In a newly merged pull request, current UC Berkeley student Rebecca Feng has introduced a Maya extension that allows Autodesk Maya users to integrate Nerfstudio’s Radiance Field reconstructions directly into their animation and visual effects workflows. The plugin works for both Nerfacto and Splatfacto.
The workflow centers on a camera path JSON file that can be read by both Maya and Nerfstudio. First, the user trains or processes a Radiance Field in Nerfstudio, exporting both a reference mesh and a JSON file containing camera information. In Maya, artists import that mesh, position any 3D objects or effects, and even animate a camera path as needed. The extension then generates or reads the JSON data, ensuring that the camera perspectives remain synchronized across both platforms.
Once you have both done, you can composite them in a tool like Adobe After Effects (or any preferred software). Be mindful of matching frame rates (Nerfstudio defaults to 24 fps), and ensure that the Radiance Field and Maya elements align correctly on the timeline. Currently only perspective cameras are supported, but any renderer, such as Arnold or Redshift can be used.
Support for Radiance Field methods in industry standard software continues to grow with this extension, joining Nuke, OctaneRender, and Cinema4D, which most recently received support.
For more details on installation steps, system requirements, or troubleshooting tips, users are encouraged to check out Nerfstudio’s official documentation and the GitHub repository where the plugin is hosted. The plugin is completely free and can be found here.
