Batch or interactive render your render layers

Batch render

Click on each render layer to set it as renderable. denotes that the layer is renderable while denotes that the layer is not renderable.

Upon batch rendering, a separate folder is created for each render layer that is set as renderable. In addition, a masterLayer folder is also created. Render layers not set as renderable are not rendered.

For example, if two of your render layers are set as renderable, and one is called character, and the other called room, then after batch rendering, three folders are created in your image output directory as follows:

• masterLayer, containing the rendered image of your scene layer
• character, containing the rendered image of the character layer
• room, containing the rendered image of the room layer

The icon alone denotes whether a layer is rendered during the batch rendering process. Whether a layer is set to visible or not is irrelevant to the output of batch rendering. See Interactive render below for more information.

Note: You can use the File name prefix attribute in the Render Settings window, Common tab to name your images. If you include the <RenderLayer> token in this field, your rendered images are not saved to individual folders. Instead, a list of images are produced, and the render layer name is added to the name of each output image.

Set multiple layers to be renderable

You can simultaneously set multiple layers to be batch renderable by selecting the layers and clicking . Clicking the icon in the state toggles it on and sets all selected layers to renderable, while clicking the icon in the state toggles it off and sets all selected layers to non-renderable. For more clarity, mouse over the icon after selecting the layers, and a tooltip appears, indicating the state to which you are setting the layers.

You must select the layer itself to change its renderable state. You cannot select only its collections or overrides.

In this example, clicking sets the Cone and Cube layers to be renderable. The Cylinder layer remains non-renderable as only its collection is selected, and not the layer itself.

Render Setup and legacy render layers

You can batch render scene files with either render setup or legacy render layers without having to switch the Preferred Render Setup System in your Maya preferences. Note that this feature is not available for mayapy.exe. For more information about the two systems, see Render setup versus legacy render layers.

Interactive render

Only the currently visible render layer, denoted by the icon, is rendered into the Render View via interactive rendering. This is true regardless of whether the layer is set to renderable via the icon. This render result is saved into the /tmp folder of your image output directory.

In this example, the masterLayer, Character and Room layers are rendered during batch render as they are denoted as renderable by the icon.

Only the Furniture layer is rendered during interactive rendering as it is set to visible. This is true even though the layer is set to non-renderable for batch rendering.