Building MoonRay on macOS

Start with reading the general build instructions.

Base Requirements

  • Apple M-series hardware
  • macOS Sonoma (macOS 14, but also tested with macOS 15.1 Sequoia)
  • Install Xcode (tested with 15.2 and 16.1)
  • Download and install CMake 3.26.5 (or greater): https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/v3.26.5/cmake-3.26.5-macos-universal.dmg 
      sudo "/Applications/CMake.app/Contents/bin/cmake-gui" --install

Step 1. Create the folders

Create a clean root folder for moonray. Attempting to build atop a previous installation may cause issues.

mkdir -p /Applications/MoonRay/{installs,build,build-deps,source}
mkdir -p /Applications/MoonRay/installs/{bin,lib,include}

Step 2. Check out the OpenMoonRay source

cd /Applications/MoonRay/source
git clone --recurse-submodules <repository>

cd /Applications/MoonRay
ln -s source/openmoonray/building .
ln -s source/openmoonray .

Note: If building for Houdini, you’ll potentially need to make the following changes before proceeding:

  • Edit source/openmoonray/CMakeMacOSPresets.json to update HOUDINI_INSTALL_DIR
  • Edit source/openmoonray/scripts/macOS/setupHoudini.sh to update HOUDINI_PATH
  • Edit source/openmoonray/building/macOS/pxr-houdini/pxrTargets.cmake to update HPYTHONLIB and HPYTHONINC if needed

Step 4. Build the dependencies

Note: If building for Houdini you’ll need to build moonray against Houdini’s USD libraries. You’ll want to skip building USD during this step by adding -DNOUSD=1 to the first cmake command below: cmake -DNO_USD=1 ../building/macOS. You should clean the build-deps/ and installs/ directory if you have previously installed the dependencies without passing -DNOUSD=1, to remove any USD related files or step 5 may fail to link to Houdini’s USD libs.

cd /Applications/MoonRay/build-deps
cmake ../building/macOS
cmake --build .

Step 5. Build MoonRay

Note: If building for Houdini, replace macos-release presets below with macos-houdini-release

cd /Applications/MoonRay/openmoonray
cmake --preset macos-release
cmake --build --preset macos-release

Step 6. Run/Test

source /Applications/MoonRay/installs/openmoonray/scripts/setup.sh
cd /Applications/MoonRay/openmoonray/testdata
moonray_gui -exec_mode xpu -info -in curves.rdla

HOUDINI: Open “Houdini Terminal” in Applications and run:

source /Applications/MoonRay/openmoonray/scripts/macOS/setupHoudini.sh
houdini

In the Main menu bar at top select Desktop->Solaris. In the Scene View tab on the main window, change from “obj” to “stage” if it is not already set to “stage”. Click in the Solaris network editor, hit tab, type “sphere” and hit enter and then click to place a sphere on the stage. In the viewport, click on “Persp” and select “Moonray”, this should trigger rendering.

Step 7. Post-build/install Cleanup

rm -rf /Applications/MoonRay/{build,build-deps}