Is there any bitmap output node that i can place anywhere I want?

[Silverland]

Is there any output-like node in Maya similar to World Machine node that i can put after any nodes connections and save the result of them quickly. I need to do this so I can use only one image instead of the part of my shading network. On this screenshot you can see the bug - my terrain mesh turns to transparent plane with a white dots when I connect selected nodes to the second "float composite". But if i delete this selected nodes and just use one image - result of those nodes - shading network doesnt becomes broken and works fine. So i need the result of the selected nodes, i need to output them somehow and create the image of them. Is there any node in Maya allows me to do that and will i have to render it at the end or there will be option to just save it? Also if there is no such node currently exist can be it done in the future?

[mspeer]

Hi!

In Hypershade:

A) Enable "S", for Solo rendering in Material Viewer, or use

B) Edit -> Test Texture, for rendering in Render View

[Silverland]

trying first method. why nothing is showing up? also where is the "Save image" button in the Material viewer? Thanks

[Silverland]

also the second method is seems buggy as well - on the left you can see how it should look like but in the render view you can see what Test Texture gives me ((

[Silverland]

Tell me, please, if you need me to record video for further help

[mspeer]

Hi!

- You may need to switch Material Viewer to "Arnold" (dependent on used nodes).

-  Test texture does not evaluate geometry for rendering (some other "non-texture-nodes" might not work here too).

If you want for example a texture based on height information, you need to render a top view.

[Silverland]

"You may need to switch Material Viewer to "Arnold" (dependent on used nodes)"

Ok I switched it to Arnold and I starting to see something, the background though is looks brown instead of black, but anyways how do i save at least what i currently see in the material viewer, where is the save image button there?

[Silverland]

Maya simplified file is attached below (no hight there, no displacement, no Arnold used but still same problem). I tried all of three methods - and even rendering from the top view gives the same image that i showed you before. So looks like Maya doesnt have proper way to do it and tools she does have work only with some simple childish node setups? Or its I missing something? Please have a look and let me know why this is the image that i get all the time whenever i try to use one of those methods - 

[mspeer]

Hi!

1. The problem with Test texture is that the Maya Software Renderer will be used, but this is not compatible with Color Management. Set the Color Space for both textures to RAW and you see what i mean.

2. The material Viewer is just a Viewport and has no option to save an image.

Solutions:

1. Convert textures and work without Color Management

2 Create a simple screenshot.

I recommend to create a bug-report for the Test Texture tool or at least add this to the Ideas forum for Maya, cause this tool needs clearly an update (especially if even the Hardware preview in Material Viewer is able to show a correct result.)

[Silverland]

Thanks I will report a bug. I see now why this texture appears.

Regarding your solutions. You said that if i switch both textures to RAW and turn off Color management in settings-preferences I will get the correct result? Because you added this to the Solution. But after this steps I still see that same Raw-like image. So i dont get why you called this a solution? Or you meant something else by saying: "Convert textures and work without Color Management"?

[Silverland]

Also one more question is how to fit the resolution gate to the selected plane so its 100 percent fit and not 98 or 99 percent? I am always getting some white frame around the image. Currently my steps is i choosing 4096*4096 resolution in arnold render settings, enabling resolution gate, selecting my plane and press "View-frame selections" and also "View-camera settings-Overscan" ( i also tried "Fill" but doesnt make difference) also i am using Top camera view with the default settings as you can see on this screen - 

[mspeer]

Hi!

1. Without using Color Management you need to adjust image/gamma settings manual in an image application or use Utility nodes like Color Correct.

2. Set Camera Fit Factor to "1" (for hotkey "F").

https://help.autodesk.com/view/MAYAUL/2018/ENU/?guid=GUID-1E39CCEB-E963-4AC4-9571-E461A904D31E

But with all that hassle i would go one step back to find out what's causing the strange display in your first screenshot as multiple floatComposite nodes work fine here, so this should work.

Maybe you need to Clamp Texture resolution for Viewport (not enough texture memory) or the texture needs to be baked then try increasing Bake Resolution for Viewport 2.0.

Even if the Viewport is not correct what happens if you render the image with Arnold?

[Silverland]

Thanks. I reported about that bug with transparent plane and white dots that i see. And i know what is causing this bug now - the issue is there is limited number of nodes you can add when working with displacement preview on. I had around 30 nodes maybe or more and for example when i add 31-st node i have this issue. Then I tried to uncheck the "displacement preview" and the plane is back but not displaced anymore of course. So they need to fix it because it was very important in my workflow and until this point i was using only the viewport to do all my work, but because of this bug with relations between "displacement preview and hypershade" i now have to use render window which is many times slower and noisy. Unfortunately i cant tell them what problem is because i have already reported it, but hopefully they will discover it themselves.