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Shading

Render node utilities

Maya provides various render node utilities that let you expand the functionality of or obtain information about the way in which some rendering nodes are used.

General utilities

Maya’s General utilities are used to add detail and create interesting effects for textures.

For a description of each of the general utilities and what you can use them for, see About General Utilities.

To use general utilities, see:

	Use the Array Mapper utility
	Use the Bump 2d utility
	Use the Bump 3d utility
	Use the Condition utility
	Use the Distance Between utility
	Use the Height Field utility
	Use the Light Info utility
	Use the Multiply Divide utility
	Use the 2d Placement utility
	Use the 3d Placement utility
	Use the Plus Minus Average utility
	Use the Projection utility
	Use the Reverse utility
	Use the Sampler Info utility
	Use the Set Range utility
	Use the Stencil utility
	Use the Studio Clear Coat utility
	Uv Chooser
	Use the Vector Product utility

Color utilities

You can expand, enhance, or manipulate colors in applied textures using the Color utilities. For example, you can blend colors, adjust contrast, and convert HSV to RGB.

For a description of each of the color utilities and what you can use them for, see About Color Utilities.

To use switch utilities, see:

	Use the Blend Colors utility
	Use the Clamp colors utility
	Use the Contrast utility
	Use the Gamma Correct utility
	Use the Hsv to Rgb utility
	Use the Luminance utility
	Use the Remap Color, Remap Hsv, or Remap Value utilities
	Use the Rgb to Hsv utility
	Use the Smear utility
	Use the Surf. Luminance utility

Switch utilities

Switch utilities let you apply textures, or parts of textures to different patches that make up one object.

Several objects can share shading characteristics and you can define unique characteristics on an object-by-object basis using Maya’s Switch utilities.

For a description of each of the switch utilities and what you can use them for, see About Switch Utilities.

To use Switch utilities, see:

	Use the Single Switch utility
	Use the Double Switch utility
	Use the Triple Switch utility
	Use the Quad Switch utility

Note For StudioPaint users: It is common to use Switch utilities when textures have been imported from StudioPaint since each surface has an individual texture assigned to it, but surfaces are in the same shading group.

Particle utilities

For information, see Overview of particles in the Dynamics guide.

Image planes

Image planes are attached to cameras. For information on image planes, see Create, edit, or position an image plane.

Glow

For information on the Optical FX Glow utility, see Optical FX Attributes in the Lighting guide.