Maya® Studio Projects Texturing and Lighting

Custom Connections in the Hypershade

Although mapping various attributes of materials is fairly straightforward, a more powerful method of building shading networks requires the creation of custom connections. Before a custom connection can be made, however, it's necessary to understand node outputs and inputs.

Any node connected to any other node is considered upstream or downstream. An upstream node is a node that outputs information. A downstream node inputs information. The node icons themselves will show whether an upstream or downstream connection exists. If the bottom-left arrow is solid, the node is downstream of another node and therefore receives an input from that node. If the bottom-right arrow is solid, the node is upstream of another ...