VFX artist Robert Rioux has released two open-source add-ons to convert a key Maya shader and adapt it for Blender. These tools enable the automatic conversion of Maya's aistandardsurface shader to Blender's principled bsdf shader when exporting assets between both platforms.
Shader Conversion Between Maya and Blender
These tools solve a problem that, according to Rioux, who was a CG supervisor at the visual effects company Real by Fake and currently runs the Blender Bob YouTube channel, had bothered him for a long time. They facilitate the adaptation of one of Maya's main shaders to its closest equivalent in Blender, thereby reducing manual work when preparing assets developed in Maya for use in this open-source software.
- The first add-on, a Python script, generates a shader definition along with the FBX file when exporting the asset that uses the aistandardsurface shader.
- The second add-on automatically converts the shader to the principled bsdf format when importing the asset into Blender.
Quick and Automatic Solution with Manual Refinements
The tools are specifically designed for the aistandardsurface shader from the Arnold renderer, included by default in Maya, although its structure is very similar to Maya's native standard surface shader.
While the process automates the conversion of direct inputs in the Maya shader, it does not include other types of inputs, such as blend or ramp shaders. Furthermore, it will be necessary to manually adjust the displacement values on the imported model.
System Requirements and Download
The free conversion tools by Robert Rioux are available under the GPL v3 license.
They can be downloaded from GitHub.