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# Katana 8.0v2 Release Notes

# Release Date

14 March 2025

# Previous Releases

- Katana 8.0v1 Release Notes

# What's New in Katana 8.0

These release notes describe changes from Katana 8.0v1 to 8.0v2.

For a high-level overview of important changes in the Katana 8.0 line, please see the accompanying What's New in Katana 8.0 document.

# New Features

## Documentation

- The Katana Developer Guide has been upgraded to include a copy-to-clipboard button for all code snippets embedded on a page; allowing for quick and easy access to syntax examples. Additionally, any node type name referenced in the Katana Developer Guide hyperlinks to the appropriate pages in the Katana Reference Guide, located on Foundry's learn website, to ensure that all learning content shared across various sections are accessible.

## Scene Explorer

- The Scene Explorer tab Collections panel can now distinguish between expression-mode and relationship-mode USD collections. To denote which mode a USD collection was generated by, a new Expression-mode or Relationship-mode badge displays over-top of a Collection icon.

  Any right-click action made on either of these two collection modes displays a new context menu. Menu items with the suffix (Load All) either shows or selects all USD prim locations by loading it's payloads, while the other context menu item does not. Any USD Collection, regardless of the mode, that are authored either as absolute or relative path are supported by this context menu.

  Note: At this time, any USD Native nodes that utilize a Pattern Based Collection widget only supports expression-mode USD collection authored as an absolute path in their context menu.

# Feature Enhancements

## API/SDK Documentation

- ID 411866 - Documentation was added to the Katana Developer Guide for some notable options supported by `getOption()` and `setOption()` in various Viewer classes.

## Asset Management

- ID 577960 - When loading a USD stage through the UsdIn node, an Asset Resolver Context can be specified by setting the assetResolverContext parameter. If no assetResolverContext is specified, a default Asset Resolver Context is used based on the Asset Resolver type which is used to handle the asset specified in the fileName parameter.

## Configuration

- Support for Nuke 16.0 has been added to the Nuke Bridge.

## Documentation

- The Katana User Guide PDF is now included in the Katana distribution. Previously, it was only available from Foundry's website.

## Hydra Viewer

- ID 333287 - A button was added to activate face selection mode, allowing users to choose between Front Faces Selection (selecting only front-facing faces) or X-ray Selection (selecting both front and back faces).

- ID 569289 - Within the Snapping dropdown in the Viewer tab, the Lights, Cameras, and Locators option has been updated to Lights, Cameras, Locators, and Rigs and when selected, allows for snapping to rig locations.

## Licensing

- EULA Updated.

## Node Graph

- ID 542748 - Holding the Control ('Ctrl') key while deleting a node now stops any upstream or downstream nodes from being reconnected through the deleted node.

## Performance

- ID 585189 - Extra verbose logging has been added to the Continual eviction mode if verboseLogging is enabled in the RenderSettings node. It will report when...

  - ...a new thread is involved in the scene graph traversal.
  - ...the cache has reached capacity.
  - ...whether the first eviction takes place in each traversal thread.

- ID 585190 - A protectedDepth parameter has been added to the RenderSettings node, available only when the Continual cache eviction mode is used.

  Cache entries associated with scene graph locations whose path depth is less or equal than the configured protected depth will never be evicted from the cache.

  For instance, if set to `3`, locations such as `/root` (depth 1), `/root/world` (depth 2), and `/root/world/geo` (depth 3) would be protected from cache eviction, but not `/root/world/geo/teapot` (depth 4).

- ID 585191 - A protectedPaths array parameter has been added to the RenderSettings node, available only when the Continual cache eviction mode is used.

  Cache entries associated with the configured scene graph location paths will never be evicted from the cache. Ancestors of the configured paths are implicitly protected too.

- ID 592286 - When performing a render with the Continual eviction strategy, the scene graph traversal could stall indefinitely on occasions. Having heavy-to-cook locations at a shallow depth in the scene tree could make the issue more prevalent.

## Python

- The module level `__version__` dunder name has been added to the `Katana` module. It returns a conventional version string in the form `'<major>.<minor>.<patch>'`. For example, for Katana 8.0v2, it reports `'8.0.2'`.

- `Katana.documentVersion` module attribute has been introduced, which reports the internal document version in Katana used to determine which upgrade scripts to run when loading the Katana project in a future release.

  The new attribute is identical to `Katana.version`, which was deemed as ambiguous and is planned for deprecation in Katana 8.5v1.

