Samples Visor

To open the Samples Visor

• In main menu bar: Editors > General Editors > Samples Visor
• In scene view: Panels > Panel > Samples Visor

The Samples Visor displays textures, images, and shading nodes in the project directory.

Samples Visor tabs contain a collection of items in the scene, or directories and files on disk. You can customize the way you view files, and create and customize tabs.

You can also -drag items from the Samples Visor into Hypershade to create a new node, or onto a swatch in Hypershade to connect nodes.

To view an image

1. Double-click an image file in the images directory to view the image in fcheck.

To create a new tab

1. Select Tabs > Create New Tab.
2. Enter a new tab name.
3. Select a Tab Type and specify the corresponding options.
4. Click Create.

Menus

File menu

Import

Opens the Import dialog box so you can select a Maya scene file (such as a file containing a shader) to import into Maya.

Import Selected Scene Files

Reads information from another file and loads it into the current file.

Import Selected Image Files

Select an item from the pull-out menu to select how to import image files. Include Placement is on by default.

As Normal

For normal textures, Maya applies a texture map according to the geometry characteristics—textures are placed onto polygons based on UV information or placed onto NURBS surfaces based on parametrized information.

As Projection

To create projection textures, Maya applies a texture map to the surface of a 3D object by projecting a 2D texture into 3D space—in other words, Maya projects the texture maps independently of the geometry characteristics.

Tip:

For textures created with As Projection turned on, you need to explicitly connect the texture to the bump so the texture is visible in the bump map.

As Stencil

Lets you place an image file or texture on a surface and manipulate its placement and size to look like a label. You can use masking techniques to hide unwanted parts of the image.

Include Placement

When on, Maya automatically creates a texture placement node when you create a texture render node. The default setting is on.

Export Selected Network

Exports the selected item into a new file. The file browser opens to its best guess directory, but can browse to any directory, or cancel, before exporting.

View menu

Frame Selected

Frames only the selected nodes in the current Samples Visor layout.

Frame All

Frames all the nodes displayed in the current Samples Visor layout.

Tabs menu

Create New Tab

Opens the Create New Tab options, which include the following:

Tab type

Select which type of tab you want to create:

• Scene - Displays a collection of nodes in the current scene.
• Disk - Displays files on disk, such as a texture library.

Show Nodes Which Are

For Scene tabs, select to display only certain nodes types within a specified tab.

Root Directory

For Disk tabs, either type the path name if you know it, or click the folder icon to browse through directories to select the directory where the items are stored.

Only Show Files (Hide Directory Tree)

For Disk tabs, turn this on or off to hide or show the directory tree. This is especially helpful if you find you routinely work with files located in one specific directory. You can switch between viewing directory folders or just the files within that directory.

Move Tab Left/Right

Select a tab then select one of these options to re-arrange the tabs.

Rename Tab

Select a tab then select this option to rename it.

Remove Tab

Select a tab then select this option to remove it.

Revert to Default Tabs

Removes new tabs and reverts to the default organization.

Current Tab Options

Select a tab, then select one of these options to control the display: Show Directories Only, Show Files Only, Show Both, Refresh File Listing.