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File textures allow you to use any image file as a texture map. The image file can be any of the image file types supported by Maya.

File Texture can also use a numbered sequence of images, allowing you to use an animation as a texture map. To do this:

Some tips for using File Textures:

Aside from the attribute described here, File Texture inherits many other attributes from its parent, Texture 2d.

In the table below, important attributes have their names listed in bold in the description column.

This node is MP safe

Node nameParentsClassificationMFn typeCompatible function sets
filetexture2dtexture/2d:drawdb/shader/texture/2d/filekFileTexturekBase
kNamedObject
kDependencyNode
kTexture2d
kFileTexture

Related nodes

layeredTexture, envCube, envSphere, envSky, envBall, envChrome, bump3d, uvChooser, bump2d, texture2d, ramp, cloth, water, stencil, checker, fractal, bulge, grid, mountain, texture3d, projection, cloud, granite, crater, leather, stucco, brownian, solidFractal, marble, wood, rock, snow, defaultTextureList, place2dTexture, place3dTexture

Attributes (79)

The following quick index only shows top-level attributes (too many attributes to show them all): blurPixelation, byCycleIncrement, colorProfile, coverage (2), disableFileLoad, doTransform, endCycleExtension, fileHasAlpha, fileTextureName, filterType, filterWidth, forceSwatchGen, frameExtension, frameOffset, hdrExposure, hdrMapping, infoBits, mirrorU, mirrorV, noiseUV (2), objectType, offset (2), outSize (2), outTransparency (3), pixelCenter (2), preFilter, preFilterRadius, primitiveId, rayDepth, repeatUV (2), rotateFrame, rotateUV, stagger, startCycleExtension, translateFrame (2), useCache, useFrameExtension, useHardwareTextureCycling, useMaximumRes, vertexCameraOne (3), vertexCameraThree (3), vertexCameraTwo (3), vertexUvOne (2), vertexUvThree (2), vertexUvTwo (2), wrapU, wrapV

Long name (short name)TypeDefaultFlags
fileTextureName (ftn) stringNULLoutputinputconnectablestorable
File Texture Name is the name of an image file. The image in this file will be used as the texture.

If you want to use a numbered sequence of image files in your texture (i.e., animate your texture, set this to the name of the first image in the sequence.

disableFileLoad (dfl) boolfalseoutputinputconnectablestorable
If set, then the texture file will not be loaded into the node. Instead a flat, grey color will be output in place of the image.
useFrameExtension (ufe) boolfalseoutputinputconnectablestorable
When Use Frame Extension is on, the frame number in the file name will be replaced with the number specified in the Frame Extension attribute. Use this when you want to animate the texture. (See notes in the description section above.)
frameExtension (fe) integer1outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Frame Extension replaces the frame extension number in the file name (if there is one). This attribute is only meaningful if Use FrameExtension is turned on.

Keyframe this attribute when you want to use a sequence of files as a file texture. (See notes in the description section above.)

frameOffset (io) integer0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Specifies an offset of the keyed Frame Extension value. This attribute is only meaningful if Use FrameExtension is turned on.
useHardwareTextureCycling (uhc) boolfalseoutputinputconnectablestorable
Use Hardware Texture Cycling. Turn this on to get better performance when:
  • You are using a sequence of frames for the file textures. (See the Use Frame Extension attribute above).
  • You are using Harware texturing in the 3d view.
  • You need to "scrub" along the time line, and see the the animated texture update as you do so.

When Use Hardware Texture Cycling is turned on, you are forcing Maya to load all (or a subset of) the texture file sequence into memory. This uses up memory, but significantly improves the update speed. Use the attributes below to indicate which frames you want loaded in. If you do not load them all in, at playback time Maya will use the closest frame available.

