Lighting/Shading > Transfer Maps

Lists the names of all the objects in your scene currently selected as targets in the Transfer Map tool. The target is the object to which you want to bake the texture map. You can right

-click the object names in this list to:

Sets the UV set on the target mesh for which the texture map is created. The UV set defines how the target mesh is mapped.

Sets what aspects of the target appears in the scene view. You can display: the target mesh, the target meshes’ envelope, or both the target mesh and its envelope.

You do not need to change this setting if you are using custom geometry for your search envelope.

The search envelope is a user-editable piece of geometry that defines the search volume or threshold of the transfer map generation operation.

This attribute sets the size (%) of the target meshes’ search envelope. If you set the Search Envelope to 10, then the size of the envelope will be 10% larger than its target mesh.

You can edit the search envelope’s vertices to fine tune its shape and coverage.

Removes the currently selected object in the scene view from the Target Meshes list.

Source Meshes

Tip For accurate results, the UV mapping must be non-overlapping (that is, you cannot map two different faces on the target mesh to the same UV region).

Lists the names of all the objects in your scene currently selected as sources in the Transfer Map tool. The source is the object that has the mesh attributes for which you want to create a texture map. You can right

-click the object names in this list to:

Removes the currently selected object in the scene view from the Source Meshes list.

Output maps

Select a map type from the list of icons available. The section for the selected map type appears. You can create as many maps as you need.

Tip By default, all meshes in your scene that are not selected as target meshes are loaded as source meshes. For mental ray transfer maps, you can hide an unused mesh to prevent it from being included as a source mesh.


Notes In each section, you can: Uncheck the box beside the map type (for example, Normal map) to remove it from the list of maps to generate; Click the Remove Map button to remove a map from the list of maps; Check the Use Maya common settings or Use mental ray common settings options to honour them; Uncheck the Use Maya common settings or Use mental ray common settings options to enter custom settings for each transfer map. Your settings (for example, the map sections that you have created and checked) are saved with each session of Maya.

Normal Map

Normal maps store all the surface normal information for the source meshes. Normal maps render the target normal vectors and angles so that the texture is mapped to the UV space of the mesh. The texture is sized and positioned depending on the UV parameterization of each mesh.

When on, a normal map is generated. Enter the filename and path to which you want to save the map.

Geometry that is normal mapped has a low density of geometry and a lower resolution, which results in quicker rendering of the map. Typically, normal maps react to light better than other types of maps.


Notes Normal maps only support tangent space maps and they are only visible in the scene view when in High Quality Rendering and Interactive Shading modes. If your video card does not support the High Quality Rendering and Interactive Shading modes, set your Shading Network option to Attach as color channel to see your normal mapping results in the scene view. You can render left handed tangent space normal maps. For more information regarding the left handed tangent space, see Tangent Space in the Polygonal Modeling guide. If you want to render your normal map in mental ray for Maya, you must save the normal map in one of the supported formats (EXR, Maya IFF, JPEG, MI, PNG, YUV, RLA, SGI, PIC, TIM, TGA, BMP). In addition, you must turn on the Maya derivatives option in the Render Settings > mental ray tab > Translation > Performance section. For more information, see Render Settings: mental ray tab in the Rendering guide.

Sets the file format for the normal map you want to create. See File formats in the Rendering guide.

When you select a file format from the drop-down list, Maya automatically appends the appropriate file extension to the filename of the normal map. For example, if you select gif from the drop-down list, .gif is automatically appended to the filename.

Similarly, if you enter path/mapname.gif as your filename, the file format option is automatically set to gif.


Tip The `EXR` file format is recommended. mental ray does not support `DDS` files or `LZW` compressed `.tif` files. If you create a normal map using the Transfer Maps tool and select `tif` as your file format, Maya creates the `.tif` file with a `LZW` compression, which does not work with mental ray. Choose a different file format for your normal map. For more information, see Troubleshoot mental ray for Maya aborts rendering when using normal maps.

