Erik Lehmann releases RS Shader Kit 2.0 for Maya
Scanline VFX senior modeler Erik Lehmann has released RS Shader Kit 2.0, the latest version of his Maya add-on intended to provide a more streamlined alternative to the software’s Hypershade interface.
The release overhauls Shader Kit’s design and makes “a lot of quality-of-life improvements”.
A fast, intuitive, screen-space-efficient alternative to Maya’s Hypershade
Described by Lehmann as a “fast and compact shader management replacement for the Hypershade interface”, RS Shader Kit – also known simply as Shader Kit – is intended to streamline shading work in Maya.
As well as providing a more powerful and intuitive alternative to the Hypershade window, the software ships with a utility to fix common Maya shading issues, shown at 02:10 in the video above.
New in version 2.0: better options for sorting and searching shaders
There doesn’t seem to be an online changelog for RS Shader Kit 2.0, so below, we’ve reproduced the full list of new features in the latest version from Lehman’s email:
- Updated Compact interface with custom icons
- New Togglable tool settings for a minimal workspace footprint
- New Introduced Modifier shortcuts for a faster workflow
- New Sort manually – Move Shaders up and down with arrow keys
- New You can now resize the Shader List
- New Powerful Label system to easily filter or sort by label color
- New Search function to find Shaders more comfortably
- New Sort list by name
- New Option to save & load Shader lists
- Updated Improved Create Menu / Create Menu Settings
- New Create Menu selection is now remembered and allows for repeat Shader creation
- New Create Menu Settings will now be saved as a new default and are available upon tool startup
- Updated Render Engine Support: Maya, Arnold, Redshift, VRay
- New Create keyboard shortcut to launch the tool with a hotkey
- New Get Shader from selected object and select it in your list
- Updated Material IDs – choose between Lambert and Surface Shader
- New Graph materials from object / Add / Remove / list connections
- New Assign Shader to Faces
Pricing and system requirements
RS Shader Kit 2.0 is available for Maya 2018+ on Windows, Linux and macOS. It is compatible with the Arnold, Redshift and V-Ray renderers. A single licence costs $10; a Studio licence costs $500.
Read more about RS Shader Kit for Maya in the online documentation