Work with ShaderFX nodes

Creating nodes

To...	Do this
Create a node.	Do one of the following: -click in the work area of the ShaderFX editor and select Hw Shader Nodes from the marking menu, then select from among the textures, lights, math nodes and so forth. Select from the Node Browser the node that you want to create, and drag and drop it into the work area. Use the search field to easily locate the node that you want. After you have created a node, you can connect it to your existing TraditionalGameSurfaceShader and Material nodes.
Create advanced mathematical and coding nodes.	-click in the work area of the ShaderFX editor and select Tools > Toggle Advanced Mode. Advanced Mode gives you additional nodes, such as Bool AND, If Else, and so forth. In Extension for Maya LT 2015, select Settings > Toggle Advanced Mode from the ShaderFX menu bar to enable advanced mode.

To...

Do this

Create a node.

Do one of the following:

-click in the work area of the ShaderFX editor and select Hw Shader Nodes from the marking menu, then select from among the textures, lights, math nodes and so forth.
Select from the Node Browser the node that you want to create, and drag and drop it into the work area. Use the search field to easily locate the node that you want.

After you have created a node, you can connect it to your existing TraditionalGameSurfaceShader and Material nodes.

Create advanced mathematical and coding nodes.

-click in the work area of the ShaderFX editor and select Tools > Toggle Advanced Mode.

Advanced Mode gives you additional nodes, such as Bool AND, If Else, and so forth.

In Extension for Maya LT 2015, select Settings > Toggle Advanced Mode from the ShaderFX menu bar to enable advanced mode.

Connecting nodes

To...	Do this
Connect nodes.	Drag to create connection lines between output and input attributes. The results of your shading graph automatically update in the ShaderFX editor and in the scene view.

To...

Do this

Connect nodes.

Drag to create connection lines between output and input attributes.

The results of your shading graph automatically update in the ShaderFX editor and in the scene view.

Selecting nodes

To...	Do this
Select a node and its upstream nodes.	+ + click.
Remove a node from the selection.	+ click.
Add a node to the selection.	+ click.

Deleting nodes

To...	Do this
Delete a node.	Select the node and press . Note: You cannot delete the Material node and TraditionalGameSurfaceShader nodes (created by default) unless you have toggled on advanced mode (-click and select Tools > Toggle Advanced Mode). In Extension for Maya LT 2015, select Settings > Toggle Advanced Mode from the ShaderFX menu bar to enable advanced mode. If you delete these nodes, your shader does not render in the scene view and you must create and connect a new material or surface shader to your node network before you can do so. You can set any group node to be deletable only in advanced mode by going into the group view, selecting the group node, and selecting Deletable only in Advanced mode in the Attribute Editor.

To...

Do this

Delete a node.

Select the node and press .

Note:

You cannot delete the Material node and TraditionalGameSurfaceShader nodes (created by default) unless you have toggled on advanced mode (-click and select Tools > Toggle Advanced Mode).

In Extension for Maya LT 2015, select Settings > Toggle Advanced Mode from the ShaderFX menu bar to enable advanced mode.

If you delete these nodes, your shader does not render in the scene view and you must create and connect a new material or surface shader to your node network before you can do so.

You can set any group node to be deletable only in advanced mode by going into the group view, selecting the group node, and selecting Deletable only in Advanced mode in the Attribute Editor.

Overwriting nodes

By default, you cannot overwrite nodes that are provided with Maya.

To do so, you must select Settings > Overwrite System Nodes.

Note: Overriding system nodes provided by Maya is not recommended.

Adjusting the properties of nodes

You can adjust the attributes of your graph nodes via the Attribute Editor. Alternatively, you can select Settings > Show Property Panel in the ShaderFX menu bar to display the properties within the ShaderFX editor, without the need for the Attribute Editor.

Saving preview swatches to textures

Select a node, then -click and select Tools > Save Selected Swatches to Files to bake your preview swatch to a 2kx2k texture. A tooltip appears in the ShaderFX editor, indicating the location to which your swatches are saved. You can also select multiple nodes at the same time and save their swatches simultaneously.

Select a node, then -click and select Tools > Save Selected Swatches to Images to bake your preview swatch to a 2kx2k texture. A tooltip appears in the ShaderFX editor, indicating the location to which your swatches are saved. You can also select multiple nodes at the same time and save their swatches simultaneously.

In addition, you can also bake the unwrapped UV's of your geometry to a texture. To do so, select the node, -click and select Tools > Save Selected Swatches to UV-unwrapped Image.

Hiding the Node Browser

The Node Browser is a convenient way to create nodes. However, if you want to increase the amount of available space in your work area for creating your shader graph, you can hide it by disabling Node Browser from the Settings menu. You can then create nodes by -clicking in the work area and creating your node from the marking menu.