Simplygon Shading Network functions

The Simplygon Max plug-in exports a number of global MaxScript / Python functions. The following sections lists Simplygon ShadingNetwork functions and examples, general Simplygon functions and Simplygon Pipeline functions are listed separately.

Shading networks are usually generated automatically in the plug-in but for some material types, such as DirectX and CGFX (HLSL), the mapping has to be done manually. It is recommended to read Shading network concepts before proceeding.

Note: Max 2021 introduced a new (standard) material type, specifically Physical Material. Most shading network functions can be used in combination with Physical Material. As Physical Material is not HLSL based there are no shader properties to map against. This material type has its own predefined variables that can be used for mapping.See How to map a Physical Material for more details.

Script functions

Function	Parameter(s)	Description
sgsdk_RunPipelineOnSelection	int pipelineHandle	Optimizes the selected asset(s) based on the pipeline object.
sgsdk_RunPipelineOnSelection	string pipelineFilePath	Optimizes the selected asset(s) based on the pipeline file.
sgsdk_RunPipelineOnFile	int pipelineHandle string inputFilePath string outputFilePath	Optimizes the asset(s) in the specified input file and stores the result in the output file. The output file will get indexed if the Pipeline specifies a LOD chain, use sgsdk_GetProcessedOutputPaths to get the correct paths.
sgsdk_RunPipelineOnFile	string pipelineFilePath string inputFilePath string outputFilePath	Optimizes the asset(s) in the specified input file and stores the result in the output file. The output file will get indexed if the Pipeline specifies a LOD chain, use sgsdk_GetProcessedOutputPaths to get the correct paths.
sgsdk_UseShadingNetwork	bool isEnabled	Enables DirectX shading network pipeline. Note: not compatible with Physical Material!
sgsdk_CreateMaterialMetadata	string materialName	Creates an override material for the named material.
sgsdk_CreateShadingTextureNode	string textureName	Creates a texture node that connects to the given texture name in the shader.
sgsdk_CreateShading<nodeType> Ex: sgsdk_CreateShadingColorNode	string nodeName	Creates a node of the given type.
sgsdk_SetDefaultParameter	int nodeIndex uint inputSlot double a double b double c double d	Sets default values for the given node input.
sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode	int nodeIndex uint inputSlot	Sets an attribute to the specified node.
sgsdk_ConnectNodes	int nodeIndex uint inputSlot int nodeIndexToConnect	Connects a node to another node’s input slot.
sgsdk_ConnectNodeToChannel	int nodeIndex int materialIndex string channelName	Sets the exit node for the given material channel.
sgsdk_ConnectOutputToDirectXMaterial	string effectFile string channelName string textureSlot	Specifies to which shader and texture slot the result will be connected to. Note: not compatible with Physical Material!
sgsdk_VertexColorNodeSetVertexChannel	int nodeIndex int mappingChannel	Specifies which color channel to read from.
sgsdk_SwizzlingNodeSetChannelSwizzle	int nodeIndex uint inputSlot uint outputSlot	Sets output slot for the given input slot for the node, (RGBA -> 0, 1, 2, 3).
sgsdk_GeometryNodeSetFieldName	int nodeIndex string geometryFieldName	Sets the field name for the given geometry field node.
sgsdk_GeometryNodeSetFieldIndex	int nodeIndex int geometryFieldIndex	Sets the field index for the given geometry field node.
sgsdk_GeometryNodeSetFieldType	int nodeIndex int geometryFieldType	Sets the field type for the given geometry field node.
sgsdk_SetMappingChannel	int nodeIndex int mappingChannel	Sets the mapping channel/UV-set for the given texture node.
sgsdk_SetSRGB	int nodeIndex bool isSRGB	Sets the sRGB flag for the given texture node.
sgsdk_SetUVTiling	int nodeIndex float uTiling float vTiling	Sets the UV-tiling for the given texture node.
sgsdk_SetUTiling	int nodeIndex float uTilingSets	Sets the U-tiling for the given texture node.
sgsdk_SetVTiling	int nodeIndex float vTiling	Sets the V-tiling for the given texture node.
sgsdk_SetUVOffset	int nodeIndex float uOffset float vOffset	Sets the UV-offset for the given texture node
sgsdk_SetUOffset	int nodeIndex float uOffset	Sets the U-offset for the given texture node.
sgsdk_SetVOffset	int nodeIndex float vOffset	Sets the V-offset for the given texture node.
sgsdk_GetProcessedMeshes	<none>	Returns a list of processed mesh names from last run.
sgsdk_GetProcessedOutputPaths	<none>	Returns a list of processed file paths from last run.
sgsdk_GetMaterialForMesh	string meshName	Return material name for the specified mesh.
sgsdk_GetMaterialsForMesh	string meshName	Return material names for the specified mesh.
sgsdk_GetMeshReusesMaterial	string meshName	Returns material name if the material is shared, otherwise empty string.
sgsdk_GetMeshReusesMaterials	string meshName	Returns material names of reused materials, otherwise empty list.
sgsdk_GetChannelsForMaterial	string materialName	Returns a list of material channel names for the specified material.
sgsdk_GetTexturePathForChannel	string materialName string channelName	Returns the texture path for the specified material channel.
sgsdk_GetMappingChannelForChannel	string materialName string channelName	Returns the mapping channel for the specified material channel.
sgsdk_GetMaterials	<none>	Returns a list of material names from the last run.
sgsdk_GetSubMaterials	string materialName	Return a list of sub-material names for the specified material.
sgsdk_GetMaterialReusesSubMaterial	string materialName string subMaterialName	Returns reused material name id reused, otherwise empty string.
sgsdk_GetSubMaterialIndex	string materialName string subMaterialName	Returns sub-material index.
sgsdk_SetGenerateMaterial	bool generateMaterial	Specifies whether the plug-in should generate a standard material for baked LODs.
sgsdk_SetTextureOutputDirectory	string filePath	Sets the output texture directory for baked textures.

