For this you need to edit your ‘menu.py’ script which is found in…

OSX - /Applications/Nuke 5.1v6/Nuke5.1v6.app/Contents/MacOS/plugins
Windows XP - \Program Files\Nuke 5.1v6\plugins

Scroll down to approximately line 185 and you will find ‘#Layout menu’ and the code shown below…

# Layout menu m = menubar.addMenu("&Layout")
m.addCommand("Restore Layout 1 (startup default)", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(1)", "+F1")
m.addCommand("Restore Layout 2", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(2)", "+F2")
m.addCommand("Restore Layout 3", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(3)", "+F3")
m.addCommand("Restore Layout 4", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(4)", "+F4")
m.addCommand("Restore Layout 5", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(5)", "+F5")
m.addCommand("Restore Layout 6", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(6)", "+F6")

Edit and save as needed, my version is show below as an example.

# Layout menu m = menubar.addMenu("&Layout")
m.addCommand("Restore Sphere VFX Layout (startup default)", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(1)", "+F1")
m.addCommand("Restore Original Layout", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(2)", "+F2")
m.addCommand("Restore Layout 3", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(3)", "+F3")
m.addCommand("Restore Layout 4", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(4)", "+F4")
m.addCommand("Restore Layout 5", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(5)", "+F5")
m.addCommand("Restore Layout 6", "nuke.restoreWindowLayout(6)", "+F6")

For this you need to first create a new folder call '.nuke'. I needs to be made in either...

OSX - /Users/your user name
Windows XP - \Documents and Settings\your user name

Next write a text file with the following information in it.

# Custom Nuke Menu on Toolbar

import nuke
import os.path

# Get the top-level toolbar
toolbar = nuke.menu("Nodes")

# FX Share Menu definitions
m = toolbar.addMenu("TestMenu", "testMenu.png")
m.addCommand("depthSlice", "nuke.createNode(\"depthSlice\")",icon="depthSlice.png")
m.addCommand("Reorder", "nuke.createNode(\"reorder\")",icon="reorder.png")
m.addCommand("iDilateErode", "nuke.createNode(\"iDilateErode\")",icon="iDilateErode.png")

The information above in dark blue is what you will need to replace with your own custom information, everything else need to remain the same.

The dark blue lines of code follow a pattern,

m.addCommand("nameOfGizmo"
This part is the name of the Gizmo which you have made and save into the root of .nuke, ie nameOfGizmo.gizmo

, "nuke.createNode(\"depthSlice\")"
This part created the name of the tool you'll see in the Toolbar and put's it into the menu defined above, in our case 'testMenu'.

,icon="depthSlice.png")
This final part adds the icon you will see in the menu of the Toolbar. It needs to be save at a .PNG file, 24 pixels by 24 pixels. Also note that there is also a .PNG file in the line where the new menu on the Toolbar is created. In our example above it's m = toolbar.addMenu("TestMenu", "testMenu.png").

The best order to work in overall is to first create the gizmo and save it in the root of '.nuke'
Secondly create the 32x32 pixel icon you want to use and save that in the root of '.nuke' as a PNG file.
Finally create/edit the file above saving it as menu.py again into the root of '.nuke'

You should end of up was a number of files in '.nuke' such as...

menu.py
nukeMagicTool1.gizmp
nukeMagicTool1.png
nukeSuperTool1.gizmo
nukeSuperTool1.png

For an example of one of our menu.py setups which is slightly more complicated, thanks to Matt Plec (The Foundry), click here...

When exporting a 3D model out of Maya (or your favorite 3D package) as either an .fbx or .obj the UV data which controls how the textures are applied to the object are baked into the geometry and are available to you inside Nuke. However for some tools such as the STMap you need the UV's as a render pass and this tip is designed to show you one way to achieve this inside of Maya.

First of all create a new 'Render Layer' and add your objects.

Next change your 'Render Settings' to use mental ray as the Renderer and under the 'Passes' tab create a 'Custom Colour' pass and move it from Scene Passes down into Associated Passes. This way it's assigned to the 'Render Layer' you just made.

Now in your 'Hyper Shader' create three new nodes, firstly from the Maya Nodes 'surfaceShader', secondly from under the mental ray section a 'mib_texture_vector' node and also a 'writeToColorBuffer' node.

