maya-render

name	maya-render
description	Pipeline stage — render globals, final-frame rendering, and viewport capture: configure render settings, query them, render frames, capture playblasts. Use for producing final or preview imagery. Not for modeling (maya-mesh-ops), animation editing (maya-animation), generic file import/export (maya-geometry), or render farm submission (maya-render-farm).
license	MIT
allowed-tools	Bash Read
metadata	{"dcc-mcp":{"dcc":"maya","layer":"domain","stage":"pipeline","version":"1.3.0","tags":["maya","render","playblast","camera","capture","settings","viewport","debug","snapshot","arnold","hdr","lookdev","skydome"],"search-hint":"final output, preview render, playblast, viewport capture, render globals,\nset render settings, image format, frame range render, debug snapshot,\nMP4 preview, render intent, VP2 fallback, Arnold HDR skydome, look-dev,\nEXR render, Arnold sampling, render scene, setup HDR environment","tools":"tools.yaml","groups":"groups.yaml","resources":["docs://maya-render"]}}

maya-render (Pipeline stage)

Render globals + viewport capture. This skill intentionally exposes only renderer configuration, diagnostics, and render/viewport outputs. Generic scene or geometry file import/export belongs to maya-geometry; shot packaging belongs to maya-shot-export. For distributed rendering, see maya-render-farm.

Render intents → tool routing

This skill covers three high-level user intents. Each maps to a primary tool and one or more supporting tools:

Intent	Primary tool	Supporting tools	When to use
Output a final rendered frame (beauty pass, look-dev check)	render_frame	set_render_settings, get_render_settings, set_render_quality	Render from the active renderer (Arnold / Maya Software). Independent of viewport — works when Maya is minimized or in batch mode.
Render with explicit format + Arnold sampling (EXR, look-dev, quality tuning)	render_scene	setup_hdr_arnold, set_render_settings	Extends render_frame with format control (exr/png/jpg/tif) and per-render Arnold AA/diffuse/specular/SSS sample overrides. Scene settings are restored after render.
Set up HDR Arnold environment (skydome, HDRI lighting)	setup_hdr_arnold	render_scene	Creates aiSkyDomeLight + file texture from a .hdr/.exr file. Loads MtoA automatically. Chain with render_scene for asset look-dev validation.
Collect debug / diagnostic evidence (scene inspection, bug report)	debug_scene_snapshot	get_scene_render_stats, get_viewport_camera, render_frame (internal)	Combines DAG summary, optional render preview, and optional Maya UI capture in one call. render_frame is called internally for preview when available.
Record a viewport animation preview (anim review, dailies, MP4 clip)	playblast_to_mp4	capture_playblast_sequence, capture_viewport, playblast	Viewport-based; requires a visible model panel for best results. Falls back to off-screen when Maya is minimized. Requires ffmpeg on PATH for MP4 encoding.

Gateway users: Read resources/read uri=gateway://docs/agent-workflows for platform-agnostic efficiency patterns (search → describe → call, instances, resource/list+read). The intent routing above is Maya-specific; the gateway doc holds general protocol guidance that applies across all DCCs.

VP2 fallback flow

When viewport-based tools (playblast, playblast_to_mp4, capture_viewport) fail or produce empty output — typically because Maya is minimized, running in batch mode, or has no visible model panel — the recommended fallback is to use render_frame for the same frame:

[User wants viewport preview]
        |
        v
playblast / playblast_to_mp4 / capture_viewport
        |
        +--- Success -> return image / MP4
        |
        +--- Failure (no model panel, minimized, batch, empty sequence)
                |
                v
        Render fallback:
        1. Set renderer to mayaSoftware via set_render_settings (fast, no plugin)
        2. Call render_frame(camera=..., frame=..., return_base64=true)
        3. Return preview image in context.image_base64

Concrete error patterns and their fallback:

Error	Fallback
cmds.playblast fails with "no active model panel"	Use render_frame — it does not require a model panel.
Maya is in batch mode (cmds.about(batch=True))	render_frame works natively; playblast tools auto-enable offScreen but still need a Maya window.
playblast produces 0-byte image files	Render the same frame via render_frame; if that also fails, check the renderer plugin (e.g. MtoA).
ffmpeg not found on PATH (for playblast_to_mp4)	Use capture_playblast_sequence to get image frames, or fall back to render_frame for single-frame preview.