Special node attributes

Special node attributes can be set using sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode, see the list of attributes below.

Shading Node	Attribute Type
ShadingTextureNode	1 – TileU, 2 – TileV 3 – MappingChannel 4 – TileUV 5 – OffsetU, 6 – OffsetV 7 – OffsetUV

Examples

This section contains various Pipeline examples written in MaxScript and Python. We've left out some parts of the scripts to keep things as simple as possible.

• from pymxs import runtime as rt must be declared at the top of each Python script.
• reductionPipeline settings-path must be declared for both MaxScript and Python scripts where it makes sense.
• effectFile file-path to the target shader must be declared for both MaxScript and Python scripts where it makes sense.
• a scene-selection is made before each sgsdk_RunPipelineOnSelection.

Create material

Creates a shading network material override for the specified material.

DirectXShader = sgsdk_CreateMaterialMetadata "MyMaterial"

from pymxs import runtime as rt

DirectXShader = rt.sgsdk_CreateMaterialMetadata('MyMaterial')

Create node

Creates a texture node that is linked to a shader's texture slot named DiffuseTexture.

DiffuseTexture = sgsdk_CreateShadingTextureNode "DiffuseTexture"

from pymxs import runtime as rt

DiffuseTexture = rt.sgsdk_CreateShadingTextureNode('DiffuseTexture')

Set default values

Creates a pow node, connects a texture to input 0 and sets a value for input 1.

powNode1 = sgsdk_CreateShadingPowNode "powNode1"
sgsdk_ConnectNodes powNode1 0 DiffuseTexture
sgsdk_SetDefaultParameter powNode1 1 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

from pymxs import runtime as rt

powNode1 = rt.sgsdk_CreateShadingPowNode('powNode1')
rt.sgsdk_ConnectNodes(powNode1, 0, DiffuseTexture)
rt.sgsdk_SetDefaultParameter(powNode1, 1, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5)

Set exit node

Assigns a shading node to a material channel, in this case we connect as texture node (which points to DiffuseTexture in shader) to the Diffuse channel.

sgsdk_ConnectNodeToChannel DiffuseTexture DirectXShader "Diffuse"

from pymxs import runtime as rt

rt.sgsdk_ConnectNodeToChannel(DiffuseTexture, DirectXShader, 'Diffuse')

