XPU: improved error reporting when CUDA NVML library fails to load

Fixed a bug in outlines where depth-based detection may erroneously draw in lines over objects with outlines disabled that's in close proximity to objects with outlines enabled. Also addresses the issue where objects with outlines disabled always used random ID for contour detection, which prevented users from removing unwanted outlines on objects with outlines disabled using user-defined IDs.

XPU: fixed a gsplats SPH transform rendering bug

Add missing documentation for KARMA_ALBEDO_AOV_DIFFUSE environment variable.

Fixed Poly Frame tangent frame style of the input geometry in COP Preview Material SOP, to be linked to the MikkT Tangent Space toggle. This fixes render mismatch between VK and Karma rendering of normal maps.

Added HOUDINI_SCENEGRAPHTREE_ALPHASORT environment variable that controls whether to sort the scene graph tree alphabetically (1, the default), or to use the pri morder encoded in the USD data.

Fixed crash on File > New when a custom visualizer option was present. Such options are created using DM_RenderTable::installGeometryOption().

Fixed crash on File > New when a custom visualizer option was present. Such options are created using DM_RenderTable::installGeometryOption().

Fixed a bug where the MaterialX logical not operator could have resulted in a crash.

Fixed an issue where newly added instncer prototypes were not properly instantiated in Karma, which could lead to crashes

Fixed a bug in outlines where contour-based detection would fail against background if contour threshold is set to a large value.

Fixed an issue where HAPI_SetAttributeIndexedStringData() could crash if tuple size is not 1.

Added an option to use Unreal's Mesh Description structures when transfering data to Houdini (on by default). This can be disabled if the Mesh Description is inaccurate (eg. for modelling tools), in which case the render data is used instead.

Fixed a bug in Muscle Properties Otis and Muscle Constraint Properties Otis SOPs where adding a new property raised an error. Adding a new property can now be undone in one step.

Added support for UTF-8 characters in material parameter names for mesh inputs.

Fix possible NaNs with geometry lights and certain area lights.

Fixed an issue where HAPI_SetAttributeIndexedStringData() would crash if tuple size was greater than 1.

Data from Value Clips will now display in the Time Samples tab of the Scene Graph Details.

Fixed an issue with some methods incorrectly serializing and deserializing information when shared memory data transfer is enabled.

Added a new pdg.ServiceManager.killService(..) API method that terminates a service and all its client processes, even if the clients are still running work. This differs from stopService(..) which performs a graceful shutdown.

Added a pdg.ServiceManager.killClient(..) API method that terminats a specific client process. This differs from the existing stopClient(..) method which gracefully exits the service process via an RPC message.

Fixed bug where Houdini was reading just freed memory when saving a hip file.

Fixed a crash in karma CPU when point instancer with zero instances is used on uniform volumes.