From here we need to wire this together so firstly, via the 'Connection Editor' (it will pop up if you drag one node onto the other via the middle mouse button), connect the 'surfaceShader.outColor' to the 'writeToColorBuffer.evaluationPassThrough'.

Next connect the 'mib_texture_vector.outValue' to the 'writeToColorBuffer.color'.

Next double click on the 'writeToColorBuffer' node to open up it's parameters in the 'Attribute Editor'. At the top in the 'Frame Buffer Options' change the 'Custom Color Pass' to 'customColor' and you will notice in the 'HyperShader' the nodes are now connected.

Now double click on the 'mib_texture_vector' node and in the 'Attribute Editor' under 'Parameters' change the Project section to 'UV'.

By default the shader will extract the first UV (0), but if you have multiple UVs, you may need to increase the 'Select' attribute to 1, 2, or more.

Also and very importantly make sure you apply the 'surfaceShader' to your geometry.

The final this you must do before rendering is change your colour bit depth from the standard 8bits per channel to 32bit (full float). To do this again open up your 'Render Settings' and at the bottom of the 'Quality' tab change the 'Date Type' to 'RGBA (Float) 4x32 Bit).

In order to see your render pass you must 'Batch Render' your scene.

Click here to download the Maya 2010 ASCII file...

(Thanks to Dave Lajoie, Autodesk and Tahl Niran, Double Negative).

First off what is a 'Fresnel' render pass? At it's most basic form a Fresnel pass in a matte which can be used to remove or reduce other render passes based on camera angle. For example if you where to stand front of a clean shinny car the side panels looks more reflective than the roof, this is because you are looking directly at the side where as the roof appears less reflective. Another example is the way water in a swimming pool looks dependant on whether you look direction down into the water or look across it. One way appears pretty much transparent where as the latter look more opaque. In order to fully grasp what's going on where need to understand a bit of physics.

Reflection
Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated. Common examples include the reflection of light, sound and water waves. The law of reflection says that for specular reflection the angle at which the wave is incident on the surface equals the angle at which it is reflected. Mirrors exhibit specular reflection.

In acoustics, reflection causes echoes and is used in sonar. In geology, it is important in the study of seismic waves. Reflection is observed with surface waves in bodies of water. Reflection is observed with many types of electromagnetic wave, besides visible light. Reflection of VHF and higher frequencies is important for radio transmission and for radar. Even hard X-rays and gamma rays can be reflected at shallow angles with special "grazing" mirrors.

Reflection of light is either specular (mirror-like) or diffuse (retaining the energy, but losing the image) depending on the nature of the interface. Furthermore, if the interface is between a dielectric and a conductor, the phase of the reflected wave is retained, otherwise if the interface is between two dielectrics, the phase may be retained or inverted, depending on the indices of refraction. A mirror provides the most common model for specular light reflection, and typically consists of a glass sheet with a metallic coating where the reflection actually occurs. Reflection is enhanced in metals by suppression of wave propagation beyond their skin depths. Reflection also occurs at the surface of transparent media, such as water or glass. In the diagram a light ray PO strikes a vertical mirror at point O, and the reflected ray is OQ. By projecting an imaginary line through point O perpendicular to the mirror, known as the normal, we can measure the angle of incidence, θi and the angle of reflection, θr. The law of reflection states that θi = θr, or in other words, the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection.

Refraction
Refraction is the change in direction of a wave due to a change in its velocity. This is most commonly observed when a wave passes from one medium to another. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomenon, but any type of wave can refract when it interacts with a medium, for example when sound waves pass from one medium into another or when water waves move into water of a different depth.

