The 3Delight Relationship Editor
The 3Delight Relationship Editor is a central piece of UI in 3Delight For Maya as it connects 3DFM’s shaders and attributes to Maya’s scene elements. The 3Delight Relationship Editor is meant to work and feel exactly as any Maya relationship editor so that users can rapidly understand the various possible operations. The editor is similar in spirit to the Light Linker as it has two operational modes: object-centric and attribute or shader-centric. Each operational mode is well suited for a set of specific tasks. For example, to assign an attribute to some objects, one could do the following in attribute-centric mode:
- ⟨Left-click⟩ on the attribute in the left pane of the editor to select it.
- ⟨Left-click⟩ on the objects in the right pane to perform the connection.
To do the same in object-centric mode:
- Select the objects on the left by ⟨Shift-Left-Click⟩.
- Assign the attribute on by ⟨Left-Click⟩ in the right panel.
As a rule of thumb, attribute and shader-centric mode is better suited to perform various operations on 3DFM’s nodes without risking to alter the assignments. Possible operations include: selection, showing node in the AE, renaming, etc.
In general, the editor shows connections in the following manner:
Attribute and shader-centric
If an attribute is selected in the left pane, the editor highlights all connected ob- jects in the right pane. Selecting more than one attribute will show connections that are common to all the selected attributes.
object-centric
If an object is selected in the left pane, the right pane will highlight both the shaders and attributes that are directly assigned and the ones that are inherited by these objects. Selecting more than one object will show connections that are common to all selected objects. Note that there are many ways to connect attributes to object (such as by inheritance), this is explained in Section 3.5.2 [Geometry Attribute Node Inheritance], page 16.
All Available Operations
This sections lists all the available operations in each pane. The more advanced three-pane mode is described in [The Three-Pane Mode], page 8. Figure 3.2 lists actions that are common to all panes.
| Mouse Action | Description |
|---|---|
| ⟨Double-click⟩ on node’s name | Rename node |
| ⟨Double-click⟩ on node’s icon | Shows the node in the AE. Doesn’t modify current selection. Also possible through the contextual menu as described in Figure 3.5. |
⟨Left-click⟩ on empty space in pane | Clears the highlighted nodes. Doesn’t affect current Maya selection. |
Figure 3.2: List of all operations available to all panes.
Object Pane Operations
Figure 3.3 lists all the actions available through the Show menu and Figure 3.4 lists all actions available through the Edit menu.
| Check List Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Geometry | Display Maya geometry nodes if checked. |
| Lights | Display Maya light nodes if checked. |
| Cameras | Display Maya camera nodes if checked. |
| Sets | Display Maya sets if checked. |
Figure 3.3: List of all operations in the Show menu.
| Menu Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Highlight selected objects | This replaces the currently highlighted objects in the pane by the current selection in Maya. This is a very handy feature: selecting an object in Maya and then using this feature will show the connections to the ob- ject (although single object view is very conveniently accessible through the Assignment Panel as explained in Section 3.2 [The Assignment Panel], page 10). |
| Select highlighted objects | This replaces current Maya selection by highlighted objects in the pane. |
Figure 3.4: List of all operations in the Edit menu.
Attribute and Shader Pane Operations
Additionally to the actions described in Figure 3.2, a host of actions are available through the contextual menu of the attribute pane. These are described in Figure 3.5.
| Menu Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Select | This replaces current Maya selection by highlighted nodes in the pane. |
| Show in AE | Shows the node in the AE. Doesn’t modify current Maya selection. |
| Duplicate | |
| Hide Shader Attributes | |
| Reload Shaders | |
| Replace Shader With File ... | |
| Preview Shaders | |
| Delete |
Creates a copy of the highlighted node, retaining values, expressions and connections on its attributes. Assign- ments to scene objects are not duplicated.
Make the various shader parameters of the highlighted nodes invisible in all editors except the AE, which speeds up AE refreshes in some cases. Only active when shaders are highlighted. Refer to [Hide Attributes Pref- erences], page 109 for details.
The shader node is updated to reflect the current con- tent of the related compiled shader file. Object assign- ments, attribute values, expressions and connections are preserved when possible. Only active when shaders are highlighted.
Upon selecting this item, the Shader Selector is brought up and the selected file will replace the one that was used by all highlighted shader nodes. The shader node name is not changed. Object assignments are pre- served. Attribute values, expressions and connections are preserved when possible. Only active when shaders are highlighted.
Show a preview of the highlighted shaders in i-display. Preview can be customized in the Preferences Window Shaders. It is possible to select a surface shader, a displacement shader and an imager shader; all will be used at once when rendering the preview. Only active when shaders are highlighted.
Delete selected attribute or shader and disconnect all connections.