Creating Custom Shaders
 

How are shaders created? Are they done in photoshop or some other type of program?

What exactly do you mean by created?

A shader in maya is created procedurally by maya. Shaders are all the default nodes in maya. A Texture would be the image mapped to a shader.

You can use any image creator to create your own texture files, but you have to put them on a shader to get it onto your object.
I hope that makes sense.

what he said;)

You are far too flattering Acid.

:Di was gonna say basically the same thing but you got to it first

I meant creating my own shaders for objects. Like if I wanted a weird metal shader, could I create it in photoshop and then make a custom shelf in hypershade for it?

yep

http://www.3dtotal.com/

look at some of the free tuts on there and oother sites (i cant think of any others right now) if you need help to figure out how:beer:

Hello there Anthony:

A shading network is a collection of connected rendering nodes that defines how colors and textures contribute (usually with lights) to the final look of surfaces (materials).
A shading network typically consists of any number of connected rendering nodes plugged into a shading group node. (For more information about render nodes, see "Render nodes" in the help.)

A good portion of your time building shading networks is spent connecting node attributes to each other and adjusting node attributes to describe what a surface should look like and how it should be positioned.

To build shading networks, see "Overview of building shading networks" in the help.

Below is an attached picture from the help to better explain:)

Also, for more information on what a shader is, and how you make and apply them to your geometry, see the following chapter in the help:

Using Maya
-Rendering and Rendering Setup
--Shading
---About shading and texturing surfaces

The gold icons signify detailed help.
The Blue icons signify tutorial-style instruction:)

Good luck, and welcome to the community!

Cheers guys:beer:
This is just what I was looking for.