What's New in API

Rendering

New interfaces for Maya 2014 include:

• MPxShadingNodeOverride and MPxSurfaceShadingNodeOverride - that enable plug-in software shading nodes to interact with other software shading nodes in Viewport 2.0, as well as interact with viewport effects such as shadows and transparency;
• MPxSubSceneOverride - that is specifically optimized for representing plug-in DAG nodes in Viewport 2.0 that need to produce a large number of independent drawable objects (such as the gpuCache plug-in DAG node).

In addition, Maya 2014 includes many enhancements to OpenMaya Render.

For more information, see the Maya API Documentation at http://www.autodesk.com/me-sdk-docs.

Scene Assembly

A new Scene Assembly system has been implemented in Maya as a plug-in using a new Scene Assembly API. The Scene Assembly API allows for development of custom Scene Assembly nodes with expanded capabilities, and can provide integration with existing content development pipeline processes and tools. For more information, see the MFnAssembly class in the Maya API Documentation.

Metadata

A new Metadata API along with a small set of commands support the definition and creation of an arbitrary number of metadata structures that can be attached to Maya nodes and the components (vertices, faces, and edges, and vertex faces) of Maya mesh objects. The metadata created can flow through certain operations in the Maya DG, maintaining its attachment to the node. The metadata can later be examined or modified by certain Maya commands or through the API, and is preserved in Maya files across sessions.