DirectX 11 Shader

Gamma correction

If you enable Gamma Correction under the Render Settings > Maya Hardware 2.0 tab and enable Linear Space Lighting under the dx11Shader Attribute Editor, gamma is only applied once and your shading renders correctly.

You can use the semantic MayaGammaCorrection to query if gamma is enabled in the viewport.

Using the _MAYA_ macro

If you share your HLSL files with other applications but need to include Maya specific code, you can wrap your HLSL code in the _MAYA_ macro, similar to the example below:

#ifdef _MAYA_
    float2 UV = float2(U, 1.0-V);
#endif

Shader

Shader File

Navigate to your shader file to assign it to your DirectX11 Shader.

The DirectX 11 Shader searches for the .fx files in the following locations and in the following order:

• `workspace -q -rd`
• `workspace -q -rd` + "/renderData/shaders"
• `workspace -fre shaders`
• `getenv("DX11SHADER_ROOT")`
• `getenv("DX11SHADER_ROOT")` + "/shaders"
• ${MAYA_LOCATION}/presets/HLSL11/examples

The ` denotes executing either a MEL or C function to obtain the required value.

NoteThe AutodeskUberShader.fxo file, as well as other sample HLSL11 shaders, are provided in <maya directory>\presets\HLSL11\examples\.

Click to reload your .fx file and to edit it in your default text editor.

Technique

These options provide different shading methods within the same shading material.

NoteThe following lists the different techniques for the AutodeskUberShader. Different shaders have different techniques to achieve a variety of effects.

TipYou can change the technique for multiple dx11Shaders in one step by using the Channel Box, or by setting the Technique value in the Attribute Spread Sheet. Use integers to set the Technique values in the Attribute Spread Sheet. TessellationOFF = 0, TessellationON = 1, and WireFrame =2. This shortcut is only applicable to changing multiple instances of the same fx shader.

• TessellationOFF: This is the default option and simply displays the mesh in the workspace without any tessellation.

• TessellationON: This option uses shading level tessellation to provide a smoother model without the need for extra geometry.

• WireFrame: This option provides a wireframe version of the tessellated mesh so that you can review the tessellation of the TessellationON feature.

Light Binding

Light0 / Light 1 / Light 2

If you select the Automatic Bind option, Maya automatically assigns the lights in the scene to the shader. If there are less than three lights in your scene, then light 1 and/or light 2 are left unbound until a new light is created. If this option is selected, Maya indicates the light that is bound for each of Light0 / Light 1 / Light 2.

Use the navigation icon to access the connected light shape Attribute Editor.

You can also select Use Shader Settings to refrain from binding a light. This way, you can tweak the light properties via the Light 0 / Light 1 / Light 2 attributes in the DirectX 11 Shader Attribute Editor.

You can also manually bind your lights. Select, from the drop-down list, the lights from the scene that you want to bind the shader to.

Currently, the AutodeskUberShader supports 3 point lights, spot lights, ambient lights or directional lights.

ImportantAfter binding a light, you cannot change its parameters in the dx11Shader Attribute Editor. Instead, you must make changes from the light Attribute Editor.

NoteWhen the DirectX 11 Shader is loaded, Maya automatically binds the lights that are set to Automatic Bind. All parameters sharing the same Object attribute are considered to define one light. If a specific light keyword, that is, ambient/point/spot/directional, is found in the Object attribute string, then Maya connects the first light of this type found in the scene. Once this is done, any unconnected lights are connected to remaining scene lights based on position/direction parameter compatibility.

Tip

If you select Automatic Bind under Light Binding, and you have more than one ambient light in your scene, then all ambient lights in your scene are merged as one for viewport rendering, and only one of Light 0/Light 1/Light 2 indicates Ambient as a result.

If you manually bind the ambient lights, then each of the manually bound individual lights are specified under Light 0/Light 1/Light 2.

Parameters

UV

You can bind a UV set to each of your texture maps. To do so, you must first bind the UV set to the DirectX 11 Shader. You can bind up to 3 UV sets under the Surface Data section. Map your UV set to each of TexCoord 0/1/2 where applicable. You can then use this drop-down list to select the texture co-ordinates (in other words, UV set) that you want to map each texture map to. See Assigning a UV set to a texture map connected to the DX11 AutodeskUberShader for more information.

Surface Data

This section specifies the channels of the geometry, such as normals and tangents, that are passed into the shader. for the available options.

By default, TexCoord0 is mapped to UV set map1 and TexCoord1 is mapped to map2 and so forth. If you use UV sets with different names, you can bind them to the shader by specifying them in the TexCoord0/1/2 fields. Use uv: in front of your UV set name. For more information, see Assigning a UV set to a texture map connected to the DX11 AutodeskUberShader.

Default Texture Data

Use these options to select the default texture displayed in the UV Texture Editor when a UV set is selected. For example, if UV map1 is mapped to TexCoord0, and TexCoord0 is mapped to Diffuse Map, then when you select UV map1 in the UV Texture Editor, the Diffuse Map texture is displayed.

Supported image formats

The following image formats are supported by the DX11 shader in Viewport 2.0:

• Bmp
• Cals
• DDS

  For DX11: See the June 2010 version of the Microsoft DirectX SDK documentation for list of supported formats.

  NoteAn error message may appear when loading certain .dds files, as the Maya software renderer cannot render the swatch. However, the formats listed in the DirectX SDK documentation mentioned above render in DX11 mode in Maya.
• Exr

  The File texture node maps floating point values to values between 0-1 for its swatch display and DG evaluation. However, Viewport 2.0 may directly support floating point values without tone mapping. For .exr and .dds files connected to File texture nodes that are mapped to the attributes of the DirectX 11 Shader, floating point bit depth is supported in the viewport.

• Flic
• Gif
• HDR
• Ig4
• Jfif
• Pcx
• Pict
• Png
• PSD
• Rlc
• Spot
• Targa
• TIF

  Only fixed point bit depth is supported for tif files. Use exr files instead for floating point displacement maps.

• Any other image formats not listed above are read as fixed point bit depth in the DirectX 11 Shader node.