In optics, refraction occurs when light waves travel from a medium with a given refractive index to a medium with another. At the boundary between the media, the wave's phase velocity is altered, usually causing a change in direction. Its wavelength increases or decreases but its frequency remains constant. For example, a light ray will refract as it enters and leaves glass, assuming there is a change in refractive index. A ray traveling along the normal (perpendicular to the boundary) will change speed, but not direction. Refraction still occurs in this case. Understanding of this concept led to the invention of lenses and the refracting telescope. Refraction can be seen when looking into a bowl of water. Air has a refractive index of about 1.0003, and water has a refractive index of about 1.33. If a person looks at a straight object, such as a pencil or straw, which is placed at a slant, partially in the water, the object appears to bend at the water's surface. This is due to the bending of light rays as they move from the water to the air. Once the rays reach the eye, the eye traces them back as straight lines (lines of sight). The lines of sight (shown as dashed lines) intersect at a higher position than where the actual rays originated. This causes the pencil to appear higher and the water to appear shallower than it really is. The depth that the water appears to be when viewed from above is known as the apparent depth. This is an important consideration for spearfishing from the surface because it will make the target fish appear to be in a different place, and the fisher must aim lower to catch the fish.

The diagram on the left shows an example of refraction in water waves. Ripples travel from the left and pass over a shallower region inclined at an angle to the wavefront. The waves travel more slowly in the shallower water, so the wavelength decreases and the wave bends at the boundary. The dotted line represents the normal to the boundary. The dashed line represents the original direction of the waves. This phenomenon explains why waves on a shoreline tend to strike the shore close to a perpendicular angle. As the waves travel from deep water into shallower water near the shore, they are refracted from their original direction of travel to an angle more normal to the shoreline. Refraction is also responsible for rainbows and for the splitting of white light into a rainbow-spectrum as it passes through a glass prism. Glass has a higher refractive index than air. When a beam of white light passes from air into a material having an index of refraction that varies with frequency, a phenomenon known as dispersion occurs, in which different coloured components of the white light are refracted at different angles, i.e., they bend by different amounts at the interface, so that they become separated. The different colors correspond to different frequencies.

So what does a 'Fresnel' pass look like and how do you make one in Maya?

First of all create a new 'Render Layer' and add your objects.

Next change your 'Render Settings' to use mental ray as the Renderer, no need to create a render pass as you just need the standard beauty which you get for free.

Now in your 'Hyper Shader' create three new nodes all from the Maya Nodes section. Firstly a 'surfaceShader', secondly a 'ramp' and lastly a 'sampleInfo' Node

Next edit the 'ramp' Node removing the central colour and then changing the top colour to black and the bottom colour to white. Changing the amount of black and white in this ramp is the way you fine tune the Fresnel effect.

From here we need to wire all the nodes together. Firstly, via the 'Connection Editor' (it will pop up if you drag one node onto the other via the middle mouse button), connect the 'ramp.outColour' to the 'surfaceShader.outColour'. Then connect the samplerInfo.facingRatio' to the 'ramp.vCoord'.

Now making sure you have your new render layer selected, right click on the 'surfaceShader' and select the 'Assign Material Override for (name of your render layer)'.

For this type of render layer there is no need to Batch Render your scene, simply doing a standard 'Render Current Frame' will render your new custom Fresnel pass.

Click here to download the Maya 2010 ASCII file...

(Thanks to Tahl Niran, Double Negative, and Wikipedia).

A Point Pass is used in conjunction with a Normal Pass for relighting purposes inside of Nuke. Both Point and Normal Pass come in 3 varieties, Object Space, World Space or Camera Space. If the Point pass is rendered using the World Space type then the Normal Pass must be the same or the relighting won't work properly.

First of all create a new 'Render Layer' and add your objects.

Next change your 'Render Settings' to use mental ray as the Renderer, no need to create a render pass as you just need the standard beauty which you get for free.

Now in your 'Hyper Shader' create two new nodes all from the Maya Nodes section. Firstly a 'surfaceShader' and secondly a 'sampleInfo' Node

From here we need to wire the two nodes together. Via the 'Connection Editor' (it will pop up if you drag one node onto the other via the middle mouse button), connect the 'samplerInfo.pointWorld' to the 'surfaceShader.outColour'.

Now making sure you have your new render layer selected, right click on the 'surfaceShader' and select the 'Assign Material Override for (name of your render layer)'.

For this type of render layer there is no need to Batch Render your scene, simply doing a standard 'Render Current Frame' will render your new custom Fresnel pass.

Click here to download the Maya 2010 ASCII file...

(Thanks to Tahl Niran, Double Negative).