SimplygonShadingNetwork command

Description

The SimplygonShadingNetwork command is responsible for creating shading network templates in Maya. Shading networks are usually generated automatically in the plug-in but for some material types, such as DirectX, CGFX and Stingray, the mapping has to be done manually. It is recommended to read Shading network concepts before proceeding.

Syntax

SimplygonShadingNetwork -<short/long flag> <arg0> <arg1> ... <argN>;

import maya.cmds as cmds
cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(<short/long flag>=<arg>)
cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(<short/long flag>=[<arg0>, <arg1>, ..., <argN>])

Flags and args

Short flag	Long flag	Argument(s)	Description
cn	CreateNode	string materialName string nodeType string nodeName	Creates a node of the given type.
si	SetInput	string materialName string nodeName uint inputSlot string nodeNameToConnect	Connects a node to another node’s input slot.
sd	SetDefault	string materialName string nodeName uint inputSlot double A double B double C	Sets default values for the given node input.
sd1	SetDefault1f	string materialName string nodeName uint inputSlot uint component double A	Sets default value for the given node input on the given component [RGBA, 0-3].
sce	SetExitNode	string materialName string channelName string nodeName	Sets the exit node for the given material channel.
exf	ExportXML	string materialName string channelName string filePath	Exports shading network for the given material channel to file.
swz	Swizzle	string materialName string nodeName uint inputSlot uint outputSlot	Sets output slot for the given input slot for the specified swizzle node (RGBA -> 0, 1, 2, 3).
svn	SetVertexColorName	string materialName string nodeName string colorSetName	Sets which color set to sample from for the given vertex color node.
svc	SetVertCol	string materialName string nodeName uint colorSet	Sets which color set to sample from for the given vertex color node.
uva	SetUVAll	string nodeName string uvSetName	Sets the UV-set for the texture nodes matching the specified node name.
uvm	SetUVMaterial	string materialName string nodeName string uvSetName	Sets the UV-set for the texture nodes that matches the specified node name for the given material.
uvc	SetUVMaterialChannel	string materialName string channelName string nodeName string uvSetName	Sets the UV-set for the texture nodes that matches the specified node name for the given material channel.
sa	SetSRGBAll	string nodeName bool isSRGB	Sets the sRGB flag for the texture nodes matching the specified node name.
sm	SetSRGBMaterial	string materialName string nodeName bool isSRGB	Sets the sRGB flag for the texture nodes that matches the specified node name for the given material.
sc	SetSRGBMaterialChannel	string materialName string channelName string nodeName bool isSRGB	Sets the sRGB flag for the texture nodes that matches the specified node name for the given material channel.
tmc	SetUVTilingMaterialChannel	string materialName string channelName string nodeName double uTiling double vTiling	Sets u- and v-tiling for the given texture node.
omc	SetUVOffsetMaterialChannel	string materialName string channelName string nodeName double uOffset double vOffset	Sets u- and v-offset for the given texture node.
sgn	SetGeometryFieldName	string materialName string nodeName string geometryFieldName	Sets the field name for the given geometry field node.
sgi	SetGeometryFieldIndex	string materialName string nodeName int geometryFieldIndex	Sets the field index for the given geometry field node.
sgt	SetGeometryFieldType	string materialName string nodeName int geometryFieldType	Sets the field type (EGeometryFieldType in Simplygon API) for the given geometry field node.

Examples

This section contains some examples on how to setup shading networks through MEL and Python. We've left out some parts of the scripts to keep things as simple as possible.

• import maya.cmds as cmds must declared at the top of each Python script.
• reductionPipeline settings-path must be declared for both MEL and Python scripts where it makes sense.
• materialName is used as a place-holder for the name of the material we are currently working on.
• a scene-selection is made before each Simplygon-command.

Create shading node

Creates two texture-nodes that points to the texture slots of the CGFX material's HLSL shader, in this case DiffuseSampler and NormalsSampler (as defined in the shader).

SimplygonShadingNetwork
    -cn $materialName TextureNode DiffuseSampler
    -cn $materialName TextureNode NormalsSampler;

cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(
    cn = [
            [materialName, 'TextureNode', 'DiffuseSampler'],
            [materialName, 'TextureNode', 'NormalsSampler']
         ])

For CGFX materials the sampler2D (DiffuseSampler) represents the texture slot. For DirectX materials the texture (DiffuseTexture) represents the texture slot. This means that we'll use the sampler2D when mapping textures from CGFX to Simplygon, and texture when mapping textures from DirectX to Simplygon.

texture DiffuseTexture : Diffuse
<
    string ResourceType = "2D";
    string UIName =  "Diffuse Texture";
>;
sampler2D DiffuseSampler = sampler_state
{
    Texture = <DiffuseTexture>;
    MinFilter = LinearMipMapLinear;
    MagFilter = Linear;
};

Set default values

Sets the default values of (for example) a Multiply-node. The name of the node is "multiplyNode".