## Rendering

- ID 582063 - When the `KATANA_MOVE_FILES_ON_RENDER_COMPLETE` environment variable is set to `1`, completed renders are now sent to the output destination from the temp directory via a move operation, rather than the default copy.

- The 3Delight version bundled with Katana has been upgraded from version 2.9.122 to version 2.9.128. For more information, refer to the 3Delight for Katana Changelog.

## UI

- The syntax in Parameter Expressions is now highlighted.

- The color theme in the Python syntax highlighter has been modernized.

## UI Improvements

- ID 573496 - Backdrop nodes in the legacy node graph context can now be resized from any corner.

## USD Text View

- A new option has been added to the USD Text View tab to show the incoming stage as flattened layers.

## Viewer

- Middle-mouse dragging a USD camera prim from the Scene Explorer tab onto the Viewer tab changes the view to look through the camera.

# Bug Fixes

## API/SDK Changes

- ID 587599 - When calling methods from the NodeGraphAPI module that subsequently called `GetAllConnectedInputs`, such as `NodegraphAPI.Util.GetAllContributingNodes()`, the nodes returned would not include nodes which were contained within Group or ShadingGroup nodes if the input and output port names were the same.

## API/SDK Documentation

- ID 511129 - In the Katana Developer Guide, a number of mishandled markup artifacts were present.

## Configuration

- ID 227711 - When Katana was initialized, a spurious config file was created at `~/.config/dev/null/conf`. The file was reported to have caused licensing and permissions problems, sometimes during Batch Renders or Preview Renders. On Windows systems, a `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\nul` was created in the Windows Registry.

- ID 590194 - When using LD_PRELOAD to load an external jemalloc library, Katana would fail to open. The included jemalloc library has been upgraded to 5.3.0 and the library (and SONAME) is now suffixed with _fn to avoid collisions with the same library loaded through LD_PRELOAD. The symbols within the included jemalloc have been prefixed with fnje_ to improve uniqueness.

## Hydra Viewer

- ID 528082 - When running Katana in a remote desktop session, transforming an object near or beyond the viewport boundaries caused the mouse cursor and the object to jump in the manipulated direction. An option called continuousManipulation under Preferences > viewer menu was introduced. This option is on by default and can be changed while in a remote desktop session to prevent objects from moving beyond the Viewer.

- ID 584011 - When attempting to snap an object to the center of a large mesh using the Origin - Center snapping mode in the Viewer tab, a crash could occur.

## KatanaToUSD

- ID 588990 - When converting from Katana Attributes to USD via the KatanaToUsd node, `indexedValues` are only converted if they are a `FloatAttribute`.

- ID 589260 - Material interfaces with spaces in the names of their attributes caused constant errors to be logged to the terminal and invalid prims, after going through the KatanaToUsd node.

## Live Groups

- ID 577493 - When Callbacks were called during an asset publish, they could be called in the wrong order and provide incorrect data.

## Monitor

- ID 95732 / BZ 44699 - When using the pixel probe tool in the Monitor tab while the active AOV had no ID data, no location was available instead of falling back to the ID information in the primary AOV.

## Network Materials

- ID 526099 - Promoted parameters were not staying connected to the source widget when the parent Group node was being converted to other Group types. Promoted parameters will now stay connected to their source node parameter.

- ID 536014 - When changing a connection to a port with a promoted parameter, the changes were not always reflected in the Material Interface in the Parameters tab of the NetworkMaterialCreate or NetworkMaterialEdit nodes.

- ID 550113 - When baking a Material through the UsdMaterialBake node, shader parameters promoted to the material interface while also having a shader input connection would cause an error to occur in the terminal. In this scenario, Katana will author the shader connection, and write the material interface with a default value on the exported USD Layer.

- ID 574260 - Layout attribute values of nodes inside NetworkMaterialCreate node were not updating when the refresh button was clicked.

- ID 585576 - The legacy network material nodes now have layout.{shaderNodeName}.parameterVars.{parameterName}.hints attributes to retain the name, label and page that should be used for any parameter promoted to the public interface.

- ID 589830 - Exploding Groups was no longer working. The U shortcut key now explodes Group, LiveGroup and ShadingGroups and excludes other types such as SuperTools and LiveShadingGroups. Group and SuperTool types can now implement `IsExplodable()` to allow exploding with the U shortcut key.

## Node Graph

- ID 447281 - Parentheses in CEL value expression would disappear on the node's copy and paste.