When on, all source materials (such as bump maps) are included in the normal map. Use this attribute to obtain a view of normals after they have been modified (e.g. after a bump map has been applied), as they would appear in the final render.Turn this option off to view normals are they are in the actual geometry.

Tangent space normals are defined locally, per vertex, and can be rotated by deformation. Use Tangent Space for textures on animated objects.

Object space normals always point in the same direction, even if the triangle is rotated. Use Object Space for textures on non-animated objects.

If you plan to create several maps with the same width and height, you can reuse your settings by entering them in the Maya Common Output section of the Transfer Maps window.

If you uncheck this option, the Map width and Map height attributes appear within the Normal Map section of the window. For more information regarding these attributes, see Maya Common Output.

Displacement Map

Displacement maps alter the surface of the geometry to simulate 3D surface details. It is created by capturing the height or vertical distance between two points on a surface into a texture map. Displacement occurs along the surface normals according to the intensity of the pixels in the texture map.

Tip To add an alpha channel to a color or normal map, see To create a texture map with an alpha channel.

When on, a displacement map is generated. Enter the path and filename to which you want to save the map.

Geometry that is displacement mapped typically has a higher density of geometry that captures more detail. This is useful for objects viewed in silhouette. Due to their complexity in surface detail, displacement maps take longer to render. For more information, see Displacement maps.

Note Displacement map effects are not visible in the scene view and are only visible when software rendered.

Sets the file format for the displacement map you want to create. See File formats in the Rendering guide.

When you select a file format from the drop-down list, Maya automatically appends the appropriate file extension to the filename of the displacement map. For example, if you select gif from the drop-down list, .gif is automatically appended to the filename.

Similarly, if you enter path/mapname.gif as your filename, the file format option is automatically set to gif.

Specifies the maximum value of the color space for the texture map and controls the scale to color range. Use this attribute to control the scale of generated maps. Use 0 to obtain the optimal scale; a maximum range of color will be used.

If you plan to create several maps with the same width and height, you can reuse your settings by entering them in the Maya Common Output section of the Transfer Maps window.

If you uncheck this option, the Map width and Map height attributes appear within the Displacement Map section of the window. For more information regarding these attributes, see Maya Common Output.

Diffuse Color Map

Diffuse color maps contain one or more materials that are sampled into a single color channel. A diffuse color map captures how the target mesh reflects (or scatters) color in many angles. This is useful when you want to create the effect of color spreading freely over a surface.

When on, a diffuse color map is generated. Enter the path and filename to which you want to save the map.

Sets the file format for the diffuse color map you want to create. See File formats in the Rendering guide.

When you select a file format from the drop-down list, Maya automatically appends the appropriate file extension to the filename of the diffuse color map. For example, if you select gif from the drop-down list, .gif is automatically appended to the filename.

Similarly, if you enter path/mapname.gif as your filename, the file format option is automatically set to gif.

If you plan to create several maps with the same width and height, you can reuse your settings by entering them in the Maya Common Output section of the Transfer Maps window.

If you uncheck this option, the Map width and Map height attributes appear within the Diffuse Color Map section of the window. For more information regarding these attributes, see Maya Common Output.

Lit and Shaded Color Map

Lit and shaded maps contain all the scene lighting information (including diffuse lighting) for the source objects. Samples of the illumination in the source mesh are stored in the lit and shaded color map to be applied to the target mesh.

Tip To add an alpha channel to a color or normal map, see To create a texture map with an alpha channel.

When on, a lit and shaded map is generated. Enter the path and filename to which you want to save the map.

A lit and shaded color map captures how the target mesh reflects (or scatters) light, shadow and color in many angles. This is useful when you want to create the effect of light and color that spreads freely over a mesh.

Sets the file format for the lit and shaded color map you want to create. See File formats in the Rendering guide.

When you select a file format from the drop-down list, Maya automatically appends the appropriate file extension to the filename of the lit and shaded color map. For example, if you select gif from the drop-down list, .gif is automatically appended to the filename.

Similarly, if you enter path/mapname.gif as your filename, the file format option is automatically set to gif.

