...
But only the 3Delight Menu offers all the options in one place. We will use it as a guide to explain each option available to manage Render Passes. And for each option, we will indicate the alternate ways available in 3Delight for Maya to perform the same action.
...
3Delight Menu items for Managing Render Passes
Render
Render with
The Render menu item selects 3Delight as the current renderer and starts a render using the active Render Pass in the Render Settings window. Whereas the Make Active and Render Starts a Render. The sub-menu list all the Render Passes in the scene; selecting one will render it. For convenience, the first one listed in the menu is the last rendered render passselects 3Delight as the current renderer, makes the select Render Passit active in the Render Settings window and renders it. 3Delight for Maya also offers a few additional ways to launch a render:
| Section |
|---|
| Column |
|---|
(in the 3Delight Shelf) | Clicking on this shelf button will re-render the last rendered render pass; right-clicking on this button will display a list of Render Pass; selecting one will render it. See The 3Delight Menu and Shelf for more information 3Delight Shelf button selects 3Delight as the current renderer and starts a render using the active Render Pass in the Render Settings window. This is the same operation done by choosing the 3Delight > Render menu item. Right-clicking on the button instead pops up a menu listing all the Render Passes in the scene; selecting one makes it active and renders it. The same operation is done by choosing an item under the 3Delight > Render with > sub-menu. | 
(in the Attribute Editor) | When a Render Pass is displayed in the attribute editorAttribute Editor, a rendering can be launched simply by clicking on the Render This Pass button located at the top of the editor. In this instance, it selects 3Delight as the current renderer, it make the Render Pass displayed in the Attribute Editor. active in the Render Settings window, and renders it. |  Image Added
(Maya's Render MenuRender > Render Current Frame
Render > Batch Render(Maya button) | If Maya’s current renderer in the Render Settings is set to ‘3Delight’, selecting one of these options Render Current Frame or Batch Render will launch a rendering using the current active Render Pass as set in the '3Delight' tab of the Maya Render Settings window. Launching a rendering this way can have an impact on some default values used for rendering; refer to Rendering Attributes for details. |
|
|
| Section |
|---|
| Column |
|---|
| | Info |
|---|
Selecting a Render Pass to render also marks it as the last rendered render pass. And this has no effect to which Render Pass is shown in the Render Settings window or Attribute Editor. It means they each can show and edit a different pass than what is rendered by Render. |
|
|
Select Render Pass
Select Render Pass
This item is to select a Render Pass node and have it displayed in the Attribute Editor. It pops Pops up a menu listing all Render Pass in the scene, starting with last rendered render pass. Selecting one displays it in the Attribute Editor. . The active Render Pass in the Render Settings window is identified by a check mark in this menu. 3Delight for Maya also offers one additional way to select a Render Pass:
| Section |
|---|
| Column |
|---|
(in the 3Delight Shelf)
| Pops This button serves the same function: pops up a menu listing all Render Pass in the scene, starting with last rendered render passThe active Render Pass in the Render Settings window is identified by a check mark in this menu. Selecting one displays it in the Attribute Editor. See The 3Delight Menu and Shelf. | Not equivalent: (in Render Settings) | | Info |
|---|
This function is not entirely equivalent: In Render Settings you can select a Render Pass that will be displayed in that window only (not in the Attribute Editor). This is not to be confused with the Select Render Pass of the 3Delight Menu we have just explained . This is mentioned here only as supplemental information. |
|
|
| Section |
|---|
| Column |
|---|
| | | Column |
|---|
| | Warning |
|---|
The Select Render Pass button and menu item do not select the Render Pass the Render button will render; the Render button renders the last rendered render pass. Only by right-clicking on the Render button you can select what Render Pass the Render button will render. |
|
Create Render Pass
Creates a new Render Pass with all available attributes set to their default values. 3Delight for Maya also offers a few additional ways to create a Render Pass:
| Section |
|---|
| Column |
|---|
(in the 3Delight Shelf) | Creates Clicking on this shelf button creates a new Render Pass with all available attributes set to their default values. Right-clicking on this button instead is the equivalent to Create Render Pass from Templatesexplained below. | 
(in Render Settings) | It is also possible to create a new Render Pass using the Create Render Pass button in the at the top of the 3Delight tab of in the Render Settings Window. |
|
|
...
This item displays a sub-menu listing all Render Pass Templates. Selecting one will create a new Render Pass using that template. 3Delight for Maya also offers one additional way to create a Render Pass from the lest list of templates:
| Section |
|---|
| Column |
|---|
(in the 3Delight Shelf) | Right-clicking on the this shelf button pops up a menu listing all all Render Pass Templates; selecting one will create a new Render Pass using that template. |
|
|
...
This item displays a sub-menu listing all the the Render Passes in in the scene (not the templates). Selecting one , will duplicate it.
| Section |
|---|
Any When a new Render Pass node |
|
that ( using Create Render Pass, Create Render Pass from Template or Duplicate Render Pass |
|
) , but not when using the Create Render Pass in theRender Settings window, it is automatically selected in Maya upon creation and displayed in the Attribute Editor where it can be given a new name. Also, the Create and Select Render Pass buttons do not make them active in the Render Settings window (and thus will not be the ones rendered using the Render button and menu item). |
|
|
Save Render Pass as Template
A Render Pass can be saved as a template to add it to the list of templates in the scene. All templates are listed in the Create Render Pass from Template menu. This could be useful for example to create a duplicate of a standard pre-defined Render Pass across multiple scenes or across multiple projects. To create a Render Pass template, first create a Render Pass, rename it and configure its attributes as desired. Then select that Render Pass in the sub-menu Save Render Pass as Template to save it. This menu item lists all Render Pass in the scene. Clicking on one saves it as a template. . It will now be available across multiple scenes.
| Section |
|---|
| Column |
|---|
|
| Info |
|---|
Each template is saved in a separate file in the template folder as specified in the 3Delight Data Locations window. The default location puts it inside the Maya Project, which is good if you want to share the templates among all the scenes in your project. But is not a good location if you want to share these templates among different projects. In this case, you are advised to change it to a location of your choice (outside of the Maya Project). |
|
|