Set swizzle

Creates a swizzle node with the same texture input on all input channels and swizzles the output channels (in reverse). (R->A, G->B, B->G, A->R)

swizzNode = sgsdk_CreateShadingSwizzlingNode "swizzlingNode"
sgsdk_ConnectNodes swizzNode 0 DiffuseTexture
sgsdk_ConnectNodes swizzNode 1 DiffuseTexture
sgsdk_ConnectNodes swizzNode 2 DiffuseTexture
sgsdk_ConnectNodes swizzNode 3 DiffuseTexture
sgsdk_SwizzlingNodeSetChannelSwizzle swizzNode 0 3
sgsdk_SwizzlingNodeSetChannelSwizzle swizzNode 1 2
sgsdk_SwizzlingNodeSetChannelSwizzle swizzNode 2 1
sgsdk_SwizzlingNodeSetChannelSwizzle swizzNode 3 0

from pymxs import runtime as rt

swizzNode = rt.sgsdk_CreateShadingSwizzlingNode('swizzlingNode')
rt.sgsdk_ConnectNodes(swizzNode, 0, DiffuseTexture)
rt.sgsdk_ConnectNodes(swizzNode, 1, DiffuseTexture)
rt.sgsdk_ConnectNodes(swizzNode, 2, DiffuseTexture)
rt.sgsdk_ConnectNodes(swizzNode, 3, DiffuseTexture)
rt.sgsdk_SwizzlingNodeSetChannelSwizzle(swizzNode, 0, 3)
rt.sgsdk_SwizzlingNodeSetChannelSwizzle(swizzNode, 1, 2)
rt.sgsdk_SwizzlingNodeSetChannelSwizzle(swizzNode, 2, 1)
rt.sgsdk_SwizzlingNodeSetChannelSwizzle(swizzNode, 3, 0)

Set vertex color mapping channel

Creates a vertex color node and sets the node to read from mapping channel 0 (default vertex color channel in Max).

vertexColorNode = sgsdk_CreateShadingVertexColorNode "vertexColorNode"
sgsdk_VertexColorNodeSetVertexChannel vertexColorNode 0

from pymxs import runtime as rt

vertexColorNode = rt.sgsdk_CreateShadingVertexColorNode('vertexColorNode')
rt.sgsdk_VertexColorNodeSetVertexChannel(vertexColorNode, 0)

Specify geometry data field

Assigns a data field (of the mesh) to a geometry-field node. The node can be used to sample specific geometry fields in shading network such as Coords, TexCoords, Normals, Tangents, Bitangents, Colors, TriangleIds and MaterialIds (see EGeometryDataFieldType). In this example we will set up a geometry field node that samples from the color field named '0' (fields in Simplygon gets the name of the mapping channel index in Max).

sgsdk_GeometryFieldNodeSetFieldType specifies which type of the field to sample from, as all colors (normally mapping channel 0 (vc), -1 (illumination) and -2 (alpha)) unless overridden with sgsdk_SetIsVertexColorChannel are stored as 'Color'-fields in Simplygon we want to use the 'Color' index in EGeometryDataFieldType as the type, which is 5.

sgsdk_GeometryFieldNodeSetFieldName and sgsdk_GeometryFieldNodeSetFieldIndex specifies either the Name or Index of the Color field to sample from, Name har precedence over Index (index might also differ between meshes).

geometryFieldNode = sgsdk_CreateShadingVertexColorNode "geometryFieldNode"
sgsdk_GeometryFieldNodeSetFieldType geometryFieldNode 5
sgsdk_GeometryFieldNodeSetFieldName geometryFieldNode "0"

from pymxs import runtime as rt

geometryFieldNode = rt.sgsdk_CreateShadingVertexColorNode('geometryFieldNode')
rt.sgsdk_GeometryFieldNodeSetFieldType(geometryFieldNode, 5)
rt.sgsdk_GeometryFieldNodeSetFieldName(geometryFieldNode, "0")

Override mapping channel / UV-set

Creates a texture and overrides the mapping channel / UV-set.

