Export and import Render Settings as a preset

Export your Render Settings as a preset in the form of a .json file, and import this file to reuse the same settings the next time you render. Access these options via the Render Settings window or the Render Setup editor.

Note: The items in the Presets menu of the Render Settings window were renamed in Maya 2018.4 Update. See Presets menu renamed below for more information.

To export a preset

You can export Render Settings in one of four ways:

Select Presets > Export Render Settings from the Render Settings window.
Click in the Scene > Render Settings section of the Render Setup editor, then select Export Current.
Select File > Export Scene Render Settings from the Render Setup editor menu.
Select File > Export Visible Layer Render Settings from the Render Setup editor menu.

By default, your preset .json files are saved to the user presets location; that is, <Documents>\maya\Presets. See Global presets and user presets below for more information.

To import a preset

You can do this in one of three ways:

Select File > Import Scene Render Settings from the Render Setup editor menu.
The import window defaults to the user presets location; that is <Documents>\maya\Presets.
Select Presets > Import Render Settings in the Render Settings window.
Click in the Scene > Render Settings section of the Render Setup editor.

Presets are specific to a renderer; therefore, only presets set to your current renderer appear in these menus.

Set a default preset

Select Presets > Set Preferred Render Settings in the Render Settings window to select a preset to be automatically loaded next time you create a new scene.

Presets are specific to a renderer; therefore, only the preferred preset that is set to your current renderer is loaded when you create a new scene.

Delete a preset

You can delete user presets by selecting Presets > Delete User Render Settings in the Render Settings window. Global presets cannot be deleted from this editor.

Presets menu renamed

The items in the Presets menu of the Render Settings window have been renamed in Maya 2018.4 Update.

Previously	Now
Save Settings as Preset	Export Render Settings
Load Preset	Import Render Settings
Delete User Preset	Delete User Render Settings
Set Preferred Preset	Set Preferred Render Settings

Global presets and user presets

You can save presets to a globally accessible network location so that they can be shared among users, or to a local folder that only you will access.

When you import a preset from the Render Settings > Presets menu or from the Render Setup editor menu, both global presets and user presets are listed via separate right-click menus.

Location of preset files

You can set the location for your global presets by setting the environment variable MAYA_RENDER_SETUP_GLOBAL_PRESETS_PATH. Upon startup, Maya automatically searches for global presets in this folder. You can modify this path via the Preferences window. This way, you do not need to restart Maya to modify this path.

Set the location for global and user presets in the Preferences window (Windows > Settings/Preferences > Preferences > Rendering).

Tip:

You can change the location of your presets from within the Render Setup editor by selecting Preferences > Rendering Preferences.

You can also set your preset location using the following option variables:

Global presets: renderSetup_globalPresetsDirectory
User presets: renderSetup_userPresetsDirectory

By default, this is set to <Documents>\maya\Presets.

To query either of these directories, do as follows:

optionVar -q "renderSetup_userPresetsDirectory";

To change the directory, replace the value of the option variable as follows:

optionVar -sv "renderSetup_userPresetsDirectory" "C:\myUserPresets";

Maya automatically searches for available presets in these directories.