Softimage-Maya Bridge: Rendering

The following table lists the Maya equivalents for terms and workflows related to rendering in Softimage.

In Softimage	...becomes in Maya
Render Tree: 7 Material Manager: Alt + 7	Windows > Rendering Editors > Hypershade The Hypershade allows you to build shading networks by creating, editing, and connecting rendering nodes, such as textures, materials, lights, rendering utilities, and special effects. See Hypershade window for more information. See also About ShaderFX for information on how to create hardware shaders using ShaderFX.
Click + drag in the Render Tree to connect nodes	Middle-click + drag in the Hypershade window to connect nodes.
Render passes, partitions, and overrides	For Maya 2016 Extension 2: The new render setup system in Maya 2016 Extension 2 provides a workflow of creating render layers, collections, and overrides that is similar to that in Softimage. See Render setup in Maya for more information. For Maya 2016 and Maya 2016 Extension 1: Render layers are the equivalent of render passes and partitions in Softimage. Overrides are applied per object, not to the partition. For example, to create a shader override: Select Windows > Rendering Editors > Render Layer Editor to open the Render Layer Editor. Create a render layer and add to it the object for which you want to create the override. Select your render layer, then your object, and create the override via the Attribute Editor; or, apply a different shader to the object. To remove the override, you must select the object again and re-assign its material; or, remove the override from the Attribute Editor. If you are using the mental ray renderer, you can also use render pass contribution maps to create a subset of objects or lights in your scene.
Render region (Q)	Click to open the Render View window. Click , then draw a region in the Render View window, then click . Tip: If your renderer supports interactive rendering, you can also use the IPR functionality. IPR follows your current Render Settings. See Render View and About Interactive Photorealistic Rendering (IPR) for more information.
Render > Preview	Click to open the Render View window. The Maya Render View provides functionality that is not available in Softimage; for example, exposure controls, the ability to keep images within the Render View so that you can scrub through them and compare, and loading render passes (File > Load Render Pass). See Render View for more information on these functionalities.
Rotoscopy	Image planes Create an image plane via a camera's Attribute Editor; or, select Create > Free Image Plane. See Image planes. Note: Watch this video to learn how to create image planes for rotoscopy: Softimage to Maya Bridge: Creating Image Planes for Rotoscopy
Image node	File node
Gradient shader	Ramp Shader Note: Create shading or render nodes via the Hypershade window.
Constant shader	Surface Shader
Mix node	Blend Colors
Stand-in	Render proxy
Hue Offset (Overlay) blending mode	Do either of the following: Combine normal maps by blending or adding the output of separate bump2D nodes prior to connecting the resulting output into the normalCamera input on the shader. Use the plusMinusAverage node to combine the output of the bump2D nodes, and then use a Clamp node to clamp values greater than 1 (clamp to -1,1). Tip: Use the Windows > General Editors > Connection Editor or Windows > Node Editor to connect your nodes. If connecting bump maps to mia_material, use mia_material_x_passes and connect your bump maps to the Standard Bump attribute (instead of the Overall Bump attribute).