SimplygonShadingNetwork
    -sd  $materialName multiplyNode 0 1.00 1.00 1.00
    -sd  $materialName multiplyNode 1 0.25 0.25 0.25
    -sd1 $materialName multiplyNode 0 3 1.00;
    -sd1 $materialName multiplyNode 1 3 1.00;

cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(
    sd  = [
            [materialName, 'multiplyNode', 0, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00],
            [materialName, 'multiplyNode', 1, 0.25, 0.25, 0.25],
          ],
    sd1 = [
            [materialName, 'multiplyNode', 0, 3, 1.00]
            [materialName, 'multiplyNode', 1, 3, 1.00]
          ])

Set exit node

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

SimplygonShadingNetwork
    -sce $materialName Diffuse DiffuseSampler;

cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(
    sce = [materialName, 'Diffuse', 'DiffuseSampler'])

Set swizzle

Reverses the color channels (RGBA -> ABGR) using a swizzling node. The name of the node is "swizzleNode".

SimplygonShadingNetwork
    -si $materialName swizzleNode 0 DiffuseSampler
    -si $materialName swizzleNode 1 DiffuseSampler
    -si $materialName swizzleNode 2 DiffuseSampler
    -si $materialName swizzleNode 3 DiffuseSampler
    -swz $materialName swizzleNode 0 3
    -swz $materialName swizzleNode 1 2
    -swz $materialName swizzleNode 2 1
    -swz $materialName swizzleNode 3 0;

cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(
    si  = [
        [materialName, 'swizzleNode', 0, 'DiffuseSampler'],
        [materialName, 'swizzleNode', 1, 'DiffuseSampler'],
        [materialName, 'swizzleNode', 2, 'DiffuseSampler'],
        [materialName, 'swizzleNode', 3, 'DiffuseSampler']
    ],
    swz = [
        [materialName, 'swizzleNode', 0, 3],
        [materialName, 'swizzleNode', 1, 2],
        [materialName, 'swizzleNode', 2, 1],
        [materialName, 'swizzleNode', 3, 0]
    ])

Set vertex-color set

Assigns "colorSet1" (of the mesh) to a vertex-color node. Can be used to blend textures by vertex colors or bake vertex colors to texture. The name of the node is "vertexColorNode".

SimplygonShadingNetwork
    -svn $materialName vertexColorNode colorSet1;

cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(
    svn = [materialName, 'vertexColorNode', 'colorSet1'])

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 'colorSet1'.

SetGeometryFieldType (sgt) specifies which type of the field to sample from, as all colors are stored as 'Color'-fields in Simplygon we want to use the 'Color' index in EGeometryDataFieldType as the type, which is 5.

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

The name of the node is "geometryFieldNode".

SimplygonShadingNetwork
    -sgt $materialName geometryFieldNode 5
    -sgn $materialName geometryFieldNode colorSet1;

cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(
    sgt = [materialName, 'geometryFieldNode', 5],
    sgn = [materialName, 'geometryFieldNode', 'colorSet1'])

Override UV-set

Overrides a texture's UV-set (globally). The name of the texture node is "DiffuseSampler".

SimplygonShadingNetwork
    -uva DiffuseSampler map1;

cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(
    uva = ['DiffuseSampler', 'map1'])

Override sRGB

Overrides the sRGB-flag for Diffuse and Normals.

SimplygonShadingNetwork
    -sc $materialName Diffuse DiffuseSampler true
    -sc $materialName Normals NormalsSampler false;

cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(
    sc = [
            [materialName, 'Diffuse', 'DiffuseSampler', True],
            [materialName, 'Normals', 'NormalsSampler', False]
         ])

Override tiling/offset

Overrides a texture-node's tiling and offset values for the Diffuse channel. The name of the texture node is "DiffuseSampler".

SimplygonShadingNetwork
    -tmc $materialName Diffuse DiffuseSampler 2.0 2.0
    -omc $materialName Diffuse DiffuseSampler 0.5 0.5;

cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(
    tmc = [materialName, 'Diffuse', 'DiffuseSampler', 2.0, 2.0],
    omc = [materialName, 'Normals', 'DiffuseSampler', 0.5, 0.5])

Export Shading Network XML

Exports a shading network for the given material channel to XML.

SimplygonShadingNetwork
    -exf cgfx_leather Diffuse "C:/ShadingNetworksTemp/cgfx_leather_diffuse.xml";

cmds.SimplygonShadingNetwork(
    exf = ['cgfx_leather', 'Diffuse', 'C:/ShadingNetworksTemp/cgfx_leather_diffuse.xml'])

Import Shading Network XML

Imports shading network XML through the Simplygon command.

// specify Pipeline settings path
$reductionPipelineFilepath = "D:/Pipelines/ReductionPipelineWithBaking.json";

Simplygon
    -sf $reductionPipelineFilepath
    -asm cgfx_leather|cgfx_wood
    -ixf cgfx_leather Diffuse "C:/ShadingNetworksTemp/cgfx_leather_diffuse.xml"
    -ixf cgfx_wood Diffuse "C:/ShadingNetworksTemp/cgfx_wood_diffuse.xml";

cmds.Simplygon(
    sf = reductionPipelineFilepath,
    asm = 'cgfx_leather|cgfx_wood',
    ixf = [
            'cgfx_leather', 'Diffuse', 'C:/ShadingNetworksTemp/cgfx_leather_diffuse.xml'
          ],
    ixf = [
            'cgfx_wood', 'Diffuse', 'C:/ShadingNetworksTemp/cgfx_wood_diffuse.xml'
          ])

Next steps

Get to know how to work with shading networks:

• How to setup CGFX / DirectX material

• How to setup ShaderFX / Stingray PBS material

• CGFX example - Scripting

• DirectX example - Scripting

• ShaderFX / Stingray PBS example - Scripting

• Simplygon Shading Networks (API documentation)