The Hardware Texture Cycling attributes have no effect on the look of your final rendered image. They are only used to speed up what you see interactively.

startCycleExtension (sce) integer1outputinputconnectablestorable
Start Cycle Extension is the number of the first frame you want loaded into memory when Use Hardware Texture Cycling is turned on. (See above).
endCycleExtension (ece) integer1outputinputconnectablestorable
End Cycle Extension is the number of the last frame you want loaded into memory when Use Hardware Texture Cycling is turned on. (See above).
byCycleIncrement (bci) integer1outputinputconnectablestorable
By Cycle Increment controls which frames will be loaded into memory when Use Hardware Texture Cycling is turned on. If it is 1, then every frame between Start Cycle Extension and End Cycle Extension will be loaded in. If this is 2, every second frame will be loaded in. If this is 3, every third frame, etc.

During playback or scrubbing, the system will use whichever loaded frame is the closest to what is needed.

forceSwatchGen (fsg) boolfalseoutputinputconnectablehidden
Force swatch generation despite image size
filterType (ft) enumQUADRATIC_FILTERoutputinputstorable
Filter Type determines what kind of filter Maya will use when applying the file texture. Each kind of filter has slightly different properties and costs in performance.

    No Filter means just that. No filter is applied to the file texture. This is the fastest in terms of rendering, but will usually produce substandard results. Using this will probably result in aliasing artifacts (jaggies).

    Mip Map filtering is the best choice for all-round general use. Its cost is negligible compared to the other filter types, and it generally does a good job. Internally, the renderer stores a 'pyramid' of versions of the texture, each a different resolutions, and as it renders it chooses the best ones for calculation.

    Box filtering works by placing a 'box' over the the area of the texture map to be sampled, and averaging out all the samples within the box. Do not use this filter type if the file texture is to be used as a 2d projection or bump map, as it will not work properly.

    Quadratic and Quartic filters give a somewhat better quality of filtering. Like the Box filter, they sample an area of the texture, but they give more weight to samples closer to the center of the area.

    These filters approximate the quality of Gaussian, but are optimized to be faster. However, if you use these filter types, textures may "swim" or appear blurry. Do not use these filter type if the file texture is to be used as a 2d projection or bump map, as they will not work properly.

    Gaussian filtering is slower, but gives the best quality. Use this for high-quality rendering with very sharp results.

