important information which should be reviewed before importing and exporting the following image file formats.

Refer to the sections of the Image In node description on Conversion Parameters and Format-Specific Import Options for specific information about using the parameters relevant to importing and converting image file formats.

For more information about specifying format options when writing image files, refer to the Format, Conversion, and Format Specific parameter descriptions in the Image Out node.

Cineon Fido

RAYZ can read and write Kodak Cineon 10-bit log imagery in Fido format. This 3-channel format is by far the most common type of Cineon file.

By default, the Image In node automatically remaps Cineon 10-bit log files to 16-bit linear colorspace. However, you can change the conversion options or use the unconverted log data by setting the appropriate parameters in the Image In Node Panel.

Cineon DPX

RAYZ can also read Kodak Cineon imagery in DPX format, which may be linear or log (or have some other type of non-linear gamma), may contain 1, 3, or 4 channels, and may be encoded as 8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit, or 16-bit data. RAYZ also recognizes the orientation of the image.

RAYZ can write DPX files of 1, 3, or 4 channels, encoded as 10-bit log or as 8- or 16-bit linear.

FRP

FRP (pronounced "ferp") is a Silicon Grail file format optimized for Fast real-time Playback. It is used to create a compact flipbook file for in-house playback and review of a shot or shot element.

When you select FRP from the Format menu in the Image Out node or the corresponding entry in the Render Control view, RAYZ writes the specified image sequence to disk at its native spatial resolution as a single .frp file of 8-bit data. You can then load this file into any RAYZ project file and play it in a Viewer.

Maya

Either the RGBA channels or the Z channel of a 5-channel Maya file can be imported into a single Image In node, but not all five channels, because the depth data is encoded as float while the color and opacity channels are encoded as 8- or 16-bit.

The Image In node provides a parameter you can use to select which Maya channels to import, so that you can import the RGBA data into one Image In node and the corresponding z-buffer into another.

QuickTime

RAYZ 2.0 can read QuickTime 3 compliant files that use the Animation, JPEG, Motion-JPEG-A, YUV2, and uncompressed codecs. The file may include audio (although RAYZ 2.0 cannot play the audio track).

Tiff

RAYZ 2.0 supports version 6.0 of the TIFF file format specification (the most current version supported by libtiff.org). However, Adobe Photoshop 6.0 has initiated support for version 7, which allows transparency to be saved with a Tiff file. RAYZ will probably not be able to open a Tiff file that has been saved in Photoshop with transparency.

YUV

Unless you change the default, YUV files will be imported as floating point to ensure that all the image data is preserved. In addition, RAYZ assumes that imported YUV files have a gamma of 2.2. You can change the default bit depth and gamma specification for YUV files in the Image In node.

Wavefront

Like some Maya image files, Wavefront RLA and RLB file formats may contain channels of data other than the RGBA channels. These channels can be imported into a separate node from the RGBA data by using the appropriate parameter in each Image In node to select which channels to import.