## Parameters

- ID 266120 - When the state of a parameter was modified through the setUseNodeDefault Python call, the Parameter state badge would not update.

- ID 593443 - Float_Vector parameters would crash when set to expressions. Similarly, a Float_Vector parameter set with valid parameter expressions to another Float_Vector parameter would incorrectly raise an error.

## Performance

- ID 586359 - Interacting with the Material Interface, such as collapsing and expanding pages was slower while performing a Live Render.

- ID 587045 - Clicking the 'Show Help' button (question mark icon) next to a parameter in the Parameters tab brings up a dialog window with some relevant help text. When a Scene Explorer tab was open and showing, this help text would take a long time to load (~5 seconds).

## Qt

- ID 589133 - When changing the Exposure or Intensity parameters of a light in the GafferThree node, an error message would appear in the terminal.

- ID 594500 - When changing the Timeline start or end frame range, and then changing the frame, errors would be printed to the terminal and Katana could crash.

## Rendering

- ID 592061 - When manipulating a scene during Live rendering, Renderboot process could crash.

- ID 595435 - When changes to the Viewer camera were applied (e.g. panning or rotating in the Viewer) during a Foresight+ Live Render session, Node Graph traversal and recooks could occur even when Live Render From Viewer Camera was not enabled.

## UI

- ID 416922 - Painting of parameter and attribute state badges has been revised so that they scale with the application font size preference.

- ID 580541 - Deleted Graph State Variables were not refreshed in the Graph State Variables tool bar dropdown and persisted until an update was enforced.

- ID 585193 - Input port names of the Merge node could not be renamed via the Parameters tab

- ID 587667 - When the sliders in number parameters were clicked while holding `Ctrl` (which toggles the parameter's state badge), an exception would be raised and the state badge would not be toggled.

- ID 587673 - Interaction area in `InteractiveIconTabBar` has been adjusted to fit the icon more accurately.

- ID 588896 - Appropriate labels for advanced.preferredInputAttributes parameter in a Merge type node was missing.

- ID 589159 - On Shading nodes within the legacy node graph view, the output port would show a permanently highlighted color.

- ID 589186 - When clicking the Expand All To or Collapse All To actions in the Scene Explorer tab and Scene Graph tab right-click context menus, an error message would appear in the terminal and the action would not be performed. This issue did not apply to the actions listed under Reveal Locations with Working Set States actions.

- ID 592670 - When an array parameter was defined in a GenericAssign Args file with its `size` XML attribute set to `0`, the array would still be created with one element, disallowing the definition of empty array parameters.

- ID 594521 - Menu items would be drawn incorrectly when the working set Context menu in the Scene Explorer tab was shown.

## USD Collections

- ID 593811 - The UsdCollection node created invalid USD Collections if content was specified as relative paths.

## USD Import

- ID 545898 - Parameters that are in the public interface from a USD material are now imported via UsdIn with the correct name. UsdIn creates a `layout.{shaderNodeName}.parameterVars.{parameterName}.hints` attribute to give Katana the name, label and page that should be used for any parameter in the public interface.

- ID 553366 - Material locations imported via the UsdIn node would not be created correctly if they were composed through a Specializes composition arc at an ancestor level above the Material Group location.

- ID 575053 - Shaders within a Shading Group connected to the Material terminal imported from USD did not correctly name the terminal shader node in `material.terminals`.

- ID 577631 - When importing a USD file through a UsdIn node that has unresolved <UDIM> texture file paths, warning messages were thrown during rendering and the relevant file path attributes were not populated.

## USD Lights

- ID 585572 - Enabling the Skydome option in the Viewer tab would not show the texture of the dome light as the background.

- ID 588921 - Properties did not clear when UsdLight was set back to no lightType choice.

## USD Native

- ID 562280 - UsdMaterialBake did not support Resolved Materials. A new documentation page has been added to the developer guide under the Resolved Materials heading within the Plugins > KatanaUSDPlugins > UsdExport page.

- ID 574861 - Mismatching the expected attributeType based on the previously specified attributeName in the UsdAttributeSet node would generate errors in the message log.

- ID 578727 - Getting a Geometry Producer by Path could cause a deadlock if it triggered a cook which cooked an op that tried to acquire the Python Global Interpreter Lock.

- ID 583517 - Dropping a USD prim path from the Scene Explorer tab onto a form widget which expects a Katana location path, and vice versa, would allow the invalid drop.

