Hardware Render Buffer global settings

Image Output Files

Filename: The base name for all hardware rendered image files. The default file name is im.
Extension: The format of the extension(s) added to the base name for all rendered image files. Options with ext include the Image Format in the extension. The default setting is name.001.
Start Frame, End Frame: The first and last frame to render. The default value for Start Frame is 1. The default value for End Frame is 10.
By Frame: The increment between frames you want to render. For instance, if By Frame is set to 1, the Hardware Render Buffer renders frames 1, 2, 3, and so on. If set to 2, it renders 1, 3, 5, and so on. The default value is 1.
Image Format: The format for saving hardware rendered image files. The default setting is Maya IFF.
Resolution: The resolution of hardware rendered image files. Click the Select button to select a preset image resolution.
Alpha Source: The type of alpha information saved with the hardware rendered images. Alpha information represents the opacity of each pixel, and is used for compositing images using compositor software. (Alpha information is also referred to as alpha channel, mask, matte, or alpha buffer.) If you do not plan to composite hardware rendered images, set Alpha Source Off. The default setting is Off.
Write ZDepth: If Write ZDepth is on, the hardware rendered contains depth information (the distance of objects from the camera). Write ZDepth is off by default.

TipDepth information is sometimes necessary when compositing images (for example, compositing hardware rendered particles that pass behind a software rendered transparent object). If you do not plan to composite hardware rendered images, or do not require depth information for compositing, turn off Write ZDepth.

Alpha Source table

Off	Alpha information is not included in hardware rendered images.
Hardware Alpha	Assigns each pixel an alpha value based on its opacity, regardless of its brightness or color. The more opaque a pixel is, the more opaque it appears in the image’s alpha channel.Setting Alpha Source to Hardware Alpha only has an effect if your computer has a hardware alpha buffer. If it does not have a hardware alpha buffer and you set Alpha Source to Hardware Alpha, the alpha channel of hardware rendered images is fully opaque.
Luminance	Assigns each pixel an alpha value based on its brightness. The brighter a pixel is, the more opaque it appears in the image’s alpha channel.
Red Channel	Assigns each pixel an alpha value equal to the value of its RGB red component. The higher a pixel’s red value is, the more opaque it appears in the image’s alpha channel.
Green Channel	Assigns each pixel an alpha value equal to the value of its RGB green component. The higher a pixel’s green value is, the more opaque it appears in the image’s alpha channel.
Blue Channel	Assigns each pixel an alpha value equal to the value of its RGB blue component. The higher a pixel’s blue value is, the more opaque it appears in the image’s alpha channel.
Clamp	Assigns each rendered pixel an alpha value of 1 (fully opaque), and each unrendered pixel an alpha value of 0 (fully transparent).
Inverse Clamp	Assigns each rendered pixel an alpha value of 0 (fully transparent), and each unrendered pixel an alpha value of 1 (fully opaque).

Render Modes

Lighting Mode

Controls how objects are lit during hardware rendering. The default setting is Default Light.

Default Light: A default directional light illuminates the scene in the direction that the camera faces.
All Lights: The lights in the scene (up to a maximum of eight lights) illuminate the scene.
Selected Lights: The lights in the scene that you’ve selected (for example, in the Outliner) illuminate the scene.

Draw Style

Controls how objects are hardware rendered. (If Geometry Mask is on, Draw Style has no effect.) The default setting is Smooth Shaded.

Points: NURBS surfaces are rendered as points evenly spaced along surface, polygonal surfaces are rendered as points (corresponding to vertices), and particles are rendered as points.
Wireframe: Surfaces are rendered in wireframe.
Flat Shaded: Surfaces are rendered as flat shaded polygons.
Smooth Shaded: Surfaces are rendered as smooth shaded polygons using a Phong material.
Texturing: If on, textures are hardware rendered. Texturing is on by default.
Line Smoothing: If on, sharp, jagged edges on surfaces and streaks on Streak or MultiStreak particles are softened. Line Smoothing is off by default.
Full Image Resolution: If on and Resolution is greater than the monitor’s resolution (the hardware rendered images cannot fit on the screen), the Hardware Render Buffer divides the image into tiles, renders each tile separately, then assembles the tiles together when it saves the image to disk. If you are rendering an animation, the Hardware Render Buffer displays each tile as it renders it.

