Within HyperShade

Within Slim

References
- a required shader called plastic.slo and
- an optional file called plastic.slim.

References
- a file called shadingmodels.slim

What is plastic.slo?
- based on a source code file called plastic.sl
- its a pre-compiled RenderMan shader
- contains info only prman can understood
- static (predefined functionality)
- its parameters can be set only by
    explicit values, or
    expressions

What is plastic.slim?
- a plain text file known as a slim appearance
- defines the GUI for the editor
  (the calculations are done by the shader)

If the optional slim appearance file is missing Slim defines a bare-bones editor for the shader - it may lack some useful features needed by an artist.

What is shadingmodels.slim?
- not compiled
- a plain text file known as a slim template
- contains info humans can understand about
    what its editor should look like (GUI), and
    how it should calculate its output values
- dynamic (can be extended via connections)
- its parameters can be set by
    explicit values,
    expressions, or
    connections to other slim files.

Slim generates, on-the-fly, a temporary .sl file that incorporates the functionality in shadingmodels.slim and the other slim files to which it may be connected. The temporary .sl file is compiled into a RenderMan shader by Slim when the preview icon is updated (clicked).