Realtime Shaders in the Render Tree
 
 
 

Realtime shaders are designed to take full advantage of the render tree. In fact, the render tree is the only place where you can connect realtime shaders to one another. For more information about working in the render tree, see The Render Tree and Connecting to Collapsed Nodes, Port Groups, and Texture Layers [Materials and Shaders].

In most ways, realtime shaders behave like any other shader in the render tree. However, there are some important differences that you should keep in mind when building realtime shader trees:

Realtime Shaders vs. Mental Ray Shaders

Realtime shaders and mental ray shaders are not compatible with one another. They do, however, coexist peacefully when applied to the same object.

Here are some things to remember when using realtime shaders and mental ray shaders in the same scene:

  • The realtime shader tree plugs into the material node's realtime input, while the mental ray shader tree can use any of the other material node ports.

  • Image Clip nodes can be shared between both types of shader when they use the same images.

  • You cannot use the Modify Shader command to edit realtime shaders. This command only calls shaders attached to the material's Surface input.

  • Realtime effects are visible in any viewport that is set to a Realtime Shaders display mode. mental ray shaders are visible in any viewports that are set to Shaded, Textured, or Textured Decal mode, as well as in the render region.

  • Drawing a render region in any viewport set to Realtime Shaders display mode renders the mental ray shaders' output.

  • In Realtime Shaders display mode, any objects that are not using realtime shaders are displayed as they would be in a Textured display mode.