The Foundry Katana 3.5v3

The Foundry launches the newer update to its professional look development and lighting tool which include new Feature Enhancements and bug fixes that improve the 3.5v2 to 3.5v3 release.

Katana 3.5v3 Release Notes – Release Date: 22 April 2020
These release notes describe changes from Katana 3.5v2 to 3.5v3.
Feature Enhancements
Configuration
– TP 426435 – The following environment variables were added, which when set to 1 disable the addition of their respective Filename Resolve Ops (in the Implicit Resolver Op chain, the MaterialResolve node’s Op chain, and in the SceneGraphView terminal Op chain):
. KATANA_DISABLE_MATERIALFILENAMERESOLVE
. KATANA_DISABLE_RENDERERPROCEDURALFILENAMERESOLVE
As part of this work, we removed the FilenameResolve entry from the Implicit Resolvers Active dialog.
Performance
The performance of the WorkingSet and ScenegraphTabPolish Ops has been improved by reducing the number of std::string allocations they perform. These improvements will be noticeable only for large, wide scene graphs.

API/SDK Changes
– TP 426880 – When setting values of parameters via NodegraphAPI scripting, multiple value policy events were generated instead of a single one, possibly leading to unnecessary updates of UI elements in response to value policy event handlers being called.
– TP 428285 – When calling GroupAttribute:getChildName() with an index out of range, nil would be returned. This was contrary to behavior in Katana 3.2 and before, where an empty string was returned. The previous behavior is now reinstated and documented in the Katana Developer Guide.
– TP 428839 – When GroupAttribte::getChildByIndex() and GroupAttribute::getChildName() were called with a negative index, they would exhibit unexpected behavior or cause Katana to crash.
Command Line
– TP 243617 – When attempting to use the -tile-cleanup command-line option when batch rendering on Windows, a Python exception was raised.
– TP 430009 – When the Katana executable was launched from within the bin subdirectory, the program would fail to find all its dependencies, failing to launch.
Documentation
– TP 430114 – The contents of the Improving OpScript Performance page in the Katana Developer Guide have been slightly revised.
Gaffer
– TP 426892 – When changing the value of a parameter of a light package of a GafferThree node whose parameters are edited in the Parameters tab, the shader type of the light in the Shader column wrongly changed color from yellow to dark gray. (This issue affected shaders for the Redshift and V-Ray render plug-ins only.)
Geolib
– TP 427011 – Some Op tree configurations, in which the same Op is connected as input multiple times to a downstream Op, could cause incorrect scene graph results.
Hydra Viewer
– TP 385305 – TP 393055 – When flushing caches while using a layout with a Viewer (Hydra) tab, or other Viewer API-based viewer tab, Katana crashed. This was due to a combination of synchronization and data validation issues.
– The BaseViewerTab class now flushes ViewerDelegate caches as part of a CacheManager flush callback, rather than in response to the posted event. BaseViewerTab now provides a flushCaches() class method. BaseViewerTab._on_cacheManager_flush() remains, but now does nothing in this base class implementation.
– Invalid data in the form of out-of-order location events is now handled by the Viewer API as an error.
– TP 425701 – When an uncooked location was set as the look-through camera in a viewer (e.g. the Viewer (Hydra) tab), and one of the location’s ancestors was given a rotation transformation, manipulating the active camera’s view (e.g. via panning, zooming, tumbling, or framing) would result in an erratic behavior.
– TP 426590 – When a location was selected programmatically, the manipulators in the Viewer (Hydra) tab could, on occasion, deselect all the other locations except the just-selected location.
Network Materials
– TP 422651 – When moving a Backdrop containing shading nodes in the NetworkMaterialCreate node graph, the shading nodes within the Backdrop could become disconnected from the rest of the network. (This issue was a regression in Katana 3.2v2.)
– TP 424322 – When setting the name parameter of a shading node in the NetworkMaterialCreate context to an empty value and then attempting to undo the action, an exception was raised, and the undo history cleared.
– TP 427018 – Shader parameters that were defined as enumerations by renderer plug-ins (kFnRendererObjectValueTypeEnum) did not show correct default values in the Parameters tab.
– TP 428361 – When ShadingNodeBase.checkDynamicParameters() was called after a node name change, it would occasionally fail to (re-)populate its dynamic parameters, due to the node name change not being yet reflected in the Op Args of the internal Ops in the Op chain of the node. (This was a long-standing issue in Katana that was exacerbated in Katana 3.2v1.)
Node Graph
– TP 427465 – When panning the view while dragging nodes in the Node Graph tab, the nodes were wrongly dropped. (This issue was a regression in Katana 3.2v1.)
– TP 430188 – When the deletion of a Macro node was undone, the node’s shape attributes (e.g. background color) were not restored correctly. (This issue was a regression in Katana 3.2v1.)
Performance
– TP 425645 – The Scene Graph tab could cause previously expanded scene graph to be cooked prematurely.
Python
– TP 426888 – When running Katana in script mode as a child process from within Katana, the KATANA_*_MODE variables set in the Configuration module, which indicate in which mode Katana was launched, were passed through to the child process without being modified, resulting in a Python exception being raised and the process being aborted.
Rendering
– TP 365566 – When rendering high-resolution 2D images that are loaded using ImageRead nodes, rendering artifacts could occur due to cache key strings not being unique across all rendered tiles of the image.
– TP 424374 – 2D renders of images with no alpha channel were displayed and processed as having zero opacity, rather than full opacity. This also affected images generated or processed with an explicit 1-filled alpha channel. (This issue was a regression in Katana 3.1v3.)
– TP 427535 – When rendering a scene with a large number of render outputs (/AOVs), ID buffers in Katana’s Catalog were wrongly created for every render output, rather than just the primary render output. This resulted in the corresponding Catalog Item consuming significantly more memory than necessary.
SDK
– TP 429852 – When building C++ Asset Plug-ins, integer type conversion warnings (C4244) were issued.
Scene Graph
– TP 416898 – When cooking DAPs, for example by calling InterfaceUtils.CookDaps() in an OpScript node, a provided attribute root was not respected by the OutputChannelDefine DAP, resulting in attributes such as widget hints being lost in certain circumstances, for example when used in GenericAssign-powered parameters on custom node types.
UI
– TP 426413 – When a light location was selected in a viewer, and the parameters of the light were visible in a Parameters tab, the mouse cursor would occasionally change to the I-beam cursor.
– TP 426569 – When setting up a TeleParameter to show the outputs parameter of a Render node in the parameter interface of a Group node (e.g. a custom SuperTool node), the list of render outputs in the Parameters tab was not always updated correctly.
– TP 429456 – When attempting to drag the child parameter of an array parameter by pressing the Ctrl+B keyboard shortcut (key-based drag & drop), a Python exception was raised. (This issue was a regression in Katana 3.1v1.)