If you plan to create several maps with the same width and height, you can reuse your settings by entering them in the Maya Common Output section of the Transfer Maps window.

If you uncheck this option, the Map width and Map height attributes appear within the Lit and Shaded Color Map section of the window. For more information regarding these attributes, see Maya Common Output.

Alpha Map

Alpha maps contain transparency information for the source objects. The Transfer Map tool evaluates the transparency on the source object(s) and bakes it to a map for the target object(s).

Tip To add an alpha channel to a color or normal map, see To create a texture map with an alpha channel.

the source object contains transparent areas; for example, windows or glass.
there are parts of the target object that do not exist on the source object; for example, the source object contains holes and cavities. A normal map contains the contours of the source object but it does not include the perforations or gaps in the surface. An alpha map captures these cavities and voids.

When on, an alpha map is generated. Enter the path and filename to which you want to save the map.

Tip To add an alpha channel to a color or normal map, see To create a texture map with an alpha channel.

Sets the file format for the alpha map you want to create. See File formats in the Rendering guide.

Similarly, if you enter path/mapname.gif as your filename, the file format option is automatically set to gif.

If you plan to create several maps with the same width and height, you can reuse your settings by entering them in the Maya Common Output section of the Transfer Maps window.

If you uncheck this option, the Map width and Map height attributes appear within the Diffuse Color Map section of the window. For more information regarding these attributes, see Maya Common Output.

Ambient occlusion Map

When ambient light is used, the objects in your scene may appear to be too bright and geometric detail may become lost. Ambient occlusion solves this problem by subtracting ambient light and adding shadowing. At each sample point, a number of probe rays are emitted around the normal vector that determine how much light is blocked by other geometry in your scene.

When on, an ambient occlusion map is generated. Enter the path and filename to which you want to save the map.

The Transfer Map tool evaluates the ambient occlusion on the high resolution object and bakes it to a map for the low resolution object.

Sets the file format for the ambient occlusion map you want to create. See File formats in the Rendering guide.

When you select a file format from the drop-down list, Maya automatically appends the appropriate file extension to the filename of the ambient occlusion map. For example, if you select gif from the drop-down list, .gif is automatically appended to the filename.

Similarly, if you enter path/mapname.gif as your filename, the file format option is automatically set to gif.

Specifies the number of bits per channel to use in the output bitmap. The options are: 8 bits, 16 bits, and 32 bits.

Determines the number of occlusion rays to trace per sample point. Increasing the number of occlusion rays improves quality, but reduces performance speed. The default is 64.

Determines the maximum length of an occlusion ray. Rays longer than this value are not considered for occlusion.

Tip The most important parameter for adjusting the quality of your ambient occlusion map is the Occlusion Ray attribute. You can increase the occlusion rays up to 2048.

If you plan to create several maps with the same width and height, you can reuse your settings by entering them in the mental ray Common Output section of the Transfer Maps window.

If you uncheck this option, the Map width and Map height attributes appear within the Ambient occlusion Map section of the window. For more information regarding these attributes, see mental ray Common Output.

Custom Map

Evaluates your custom shader on the high resolution object and bakes that to a map for the low resolution object. By using this map, you can include geometric detail in your scene without increasing its rendering time. Example custom shaders that you can use include a normal map (map normals to a texture), a bump map (bent normals map), mental ray materials, or shading and lighting maps.

When on, a custom map is generated using the custom shader specified. Enter the path and filename to which you want to save the map.

Sets the file format for the custom map you want to create. See File formats in the Rendering guide.

When you select a file format from the drop-down list, Maya automatically appends the appropriate file extension to the filename of the custom map. For example, if you select gif from the drop-down list, .gif is automatically appended to the filename.

Similarly, if you enter path/mapname.gif as your filename, the file format option is automatically set to gif.

If you plan to create several maps with the same width and height, you can reuse your settings by entering them in the mental ray Common Output section of the Transfer Maps window.

