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Exporter Reference

Supported Features

This page summarizes the feature surface exposed by the current Maya glTF exporter.

Open Exporter Overview Install the Plug-in View Technical Details

Supported Output Formats

  • glb: single self-contained binary file
  • glTF: JSON-based export with separate or embedded resources (Resources defaults to Copy source files)

Core Export Features

  • Export entire scenes or only the current selection
  • Export transform, mesh, skin, camera, and light data
  • Turn animation export on or off with the Export Animation checkbox
  • Export animation as Scene Keys, Sampled, or Time Editor Clips
  • Optional Bake Animation Keyframes for Scene Keys and Time Editor Clips (On by default)
  • Recommended for web / real-time viewers: Time Editor Clips with Bake Animation Keyframes On
  • Faster export for Time Editor / imported clip scenes on large assets
  • Export tangents when you need authored tangent-space data
  • Preserve round-trip quad metadata through Maya-specific extras
  • Write the doubleSided flag when the gltfDoubleSided custom attribute is enabled on the material, or when the automatic backface-culling fallback detects that culling is off on the assigned mesh shapes - see Material Authoring for usage

Supported Extensions

The exporter can emit the following extensions when the scene data requires them.

Khronos Extensions (KHR_)

Extension When it is emitted
KHR_animation_pointer (partial) Used for visibility show/hide and light intensity animation. Other custom attributes are not animated through this extension.
KHR_draco_mesh_compression When Draco compression is enabled
KHR_gaussian_splatting When gaussian splat export is enabled and GaussianSplatPlugin is available (PolyPulse3D; Windows only)
KHR_lights_punctual When Maya punctual lights are exported
KHR_materials_anisotropy When authored on supported materials
KHR_materials_clearcoat When authored on supported materials
KHR_materials_diffuse_transmission When authored on supported materials
KHR_materials_dispersion When authored on supported materials
KHR_materials_emissive_strength When emissive strength data is authored
KHR_materials_ior When authored on supported materials
KHR_materials_iridescence When authored on supported materials
KHR_materials_sheen When authored on supported materials
KHR_materials_specular When authored on supported materials
KHR_materials_transmission When authored on supported materials
KHR_materials_unlit When the material is authored as unlit
KHR_materials_variants When variant authoring data exists in the Maya scene
KHR_materials_volume When authored on supported materials
KHR_mesh_quantization When mesh quantization is enabled
KHR_node_visibility When visibility animation requires it
KHR_texture_basisu When KTX2 texture export is enabled
KHR_texture_transform (partial) UV offset, tiling (repeat), and wrap modes are exported from place2dTexture nodes. Rotation is exported with pivot compensation, but is currently not working as expected - verify in your target viewer. Rotation is not exported for aiImage nodes.

Vendor Extensions (EXT_)

Extension When it is emitted
EXT_mesh_gpu_instancing When instanced mesh data is present in the scene
EXT_texture_webp When WebP texture conversion is enabled

Supported Texture and Compression Workflows

  • Keep original textures without conversion
  • Convert textures to WebP
  • Convert textures to KTX2
  • Configure KTX2 quality, compression mode, supercompression, mipmap generation, and optional normal-map compression
  • Configure Draco compression presets and per-attribute quantization values
  • Reuse packed ORM images or repack separate grayscale AO, roughness, and metallic inputs for StingrayPBS, including same-image file nodes connected through outColor

Round-Trip Friendly Features

  • Maya file/place2dTexture nodes can be exported back to KHR_texture_transform (offset and tiling - UV rotation is currently not working as expected; see limitations)
  • Material variants imported into Maya can be re-exported if the scene metadata is preserved
  • Time Editor clips can be exported directly
  • Quad topology metadata can be exported for later re-import into Maya
  • Gaussian splat shapes can be exported when the companion GaussianSplatPlugin bridge is available (PolyPulse3D; Windows only), with optional Compress Splats and SH Degree (0-3) controls