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Hardware shaders
Hardware shaders
CgFX shaders
About hardware shaders
Maya includes three hardware plug-ins that you
can use to create hardware shaders, CgFX, HLSL, and ASHLI (Advanced
Shader Language Interface).
NoteAs of Maya 2009, the ASHLI plug-in is now
available as part of the Maya Bonus Tools. Bonus Tools is a free
collection of useful Maya scripts and plug-ins that are available
from the Autodesk Web site (
www.autodesk.com/maya-bonustools).
To see CgFX, HLSL and ASHLI shaders, you must
have a supported video card. As well, your Scene View must be in
hardware textured mode.
Only the hardware renderer can render these
hardware shaders.
ImportantYou should only use graphics cards that
are qualified for Maya and the ASHLI plug-in (support for HLSL and
GLSL). Check the Autodesk website (
www.autodesk.com/qual-charts)
for the most accurate information about qualified hardware.
If you try to load the ASHLI plug-in with unqualified
hardware, an error message appears and the plug-in is not loaded.
Plug-in limitations
You cannot use CgFX, HLSL or ASHLI shaders that
contain certain effects in Maya:
- Global
effects
- Multi-pass
effects
Shaders that deform geometry are not supported.