Materials not appearing in Maya render
When you export a video in Maya and everything appears gray when rendering, it's not that the materials disappear. The viewport uses hardware shading, but when using Arnold, only compatible shaders are shown.
What usually happens
- Materials not assigned correctly to the geometry.
- Textures outside the sourceimages folder or with unrecognized names.
- Use of the Hardware Renderer or direct export to AVI/MOV.
How to fix it
- Assign Ai Standard Surface from the Hypershade.
- Place the textures in the project's sourceimages folder.
- Check the paths in the File Node.
- Test with Render Current Frame in Arnold.
- Render in image sequence (.png or .exr) and then assemble the video in After Effects or Premiere.
An important detail
Avoid names with spaces, accents, or external paths in textures, as Maya may not find them. Always check the Arnold Log to detect warnings about missing files.