How do I render a wireframe in Maya?

[jimiyo]

2 ways...

window>rendering editors>hardware render buffer

opens hardware render buffer view

under render>attributes>render modes

change to wireframe. you should be able to figure it out from there...

or this is a cheap way... doesnt look good usually... take a UV snapshot, then use it as the color.

[ntmonkey]

Thanks a lot!!

[ntmonkey]

Got one more question, well a couple more...

There isn't a way to save the wireframe out as an image in the hardware render buffer, or is there? And also, is there a way to render out and save an image that has both the geometry and curves in Maya? Sorry, its hard being green.

Thanks,

Lu

[luminis]

Check out two plugins called nurbsData and wireData. They will render nurbs and polygonal objects, and will give you more control on the look than the hardware render buffer does.

Look here for nurbsData here:

http://www.highend3d.com/maya/plugins/?section=rendering#2130

and then near the bottom of that same page, you will find wireData.

However, if hardware rendering is enough for your purposes, then yes, there should be a way to save images. I'm not too sure how though, since I don't use it very much, but I'll look it up, and post here an answer if I find it.

EDIT: Got it! Go to 'Render/Attributes...' in the Hardware Render Buffer window. For extension, choose something such as name.1.ext which will give you an extension at the end of the filename and then give it a name (by default it uses "im", change it if you need to). If you only need one frame, set both start and end frames to 1 (or whatever frame you need rendered) or if you want a complete sequence, then of course, change the start and end frames as needed. Set the Resolution, and any other options you may need. Close the Attributes window, now again, on the Hardware Render Buffer menu bar go to /Render/Render Sequence'. It will render the frames you asked for and it will save them in the images directory of your project, so after rendering, go to //Project_Folder/images and you will see your rendered files here with the name and extension type you selected before (such as im.1.iff)

[luminis]

About your second question, I think Hardware Rendering will not render curves at all. But you can do that with the nurbsData plugin I mentioned on my previous post, or you can use Playblast.

If you use Playblast, you will have to disable all HUD elements ('Display/Heads Up Display') from view, and hide the grid ('Display/Grid'), as Playblast will create an image of what the perspective view actually looks like. To use it, go to 'Window/Playblast... []'. Its options are pretty much straightforward, but if you need help on any detail of it, say so, and I'll help you figure it out. :)

[ntmonkey]

Thanks a lot Luminus! I'm right on task on getting those plugins. Its a shame that Maya doesn't have one built in from the get-go. Really, how can such an oversight be excused? Now I can get those nice renders without using shoddy screen grabs! Thanks again, Luminus. You're a big help!!


Lu

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