User Documentation

From K-3D

Overview

If you haven't installed K-3D yet, please consult Getting Started for build / install instructions on many platforms.

• FAQ - User's Frequently Asked Questions!
• Version Numbers - What do those numbers mean?
• Online Tutorials - Step-by-step instructions for common operations.
• Support - Where to go for help when good software goes bad ...

User Interface

• Running K-3D
• The K-3D Window
• Default Document
• Opening And Saving Scenes
• Working With Panels - Most of the K-3D user interface is broken-down into Panels.
• Tools - Tools are used to modify a document interactively, by clicking-and-dragging the mouse in a viewport.
• Hotkeys
• Tutorial Menu
• Command Node Inspector
• Script Editor
• SimpleWorkFlowExample
• Managing External Files
• Recording Tutorials - Getting confident? You can record tutorials for other users!

Plugins

• See Plugins for a list of all K-3D plugins and links to reference documentation.
• Plugin Status - What does (Experimental) or (Deprecated) next to a plugin's name mean?

Rendering

• Materials - Working with surface materials in K-3D.
• Render Engine - An overview of render engines for K-3D.
• RenderMan
  • RenderMan Controls - Tips on how to control the quality of your RenderMan output.
  • List of Shaders
  • RenderMan Light Shaders
  • RenderMan Displacement Shaders
  • RenderMan Shading Language
  • Writing Surface Shaders
  • Writing Displacement Shaders
  • Writing Light Shaders
  • Writing Volume Shaders
  • Writing Imager Shaders
  • FrankenRender - Tips for using Aqsis with BMRT as a rayserver.
  • Shadow Map Tutorial
• Hardware Rendering - Why can't I preview lighting and shading in the viewport?
• Network Rendering - About network rendering.
• Texture Tutorial - How to texture a scene.
• Yafray - Using the Yafray render engine

Modeling

• Symmetric Modeling Tutorial - modeling just one side of a symmetric object, with automatic updates to the mirror side.
• Mug Tutorial - creating a mug with a handle.
• Snap Tutorial - some samples of the new interactive snap system.

Animation

• Animating Properties - (Very) basic explanation of animation in K-3D.
• Creating Videos - Tools to generate videos from K-3D images.

Scripting

• ScriptEngine - Introduction to K-3D scripting.
• Python - Documentation for the Python script engine used for most general-purpose scripting tasks.
• K3DScript - K-3D tutorials are recorded using K3DScript metafiles.
• RenderManScript - Injects arbitrary RenderMan API calls into the rendered scene.

Subdivision Surfaces

• Subdivision Surfaces - Description of subdivision surfaces.
• SDS Tutorial - Basic subdivision surface modeling tutorial.
• SDS Creases - Variable sharpness creases on subdivision surface models.