[Openexr-devel] Proposal for storing ID manifests in OpenEXR headers

[Peter Hillman]

Hi all,

As Deke mentioned earlier, At Siggraph I presented a proposal for an OpenEXR attribute to store ID manifests (i.e. a table that maps between text string names of entities and the numerical values encoded in the EXR image) Attached is an updated draft giving more details of this proposal. There are a few modifications from the earlier draft following suggestions from those attending Siggraph: many thanks to all those who commented.

This is not a proposed complete single standard for storing IDs within OpenEXRs. There are reasons to choose one storage scheme over another depending on circumstances, suggesting that it is worthwhile to support different encoding schemes. The requirement for an ID manifest is a common requirement amongst those schemes. This document merely defines a standard attribute for encoding the manifest and for allowing it to be compressed. This should allow for a standard set of tools for reading, writing and examining the attribute.

The intention is that I will implement this attribute in the next few months - certainly before the end of the year.  Feel free to comment on the standard before then!

Peter

exrid_proposal.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document