- ID 585563 - When expanding prim paths in the Scene Explorer tab after the Viewer flag had been changed to a node with a different prim path, caused Katana to log an error message about the expanded paths not being valid.

- ID 588961 - Adding Merge nodes with no USD Native input would cause USD Native Engines to re-process unnecessarily.

- ID 589208 - The UsdSchemaSet node did not show all available Relationship Properties from the schema registry.

- ID 589210 - Incoming parameter values for animated transforms within pre-defined USD Layers would not update based on frame changes on the UsdTransformEdit or UsdLight node in edit mode.

- ID 589499 - When connecting a UsdToKatana node either directly or indirectly to a UsdPythonWrite node, and with the pseudo root prim path "/" included in the primPath parameter, will crash Katana when viewed.

- ID 589698 - Attributes would not always clear or get created when toggling the enable state on parameters on the UsdSchemaSet node.

- ID 590310 - Whilst retrieving SdrShadeShaderNode information from the Sdr.Registry, the sourceType was not always provided and could retrieve the wrong shader if multiple shaders are defined with the same identifier; causing potential mismatching of attributes and their types when converting these shaders with conflicting identifiers.

- ID 591869 - When re-adding a view flag on a node after flushing caches, the scene payloads did not load.

- ID 593315 - After changing a prim type, adjusting previously modified attributes would result in error with error messages being logged.

- ID 594336 - When changing a shader connection via the UsdLayerWrite node, its attributes and the Viewer tab were not updating.

## USD Text View

- ID 590188 - The specializes keyword was not syntax highlighted by the USD Syntax highlighter.

## Viewer

- ID 589202 - Selecting File > New would not always clear the Viewer tab.

## Viewer Manipulators

- ID 588899 - While interactively manipulating an Xformable USD Prim in the Viewer tab, the prim's position would not respect any `!resetXformStack!` xform ops in the xform stack.

- ID 589132 - Manipulators and Light Locators would not track with USD native animated Prims which were animated in pre-existing layers.

# Known Issues

## Attributes Tab

- ID 589027 - The Attributes tab doesn't currently update animated attributes or properties values from an incoming USD scene. Flushing caches resolves the issue.

## Hydra Viewer

- ID 580249 - Manipulating transformations for both Geolib and USD locations/prims at the same time (driven by their respective transformation nodes set to interactive) is currently not supported.

## Rendering

- ID 587519 - When opening a new scene while the Parameters tab's Included Outputs floating menu is still active for a render node, errors are printed to the terminal.

- ID 587397 - When using the Monitor layer in the Viewer tab, the look-through camera is incorrectly shown as "Unknown Camera".

## USD Native

- ID 588881 - The pivotTranslate parameter on the UsdTransformEdit node currently have no effect.

- ID 587515 - The Centre of Interest manipulator is currently not supported in conjunction with USD prims.

- ID 586965 - USD's stitch method for stitching layers doesn't retain blocked attributes.

- ID 579376 -

  Currently, Pattern-Based Collections does not support the use of the include and exclude widgets in conjunction with the membershipExpression widget on the UsdCollection node. This is due to a known issue with USD 24.05. NOTE: More info can be found on the USD thread: https://forum.aousd.org/t/problems-with-pattern-based-collections/1197/7. Katana's Pattern-Based Collection widget computes collection membership using membership expressions, therefore it does not currently handle relationship-mode collections correctly (statement true for USD 24.05).

# System Requirements

## Officially Supported Operating Systems

- Windows 10 64-bit
- Windows 11
- Linux 64-bit operating system (Rocky Linux 9)

## Hardware Requirements

| Minimum | Recommended
--- | --- | ---
CPU | Dual-core processor
Storage | 2.5+ GB available for installation
System RAM | 1+ GB available
Graphics RAM | 1+ GB available | 2+ GB available
Display | 800 x 600 | 1920 x 1080
OpenGL | OpenGL 4.5+ (see note below)

Note: AMD-based graphics cards are currently not supported.

## Tested Workstation Hardware

The configurations listed below are those that Foundry have tested with Katana. Due to the constantly changing nature and wide variety of computer hardware available in the market, Foundry is unable to officially certify hardware. The list below can be used as a recommendation and does not guarantee that it meets your particular needs.

- NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000

- NVIDIA Quadro RTX A4000

- NVIDIA Quadro RTX A3000

- NVIDIA Quadro P4000

Please download and install the latest graphics driver from the NVIDIA website.

If you encounter any issues, please contact Customer Support directly through the Support Portal at the following address: https://support.foundry.com.