By default, the Render
View will show you a composited view of all layers in your
scene with your specified blend modes. You can override this default
by changing the value of Render > Render All
Layers in the Render View,
or Options > Render All Layers in
the Render Layer editor.
You can choose to only
show specified layers or to only show the selected layer in the Render
View.
As well, you can choose
to keep all images that make up the composited Render
view, or simply render a single composited image.
To preview render layers in the Render
View
- To view all your layers composited with
the specified blend mode settings, turn on Render
All Layers in the Options menu
of the Render Layer editor or the Render menu
of the Render View.
- By default, a composited result of all
layers is shown in the Render View.
- To view all your layers rendered as individual
images, change the Render All Layers option (Options
> Render All Layers > ) from Composite
Layers to Composite and Keep Layers,
or just Keep Layers.
NoteUsing Keep
Layers significantly increases memory usage in Maya. Consecutive
use populates the Render View with more and more
images. You must clear out images manually as needed.
- To preview the composite of only some
layers, turn on Render All Layers, and turn
off the Rendering flag on the layers
you want to exclude (click on the R icon next to the layer name).
- To preview a particular layer, select
it and make sure the Render All Layers option is
turned off.
As well, the command-line
render supports layers. When you use the -r
file flag during a command-line render, each layer will be
rendered with the renderer specified in the file. For more information,
see
Batch and command-line render with layers.
Layer blend modes
To set blending modes
for layers
- Select a layer.
- Choose a layer blend from the drop-down
menu at the top of the Render layer editor.
As you activate individual
layers, you'll see the layer blend mode change.
The following examples
show a very simple scene: three spheres colored red, green, and
blue, with a small plane in front casting a shadow.
The spheres are in the
foreground and are rendered with various blend modes against a white,
gray and black background.
Maya supports the following
render layer blend modes:
Blend mode |
Description |
Example |
Normal
|
The foreground texture
is applied like a decal to the background. The shape of the decal
is determined by the foreground alpha.
|
|
Lighten
|
Uses whichever pixel in
the rendered layer is lighter as the resulting color.
|
|
Darken
|
Uses whichever pixel in
the rendered layer is darker as the resulting color.
|
|
Multiply
|
Multiplies the composited
render's color by the rendered layer color. The resulting color
is always a darker color. Multiplying any color with black (value
of 0) produces black. Multiplying any color with white (value of
1) leaves the color unchanged.
|
|
Screen
|
Multiplies the inverse of
the rendered layer and the composited layers colors. The resulting
color is always a lighter color. Screening with black leaves the
color unchanged. Screening with white produces white.
|
|
Overlay
|
Multiplies the colors, depending
on the composited color. Patterns or colors overlay the existing pixels
while preserving the highlights and shadows of the base color. The
base color is mixed with the rendered layer color to represent the lightness
or darkness of the original color.
|
|
NoteIf you use any other
render layer blend modes, the preview results may not be what you
expect; however, the results may be helpful for determining layer
priority and other layering factors.