If you uncheck this option, the Map width and Map height attributes appear within the Custom Map section of the window. For more information regarding these attributes, see mental ray Common Output.

Connect Output Maps

When off, leaves the current network intact and creates the texture file on the disk. Causes no visible changes to your meshes in the scene view. When on, the Connect maps to: New shader and Connect maps to: Assigned shader options become active.

Creates a new test shader and connects the following to the new shading network:

Normal map to the Bump Mapping channel of the new shader
Displacement map to the new shading group’s Displacement Material
Diffuse color map to the Color channel
Lit and shaded color map to the Ambient Color channel
Ambient occlusion map to the Diffuse channel
Custom map to the Color Channel

Normal map to the Bump Mapping channel of the target shader
Displacement map to the shading group’s Displacement Material
Diffuse color map to the Color channel
Lit and shaded color map to the Ambient Color channel
Ambient occlusion map to the Diffuse channel
Custom map to the Color Channel


Notes Only one map per type can be connected to a shader. If you create more than one map of the same type (for example, two Normal maps), only the last map in the list is attached to the shader. Both the Diffuse color map and Custom map are mapped to the Color channel. If you choose to create both a Diffuse color map and a Custom map, only the last map in the list is attached to the shader.

Maya Common Output

Sets the width of the texture map to be created, in pixels. The slider snaps to the following texture resolutions: 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096. The default map width is 256.

Sets the height of the texture map to be created, in pixels. The slider snaps to the following texture resolutions: 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096. The default map height is 256.

Use World Space when your objects are different sizes. When you transfer in world space, make sure that your source and target objects are at the same positions (on top of each other) in the scene view.

Use Object Space to see the result of your transfer maps without having to overlap meshes. To ensure that the object space transfer works, move your objects on top of each other (pivots for all meshes overlap), freeze all their transforms, and then move them apart to positions beside each other.

Use UV Space when your source and target meshes are of different proportions or different shapes. For example, if you are creating both a male and a female character and need to transfer surface attributes from one to another. Even though both meshes have arms, the arms are sufficiently different that spatially based transfers give poor results. Ensure that you define UV space mapping for both meshes.


Note Object Space ignores all transforms (including group transforms) and treats objects individually. If you have multiple source objects (grouped or not) and you want to transfer in object space, freeze the transforms of each of your source objects.

Specifies the number of samples per pixel taken from the source mesh for the map and determines the quality of the texture map. Increase the sampling quality for more details in your texture map. However, before tweaking the sampling quality value, you must first ensure that your source object is of high quality. For example, if you are creating an ambient occlusion transfer map, you should first tweak the number of occlusion rays of your source object to ensure that it provides high quality detail before modifying the Sampling Quality attribute.

Controls the filter size used to interpolate each pixel in the texture map. A small filter size (such as 3) produces a sharper texture map and a large filter size (such as 7) produces a smoother/softer texture map.

Controls how texture maps are blurred or softened to eliminate aliasing or jagged edges. Choose from the following filter types: Gaussian (slightly soft), Triangular (soft), or Box (very soft).

Calculates additional pixels around each UV shell to remove texture filtering artifacts around UV seams.

When this option is enabled, faces with reverse UV winding order do not contribute to the creation of the transfer map. A typical application of this feature is the creation of mirrored normal maps for a character. See Creating and using mirrored normal maps on a character or object.

mental ray Common Output

Use the Normal Direction drop-down list to set the direction of the baked object’s resulting normals. Select from Face Camera (towards the camera), Surface Front (outwards from the object surface), and Surface Back (inwards from the object surface).

This option is on by default. When turned on, the Orthogonal Reflection option causes all reflection rays to be orthogonal to the surface being baked. They are no longer true reflection rays; instead, they point parallel to the surface normal vectors, but the resulting baked texture or vertex colors are meaningful when viewed later from any direction. This option should be turned on if the textures or vertex colors generated are to be used as textures in a game engine.

Turn this option off if you are baking in order to accelerate software rendering and the reflections are only viewed from the baked position. However, in this case, the textures or vertex colors generated are not for use as textures in a game engine.

