How Do I Change Visibility in Maya?

Changing visibility in Maya is a fundamental process for controlling what appears in your viewport and ultimately in your renders. You can easily modify an object's visibility using various methods, from simple keyboard shortcuts to specific renderer settings like those for Redshift.

Understanding Visibility Controls

Maya offers several ways to manage the visibility of objects, allowing you to streamline your workflow and optimize rendering performance. These methods range from temporary hiding in the viewport to precise control over how objects interact with different render engines.

1. General Viewport and Render Visibility

a. Quick Hide/Show in Viewport

The quickest way to toggle an object's visibility in your Maya viewport is using a keyboard shortcut. This method doesn't affect render visibility.

• To Hide: Select the object(s) and press H.
• To Show: Select the object(s) in the Outliner and press Shift + H. To show all hidden objects, go to Display > Show > All.

b. Visibility Attribute in the Channel Box/Attribute Editor

Every object in Maya has a "Visibility" attribute that controls both its viewport and render presence.

1. Select the object.
2. Open the Channel Box (usually on the right side of the interface).
3. Locate the Visibility attribute and change its value:
   • Set to on (or 1) to make it visible.
   • Set to off (or 0) to make it invisible.
4. Alternatively, in the Attribute Editor (Ctrl+A), navigate to the Transform tab and find the Visibility checkbox.

c. Render Stats for Default Render Visibility

For more granular control over how an object appears in renders using Maya's default renderers (like Arnold if it's the active renderer and no specific Redshift/V-Ray options override it), you can adjust its "Render Stats."

1. Select the object.
2. Open the Attribute Editor (Ctrl+A).
3. Go to the shape node tab (e.g., pCubeShape1).
4. Expand the Render Stats section. Here, you'll find options like:
   • Primary Visibility: Determines if the object is directly visible to the camera.
   • Casts Shadows: Controls if the object casts shadows.
   • Receive Shadows: Controls if the object receives shadows.
   • Visible in Reflections/Refractions: Controls visibility in reflective/refractive surfaces.

2. Redshift Render Visibility Options

When working with the Redshift renderer, you have dedicated controls to manage object visibility and rendering properties, offering more specialized adjustments.

There are two primary ways to manage visibility with Redshift in Maya:

a. Editing Visibility Options under Redshift Options (Recommended)

The easiest and most common way to adjust an object's render visibility specifically for Redshift is through its Redshift attributes.

1. Select the object whose visibility you want to change.

2. Open the Attribute Editor (Ctrl+A).

3. Go to the shape node tab (e.g., pCubeShape1).

4. Find and expand the Redshift tab.

5. Look for the Visibility section within the Redshift tab. Here you can find various checkboxes to control how the object renders, such as:

   • Primary Visibility: Controls if the object is visible directly to the camera.
   • Visible in Reflections: Controls if the object appears in reflections.
   • Visible in Refractions: Controls if the object appears in refractions.
   • Casts Shadows: Determines if the object casts shadows in the render.
   • Receive Shadows: Determines if the object receives shadows in the render.

   Note: If these Redshift Visibility options are grayed out, it means they are not enabled, and Maya's default "Render Stats" options (as described in section 1.c) will be used instead. Ensure the Redshift attributes are active for the object to utilize these specific controls.

b. Using Visibility Nodes (Advanced)

While less common for simple visibility toggles, Redshift also supports more complex visibility setups using dedicated nodes. This approach typically involves connecting rsVisibility nodes or similar utility nodes for advanced render-time control, which is often used for technical passes or specific rendering requirements.

3. Using Display Layers

Display Layers are excellent for organizing your scene and quickly toggling the visibility of multiple objects in the viewport.

1. Open the Display Layers editor (usually found at the bottom of the Channel Box/Layer Editor panel).
2. Create a New Layer: Select the object(s) you want to group, then click Layers > Create Layer from Selected.
3. Toggle Visibility: Click the V icon next to the layer name to hide or show all objects assigned to that layer in the viewport. This primarily affects viewport visibility and not render visibility by default, unless specified otherwise.

Summary of Visibility Control Methods

Here's a quick reference table for the various methods to control visibility in Maya:

Method	Description	Affects Viewport	Affects Render	Primary Use Case
H / Shift + H	Keyboard shortcut for quick hide/show.	Yes	No	Quick scene navigation, temporary hiding
Channel Box / Attribute Editor	Toggles the Visibility attribute (on/off).	Yes	Yes	General object visibility control
Render Stats (Shape Node)	Controls primary visibility, shadows, reflections, refractions for default Maya/Arnold renders.	No	Yes	Fine-tuning default render behavior
Redshift Options (Shape Node)	Controls Redshift-specific primary visibility, shadows, reflections, refractions.	No	Yes	Specialized Redshift render behavior
Display Layers	Organizes objects into layers for quick viewport toggling.	Yes	No (by default)	Scene organization, managing complex scenes

By understanding and utilizing these various visibility controls, you can efficiently manage your Maya scenes, optimize performance, and achieve precise rendering results.