filterWidth (fw) float0.707outputinputstorable
Width of filter It is recommend not to change this value.
preFilter (pf) boolfalseoutputinputconnectablestorable
Flag to active/deactivate the pre filtering feature
preFilterRadius (pfr) float2.0foutputinputconnectablestorable
Filter radius for the file texture pre filtering
useCache (uca) boolfalseoutputinputstorable
Use Cache is provided for situations when memory is low. If you turn this on, rendering this file texture will use less memory, but it will also be slower.
useMaximumRes (umr) boolfalseoutputinputstorable
Use Maximum Res is only meaningful if your filter type is set to MipMap. If you turn this on, it forces the MipMap to always use the highest-resolution version of the texture.
coverage (c) float21.0, 1.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The UV coverage
coverageU (cu) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The U coverage
coverageV (cv) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The V coverage
translateFrame (tf) float20.0, 0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The translation of the texture frame along UV axes
translateFrameU (tfu) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The translation of the texture frame along U
translateFrameV (tfv) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The translation of the texture frame along V
rotateFrame (rf) angle (double)0.0degoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The rotation angle for the texture frame
doTransform (dtf) booltrueoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
false iff we never have to do any texture transformation
mirrorU (mu) boolfalseoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The u mirror flag
mirrorV (mv) boolfalseoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The v mirror flag
stagger (s) boolfalseoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The stagger flag
wrapU (wu) booltrueoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The wrapU flag
wrapV (wv) booltrueoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The wrapV flag
repeatUV (re) float21.0, 1.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
How many times the texture is repeated along U and along V
repeatU (reu) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The repeat value for U
repeatV (rev) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The repeat value for V
offset (of) float20.0, 0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The offset in UV, to set the origin inside the texture.
offsetU (ofu) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
U offset
offsetV (ofv) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
V offset
rotateUV (ro) angle (double)0.0degoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The rotation for the texture space.
noiseUV (n) float20.0, 0.0outputinputconnectablestorable
The 2D noise for U and V
noiseU (nu) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorable
The U noise
noiseV (nv) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorable
The V noise
blurPixelation (blp) booltrueoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
controls the level of fuzziness vs. pixelated results
vertexCameraOne (vc1) float3outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Triangle s first vertex, in camera space
vertexCameraOneX (c1x) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
X component of aVertexCameraOne
vertexCameraOneY (c1y) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Y component of aVertexCameraOne
vertexCameraOneZ (c1z) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Z component of aVertexCameraOne
vertexCameraTwo (vc2) float3outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Triangle s second vertex, in camera space
vertexCameraTwoX (c2x) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
X component of aVertexCameraTwo
vertexCameraTwoY (c2y) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Y component of aVertexCameraTwo
vertexCameraTwoZ (c2z) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Z component of aVertexCameraTwo
vertexCameraThree (vc3) float3outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Triangle s third vertex, in camera space
vertexCameraThreeX (c3x) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
X component of aVertexCameraThree
vertexCameraThreeY (c3y) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Y component of aVertexCameraThree
vertexCameraThreeZ (c3z) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Z component of aVertexCameraThree
vertexUvOne (vt1) float2outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Triangle s first vertex, in texture space
vertexUvOneU (t1u) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
X component of aVertexUvOne
vertexUvOneV (t1v) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Y component of aVertexUvOne
vertexUvTwo (vt2) float2outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Triangle s first vertex, in texture space
vertexUvTwoU (t2u) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
X component of aVertexUvTwo
vertexUvTwoV (t2v) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Y component of aVertexUvTwo
vertexUvThree (vt3) float2outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Triangle s first vertex, in texture space
vertexUvThreeU (t3u) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
X component of aVertexUvThree
vertexUvThreeV (t3v) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Y component of aVertexUvThree
objectType (otp) char'\0'outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
We only care if this flag is TrenderableObjectType::kSurface
rayDepth (rdp) integer0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
depth of ray intersection object to be textured
primitiveId (pi) integer0inputconnectablehidden
Id of triangle to be textured
pixelCenter (pct) float2outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
centre of pixel
pixelCenterX (pcx) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
X component of aPixelCenter
pixelCenterY (pcy) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablehidden
Y component of aPixelCenter
hdrMapping (hm) enumHDR_LINEAR_MAPPINGoutputinputstorable
The mapping used to convert a floating point image into a fixed point image. The current options are to either : clamp floating point values to be between 0.0 and 1.0, rescale the image linearly to the 0.0 to 1.0 range, or to rescale the image logarithmically to the 0.0 to 1.0 range. The default setting is to perform linear remapping.
hdrExposure (he) float0.0outputinputstorable
Exposure control setting for exponential exposure setting. Numbers less than 0 will darken the image, while numbers greater than 0 will brighen the image. The default value is 0, or no exposure mapping.
outSize (os) float2outputconnectable
The size of the file texture
outSizeX (osx) float0.0outputconnectable
The width of the file texture
outSizeY (osy) float0.0outputconnectable
The height of the file texture
fileHasAlpha (fha) boolfalseoutputconnectablehidden
Is set to true if the file on disk has an alpha channel for which one or more pixels have alpha != 1, false otherwise.
outTransparency (ot) float30.0, 0.0, 0.0outputconnectable
Out Transparency is the transparency computed by this texture. Each channel of Out Transparency (R, G, B) is 1 - outAlpha. Connect this value to a transparency attribute of a shader to texture map that color.
outTransparencyR (otr) float0.0outputconnectable
Out Transparency red value.
outTransparencyG (otg) float0.0outputconnectable
Out Transparency green value.
outTransparencyB (otb) float0.0outputconnectable
Out Transparency blue value.
infoBits (ib) integer0outputinputconnectablehidden
Information bits passing along information about type of shading
colorProfile (cp) integer0outputinputconnectablestorable
The color profile associated with this file texture, if any.