The common agent workflow for "get a picture when everything else fails":

# Minimal fallback — no viewport needed, no ffmpeg needed
maya_render__set_render_settings(renderer="mayaSoftware")
result = maya_render__render_frame(camera="persp", frame=1, return_base64=True)

Scripts

• set_render_settings — Set render parameters (resolution, frame range, renderer, image format)
• get_render_settings — Query current render settings
• get_scene_render_stats — Query render-facing scene statistics
• set_render_quality — Set render quality presets
• capture_viewport — Capture the active viewport as a base64-encoded PNG
• playblast — Capture a single viewport frame as a base64-encoded PNG
• render_frame — Render a single frame to disk using the active renderer (Arnold / Maya Software). Independent of model panels and playblast — works when Maya is minimized or in batch mode. Supports Arnold render via MEL invocations (arnoldRender) and Maya Software via cmds.render. Returns output path + optional base64 image payload in context.image_base64. See VP2 fallback flow above for error recovery patterns.
• capture_playblast_sequence — Capture a playblast image sequence to disk
• playblast_to_mp4 — Capture a viewport animation preview and encode it to MP4 with ffmpeg. Requires a visible modelPanel and ffmpeg on PATH. Falls back to off-screen capture when Maya is minimized or running in batch mode. Returns the MP4 path, frame count, resolution, and viewport renderer metadata. Set keep_frames=true to retain the intermediate PNG sequence.
• debug_scene_snapshot — Collect scene structure plus optional render preview and UI screenshot. Internal flow: _scene_summary() walks the DAG for transform/mesh/camera/light counts and a sample of named nodes → optionally calls render_frame at reduced resolution (640x480) for a visual preview → optionally captures the Maya Qt window state via _dev_session.capture_ui. Result contains scene_summary (struct), preview (optional render result), and ui_capture (optional UI snapshot).
• get_viewport_camera — Query the active model panel camera

Examples

Render one frame from the default renderable camera and return a base64 preview:

{"tool": "maya_render__render_frame", "arguments": {"frame": 1, "width": 1280, "height": 720}}

Render through a named camera to a deterministic output prefix:

{"tool": "maya_render__render_frame", "arguments": {"camera": "shotCam", "output_dir": "C:/renders/shot01", "output_name": "shot01_beauty", "return_base64": false}}

Capture an MP4 viewport preview:

{"tool": "maya_render__playblast_to_mp4", "arguments": {"start_frame": 1, "end_frame": 48, "fps": 24, "width": 1280, "height": 720}}

Collect debug evidence for an agent:

{"tool": "maya_render__debug_scene_snapshot", "arguments": {"max_nodes": 40, "preview_width": 640, "preview_height": 480, "include_ui": true}}

Use VP2 fallback when playblast is unavailable (Maya minimized or batch mode):

[
  {"tool": "maya_render__set_render_settings", "arguments": {"renderer": "mayaSoftware"}},
  {"tool": "maya_render__render_frame", "arguments": {"camera": "persp", "frame": 1, "return_base64": true}}
]

Cross-references

• ../../SKILLS_INDEX.md — Full skill taxonomy and task → skill chains. The pipeline stage row groups maya-render with maya-dev, maya-pipeline, maya-shot-export, and maya-render-farm.
• gateway://docs/agent-workflows — Platform-agnostic MCP efficiency guidance (search → describe → call, instances, resources). Maya-specific intent routing lives in this file.
• maya-render-farm/SKILL.md — Distributed / farm-based rendering (Deadline, etc.). Use when you need to submit frames to a render queue rather than rendering locally.
• maya-shot-export/SKILL.md — Shot packaging and publishing; wraps render outputs into a publishable package with metadata.
• maya-geometry/SKILL.md — FBX/OBJ import/export for scene interchange.
• maya-scene/SKILL.md — Scene file lifecycle, DAG navigation, and basic node query.
• examples/workflows/maya_bulk_rbd_fbx.md — End-to-end workflow example with FBX interchange.