If off and Resolution is greater than the monitor’s resolution, the Hardware Render Buffer only renders the part of the image displayed on the monitor.
Geometry Mask: When off, surfaces are hardware rendered. When on, Maya masks out all geometry by setting the mask values to 0. Pixels of the rendered image belonging to any geometry have a zero opacity in the image’s alpha channel. Geometry Mask is off by default.
Display Shadows: Turn this on to display shadows from directional and spot lights for geometry (NURBS, polygons, subdivision surfaces) and particles (points, multipoints, and spheres only). This is available only when All Lights or Selected Lights are specified in the Lighting Mode drop-down list.

NoteThese hardware shadows can be calculated and displayed on graphics cards with drivers that support the ARB_multitexture and EXT_texture_env_combine OpenGL extensions (such as graphic cards with Nvidia^®GeForce^®or Quadro GPU, or ATI Radeon 8800).

Multi-Pass Render Options

Multi Pass Rendering: If off, the Hardware Render Buffer renders each frame using one pass. If on, the Hardware Render Buffer renders each frame using more than one pass (based on the Render Passes setting, next). This softens or blurs particles with a MultiStreak or MultiPoint Render Type. Multi Pass Rendering is off by default.
Render Passes: The number of passes the Hardware Render Buffer uses to render each frame. The more passes per frame, the greater the softening or blurring of particles with a MultiStreak or MultiPoint Render Type (and a longer rendering time). Render Passes is only available if Multi Pass Rendering is on. The default setting is 3.

TipIf the Motion Blur value is greater than 0, set the Render Passes value to at least the Motion Blur value minus 1. For example, if the Motion Blur value is 4, set the Render Passes value to at least 3.
Anti-Alias Polygons: If on, sharp, jagged surface edges are softened (anti-aliased) during hardware rendering. This option only works if Multi Pass Rendering is on and the computer hardware supports anti-aliasing. Anti-Alias Polygons is off by default.
Edge Smoothing: Controls how much sharp, jagged surface edges are softened (anti-aliased) during hardware rendering when Anti-Alias Polygons is on. The higher the value, the softer the edges.

Set Edge Smoothing to 1 for clear, smooth edges. If Edge Smoothing is too large (for example, 5), surface edges are excessively blurred. An Edge Smoothing value of 0 has the same effect as turning off Anti-Alias Polygons. The default value is 1.
Motion Blur: Controls how much objects are motion blurred. The higher the Motion Blur value, the greater the motion blur effect. A Motion Blur value of 0 means no motion blur. A value of 0.5 means the shutter is open for half the frame duration. The default value is 0.

TipIf the Motion Blur value is greater than 0, set the Render Passes value to at least the Motion Blur value minus 1. (For example, if the Motion Blur value is 4, set the Render Passes value to at least 3.)

Display Options

Controls which icons are hardware rendered, and the background color for hardware rendered images.

Grid: If on, the grid is hardware rendered. Grid is off by default.
Camera Icons: If on, any camera icons visible in the Hardware Render Buffer are rendered. Camera Icons is off by default.
Light Icons: If on, any light icons visible in the Hardware Render Buffer are rendered. Light Icons is off by default.
Emitter Icons: If on, any emitter icons visible in the Hardware Render Buffer are rendered. Emitter Icons is off by default.
Field Icons: If on, any field icons visible in the Hardware Render Buffer are rendered. Field Icons is off by default.
Collision Icons: If on, any collision icons visible in the Hardware Render Buffer are rendered. Collision Icons is off by default.
Transform Icons: If on, any transform icons (from the translate, rotate, or scale tools) visible in the Hardware Render Buffer are rendered. Transform Icons is off by default.
Background Color: The background color for hardware rendered images. The default color is black.

TipIf you plan to composite hardware rendered images, set the Background Color to black.