The Foundry Katana is a 3D application specifically designed for the needs of look development and lighting in an asset-based pipeline. Originally developed at Sony Pictures Imageworks, Katana has been their core tool for look development and lighting for all their productions since Spider-Man 3, Beowulf, and Surf’s Up!. Katana provides a very general framework for efficient look development and lighting, with the goals of scalability, flexibility, and supporting an asset-based pipeline.

Katana is used in VFX, broadcast, and animation as a post-processing tool for final lighting. It uses a recipe approach to establishing lighting, making it easier for users to establish a lighting profile that can be reused in other scenes or projects.

The Foundry is a leading global developer of creative software used to deliver high-end visual effects and 3D content for the design, visualization and entertainment industries. The portfolio empowers artists to create inspiring and technical images and visual experiences in media production (film, commercials, episodic television, gaming, and virtual and augmented reality), and product and industrial design.

The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in London, with offices in Silicon Valley, Manchester, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Dublin and Austin. In November 2015 Alex Mahon was appointed as CEO while Bill Collis became president.

Product: The Foundry Katana
Version: 3.5v3
Supported Architectures: x64
Website Home Page : http://www.foundry.com
Language: english
System Requirements: PC *
Supported Operating Systems: *
Size: 337.0 mb

Officially Supported Operating Systems
– Windows 7 64-bit or higher
Hardware Requirements
CPU: Dual-core processor
Storage: 1+ GB available for installation
System RAM: 1+ GB available
Graphics RAM: 1+ GB available: 2+ GB available (Recommended)
Display: 800 x 600: 1920 x 1080 (Recommended)
OpenGL OpenGL: 4.3+