Karma Renderer FAQs
- What is the main difference between Karma and Mantra?
- Is Karma ready for production use?
- How does Karma CPU and XPU in H19.5 compare to Mantra?
- How much longer will Mantra be supported?
- How does KarmaXPU and CPU in H20 compare to Mantra?
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What is the main difference between Karma and Mantra?
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Mantra renders from Houdini using the ifd format and is not available as part of the Solaris LOP context.
Karma renders using the USD format and can only be utilized from within the Solaris LOP context.
Learn more here about the differences between the two render engines.
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Is Karma ready for production use?
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With H19, Karma CPU is production ready while the new engine Karma XPU is in alpha.
If you are using Solaris for lighting, you may want to consider using Karma XPU for interactive rendering in the viewport and Karma CPU for final rendering.
Learn more here about the differences between the two engines.
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How does Karma CPU and XPU in H19.5 compare to Mantra?
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Feature Mantra H19.5 Karma CPU H19.5 Karma XPU Status Production-ready Production-ready Beta CPU Renderer Yes Yes Yes [Hybrid] GPU Renderer No No Yes [Nvidia] USD/Solaris Support No Yes Yes IFD Support Yes No No Open Image IO Yes | with Env Variable Yes Yes Standard Surface Shader Principled - VEX Principled - VEX/USD Preview/MaterialX USD Preview/MaterialX VEX shading Yes Some trace() function support No CVEX: Lens Shader Yes Yes Karma Physical Lens CVEX: Volume Procedurals Yes Planned for Future Release No Toon Shader VEX Shading VEX Shading No Rounded edge/Dirt masks Yes Yes No Texture Baking Yes Preliminary Support No MaterialX Surface Shaders No Mtlx Standard Surface/USD Preview Mtlx Standard Surface/USD Preview MaterialX Disney 2012/2015 No No No Custom MaterialX PBR Shaders No Yes Planned for Future Release MaterialX SSS No Yes Yes MaterialX Color Management No Planned for Future Release Planned for Future Release MaterialX Displacement No Yes Yes Material Overrides Material Stylesheets [USD] | Assign Material and Material Variation LOPS [USD] | Assign Material and Material Variation LOPS Adaptive Sampling Yes Yes No Motion Blur Yes Yes Yes Depth of Field Yes Yes Yes Physical Sub Surface Scattering Yes Yes No Random Walk Sub Surface Scattering No Yes Yes Volumes Yes Yes Yes [Pyro Preview Shader] Heightfields Yes Yes via Solaris Yes via Solaris Instancing Yes Yes Yes Nested Instancing No Yes Yes [Fixed Number of Levels] Deferred Geometry Load Yes Planned for Future Release Planned for Future Release Subdivision HoudiniSubdiv/OpenSubdiv OpenSubdiv OpenSubdiv Displacement Shading Yes Yes Yes Crowd Support Yes Partial Support | USDSkel support, but not optimized Partial Support | USDSkel support, but not optimized NURBS Yes Tesselated at Fixed Rate Tesselated at Fixed Rate Lens Shaders Yes Custom VEX lens shaders Karma Physical Lens Absorption and Nested Dielectrics Yes Nested Dielectrics No Pyro Shader for Volumes Yes Yes SimplifiedLimited Version HdCoordSystem support for shaders No Yes No Uniform Volume Geometry Yes Yes No Denoising Optix | Intel Optix | Intel Optix | Intel AOVs Yes Yes Yes [no LPE]) Deep Images Yes Yes No Cryptomatte Yes Yes No Light type: Point Point Light Yes Yes Light type: Dome Environment Light Yes Yes Portals on Dome Light Portal Light Yes Planned for Future Release Light type: Distant Distant Light Yes Yes Light type: Disk Area Light Yes Yes Light type: Rectangle Area Light Yes Yes Light type: Sphere Area Light Yes Yes Light type: Cylinder Area Light Yes Yes Light type: Geometry Geometry/Volume Light Yes (points, curves, meshes, volumes) Planned for Future Release Light type: Portal Yes Yes No Shaping Control: Cone Spot light Yes Yes Shaping Control: Focus Yes Yes Yes Shaping Control: Barn Doors Yes Yes Yes Shaping Control: IES Mapping Yes Yes Planned for Future Release Light Filters No Yes Yes [Fixed Set] Light Linking Yes Yes [No Geometry Lights] Yes [No Geometry Lights] Geometry Lights Yes Yes [points, curves, meshes, volumes] No Hair & Fur Yes Yes Yes Render Curves Yes Yes [tubes, ribbons, oriented ribbons] Yes [tubes] Render Points Yes Yes Yes Viewport Render Yes Yes Yes Render View Yes Solaris Viewport/Render Gallery Solaris Viewport/Render Gallery Interactive Mplay Yes Yes Yes [No click to render] Render Snapshot Gallery Yes Yes Yes Render to Disk Yes Yes Yes HQueue - Distributed Rendering Yes Yes Yes Standalone Command-line render Yes Yes via Husk Yes via Husk CheckPointing Yes Yes via Husk No VEX FUNCTIONS - gather loops Yes Simple Trace (no shading) No - illuminance loops Yes Never will be supported No - trace Yes Simple trace function (no shading) No Path Guiding Yes Simple trace function (no shading) No Frustrum VBDs No Yes Yes Light Shaping Yes Yes Yes Per Instance Property Overrides Yes Yes No
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How much longer will Mantra be supported?
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Development on Mantra is limited to critical bug fixes. The plan is for this level of support to continue until the end of 2024 (two years after Karma XPU is released) at which time Karma will take over as Houdini’s only supported built-in renderer. For as long as they are on AUP, customers will be able to keep their unsupported existing licenses until at least 2025.
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How does KarmaXPU and CPU in H20 compare to Mantra?
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Karma XPU is production-ready as it reaches feature parity with Karma CPU in key areas and integrates well with the Solaris lookdev and lighting environment.
Go to the link below to compare the features found in Karma XPU, Karma CPU and the legacy Mantra renderer. Be sure to note that all development going forward will be for Karma.