Sets the width of the texture map to be created, in pixels. You can select the following texture resolutions: 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096. The default map width is 256.

Sets the height of the texture map to be created, in pixels. You can select the following texture resolutions: 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096. The default map height is 256.

Use this option to specify the number of samples (per pixel) that is used for anti-aliasing during baking. The default value is 1, and the maximum value is 4.

Turn this on to bake the alpha channel (equivalent to the Bake Transparency option under Edit > Convert to File Texture (Maya Software) >

in the Hypershade menu bar) and then select an Alpha Mode.

When Bake Alpha is turned on, the Alpha Mode specifies how it’s computed. Select one of the options, which include Pass Through (alpha as output from shading network) Surface Transparency, Luminance of Surface Color, and Coverage.

Note When you turn Bake Alpha on, the transparency connection is automatically made for you when you add a surface shader.


Note The Pass Through option is mainly for custom shader usage within Maya. The returned baked color alpha component is retained and is not affected by Maya's matte channel. Custom shaders usually set the fourth component of a mental ray color to provide the alpha channel.

Determines the final gather precompute quality. When rendering from the camera, mental ray precomputes a final gather pass before actually rendering the scene. This precomputation pass is disabled by default for baking.

When this attribute is set to higher than zero, mental ray computes a number of final gather points before it bakes the lightmap. When this attribute is set to one, the resulting lightmap should be of approximately the same quality as a lightmap rendered from the camera. When this attribute is set higher than one, then the quality of the lightmap is improved as a denser map of final gather points is precomputed.

Do not use this option to tune final gather quality for baking. Final gather quality affects the number of points calculated at the precomputation phase of the final gather algorithm. By increasing the final gather quality, you are only creating more points during precomputation and possibly reducing the amount of interpolation or exterpolation required during rendering. Increasing the final gather quality does not affect the accuracy of the light calculated for each point or the filtering that is used on the data.

Instead, adjust the Scale in the Render Settings window. This attribute controls the accuracy of the light calculated for each final gather point. Adjust also the View (Radii in Pixel Size). This attribute controls how data is interpolated/extrapolated between final gather points.

Determines the reflectivity of an object when precomputing final gather points for light mapping. This simplifies the simulation of reflective objects whose texture maps include contributions from objects that surround them. For example, if the Final Gather Reflect value is set to 0.25, every fourth final gather point is precomputed on the object hit by the reflection ray.

Specifies whether to bake the area in UV space from [0,0] to [1,1], bake the entire UV space, or bake a manually specified space range.

Specifies how much to stretch the sampling range of U or V components. Maya stretches the sample region to fit the output image size within the [0,0] to [1,1] sampling range.

If the selected UV space contains boundaries, these boundaries may appear as black stripes in renderings that use the baked textures. This occurs when the texture is sampled so close to a boundary that the filter picks up values (generally black) from outside the desired space.

This setting artificially extends the boundaries by a small amount to alleviate this problem. It is measured in texels (pixels of texture). Typically, the filter is only a few texels in diameter and can only reach as far as its radius into these boundary spaces, so a value of 1 or 2 is usually enough.

Advanced Options

Sets where in relation to the search envelope the target meshes are being looked for.

Sets the search depth limit or percentage furthest from the target mesh that a target mesh match will be accepted. This option avoids finding surface intersections on the back sides of objects as search results.

Matches the texture map to the target meshes’ face normals on bake. This match method works well on soft edged surfaces.

Matches the texture map to the target surface’s vertex normals on bake. This match method works well on hard edged surfaces.

Lighting/Shading > Transfer Maps

Target Meshes

Tip

Source Meshes

Tip

Output maps

Notes

Normal Map

Notes

Tip

Tip

Displacement Map

Note

Diffuse Color Map

Tip

Lit and Shaded Color Map

Tip

Alpha Map

Tip

Ambient occlusion Map

Tip

Custom Map

Connect Output Maps

Notes

Maya Common Output

Note

mental ray Common Output

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Advanced Options

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