DiffuseTexture = sgsdk_CreateShadingTextureNode "DiffuseTexture"
sgsdk_SetMappingChannel DiffuseTexture 3

from pymxs import runtime as rt

DiffuseTexture = rt.sgsdk_CreateShadingTextureNode('DiffuseTexture')
rt.sgsdk_SetMappingChannel(DiffuseTexture, 3)

If we have the mapping channel exposed in the shader we can create a direct link between the texture node and mapping channel shader parameter using attributes. The Texture2D definition in the HLSL shader below contains a variable named MapChannel.

Texture2D <float4> DiffuseTexture : DiffuseMap<
    string UIName = "Diffuse";
    string ResourceType = "2D";
    int Texcoord = 0;
    int MapChannel = 1;
>;

Note that the mapChannel in the line below starts with lowercase.

sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode DirectXShader "DiffuseTexturemapChannel" 3

from pymxs import runtime as rt

rt.sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode(DirectXShader, "DiffuseTexturemapChannel", 3)

Override sRGB

Overrides the sRGB flag for a texture node.

sgsdk_SetSRGB DiffuseTexture false

from pymxs import runtime as rt

rt.sgsdk_SetSRGB(DiffuseTexture, false)

Override tiling / offset

Creates a texture node and overrides the U/V-tiling and U/V-offset.

DiffuseTexture = sgsdk_CreateShadingTextureNode "DiffuseTexture"
sgsdk_SetUVTiling DiffuseTexture 2.0 2.0
sgsdk_SetUVOffset DiffuseTexture 0.25 0.25

from pymxs import runtime as rt

DiffuseTexture = rt.sgsdk_CreateShadingTextureNode('DiffuseTexture')
rt.sgsdk_SetUVTiling(DiffuseTexture, 2.0, 2.0)
rt.sgsdk_SetUVOffset(DiffuseTexture, 0.25, 0.25)

If tiling and / or offset parameters are defined in the HLSL shader it might be preferred to create a link between the texture node and the shader parameter(s) using attributes.

float g_UTiling <
 string UIName = "UTiling";
    string UIWidget = "slider";
    float UIMin = -10.0f;
    float UIMax = 10.0f;
    float UIStep = 0.01f;
>   = 1.0f;
float g_VTiling <
    string UIName = "VTiling";
    string UIWidget = "slider";
    float UIMin = -10.0f;
    float UIMax = 10.0f;
    float UIStep = 0.01f;
>   = 1.0f;
float g_UOffset <
    string UIName = "UOffset";
    string UIWidget = "slider";
    float UIMin = -10.0f;
    float UIMax = 10.0f;
    float UIStep = 0.01f;
>   = 0.0f;
float g_VOffset <
    string UIName = "VOffset";
    string UIWidget = "slider";
    float UIMin = -10.0f;
    float UIMax = 10.0f;
    float UIStep = 0.01f;
>   = 0.0f;

Link the texture node to the parameters.

sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode DiffuseTexture "g_UTiling" 1
sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode DiffuseTexture "g_VTiling" 2
sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode DiffuseTexture "g_UOffset" 5
sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode DiffuseTexture "g_VOffset" 6

from pymxs import runtime as rt

rt.sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode(DiffuseTexture, 'g_UTiling', 1)
rt.sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode(DiffuseTexture, 'g_VTiling', 2)
rt.sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode(DiffuseTexture, 'g_UOffset', 5)
rt.sgsdk_AddAttributeToNode(DiffuseTexture, 'g_VOffset', 6)

Back-mapping to custom shader

Specifies to which shader and texture slot the baked texture will get connected to after the processing has been completed.

sgsdk_ConnectOutputToDirectXMaterial effectFile "Diffuse" "DiffuseTexture"

from pymxs import runtime as rt

rt.sgsdk_ConnectOutputToDirectXMaterial(effectFile, 'Diffuse', 'DiffuseTexture')

Next steps

Get to know how to work with shading networks:

• How to setup a custom DirectX material

• DirectX example - Scripting

• Simplygon Shading Networks (API documentation)

• How to map Physical Material - Scripting