Save textures

Save your texture at any time while you work by saving the scene or clicking the Save Textures button in the File Textures section of the Tool Settings editor.

When Maya creates the textures, it names the new textures based on the current scene, shape, and attribute names, and places them in a subdirectory of the current project’s 3dPaintTextures directory.

Example

Scene name: myPaintScene

Shape names: ballShape, planeShape

Attributes: color, transparency

Resulting texture names:

projectdirectory\3dPaintTextures\myPaintScene\ballShape_color.iff projectdirectory\3dPaintTextures\myPaintScene\ballShape_transparency.iff projectdirectory\3dPaintTextures\myPaintScene\planeShape_color.iff projectdirectory\3dPaintTextures\myPaintScene\planeShape_transparency.iff

.iff is the default file format.

Note

A bump map attribute displays as normalCamera in the scene name.
If the original textures were not a power of 2 in each dimension (such as 512 x 512, 256 x 128), Maya resizes the copies to the nearest power of 2. This makes the 3D Paint Tool more efficient.
If you change the shape or scene name, for example by renaming a surface, or by saving the scene as a new name, the next time you enter the 3D Paint Tool, the textures are copied to the new name.

You can define how Maya saves files textures created with the 3D Paint Tool when you save a scene. Before saving, select from the following options in the Save Scene As Options window (File > Save Scene As > ).

Copy Texture Maps on Save Scene As

Select from one of the following options.

Always: Saves different versions of the file textures when you save different versions of a scene. Use this setting if you are working on different iterations or versions of the file texture.
Unless Referenced: Saves file textures only if the painted character is not referenced. When this option is selected, Maya uses the file textures from the referenced file, even if you save the scene with a new name. If the character is not referenced and you save a copy of the scene with this option selected, Maya creates a copy of the file textures.
Never: Does not save a new file texture. Use this setting if you are no longer changing the file textures and want to continue to use the saved file textures, even if you save the scene with a new name. This prevents multiple copies of the textures from accumulating.

Update and save textures automatically after each stroke

You can update the texture automatically after each stroke, and you can save it automatically after each stroke.

You can update the texture automatically after each stroke by turning on the Update on Stroke option in the File Textures section of the Tool Settings editor. Turn this option on when IPR rendering. As you release the mouse (or stylus) at the end of each stroke, the texture updates and the IPR render refreshes to reflect your changes. When this option is on, you must save your scene for the updates to the file texture to be saved permanently.

NoteYou cannot erase with Update on Stroke turned on.

You can use the 3D Paint Tool while High Quality Rendering is turned on; this enables you to preview attributes such as bump and transparency while painting them, however you cannot see the stroke itself while it is being painted, since the texture is updated only at the end of each stroke.

To save each stroke to the file texture you are editing, turn on Save Texture on Stroke. The changes remain even if you do not save the scene. When this option is off (the default), you must save your scene for changes to the file texture to take effect.