mental ray Nodes in Maya
An in-depth guide to learning mental ray shading nodes
Software Requirement: Maya 8 or higher (Maya 8.5 required for project
files)
Run Time: 4 hrs. 9 min., 1 disc
Format: CD-ROM
Learn the fundamentals of mental ray nodes in Maya and add visual depth to
your work. Contains over 4 hours of project-based training. Perfect for
intermediate artists.
Popular highlights include:
- Overview of Common mental ray Materials
- Simulating Glass & Water with Dielectric Materials
- Setting up Dielectric-to-Dielectric Material Interactions
- Simulating Glossy Reflective Surfaces with DGS Material
- Generating Realistic Automotive Renders with Car Paint Phenomena
- Mimicking Light through Skin with Subsurface Scattering
- Creating Multi-node mental ray Shading Networks
- Controlling Texture Placement Using Rotational Matrices
- Overview of mental ray’s Procedural Textures
- Utilizing Maya’s Procedural Shaders in a mental ray Network
- Constructing Custom Phenomena
- Understanding the Various Types of Ambient Occlusion
- Applying Real-world Lighting Data to mental ray Lights
- Using mental ray Lights that Emit Color Based on Temperature
- Creating Caustic Effects with Photonic Materials
- Overview of mental ray's Architectural Material
- Generating Realistic Outdoor Renders Using Physical Sky Shader
* Maya 8.5 and higher is recommended for several lessons. Please see the
outline.
| 1. |
Introduction and project overview |
1:39 |
| 2. |
Overview of common mental ray material
attributes |
6:16 |
| 3. |
Exploring the various light linking
modes available to mental ray shaders |
7:11 |
| 4. |
Looking at the specialized features of
the Cook-Torrance mental ray shader |
5:33 |
| 5. |
Overview of the shading properties for
the mental ray Ward shader |
5:38 |
| 6. |
Using the DGS material to create
surfaces that require blurry reflections |
9:12 |
| 7. |
Combining the Glossy Reflection
material with other mental ray shaders |
9:36 |
| 8. |
Exploring how the Dielectric Material
can be used to simulate physically accurate glass and water |
4:38 |
| 9. |
Setting up Dielectric-to-Dielectric
material interactions to simulate a glass full of liquid |
11:43 |
| 10. |
Using mental ray’s Car Paint shader to
render realistic automobiles |
13:25 |
| 11. |
Looking at how mental ray can simulate
the effects of light as it passes through skin |
14:22 |
| 12. |
Using the Sample Compositing nodes to
expand the functionality of mental ray’s existing materials |
7:30 |
| 13. |
Connecting 2D file textures into your
mental ray shading networks |
14:07 |
| 14. |
Customizing mental ray’s procedural
textures and applying them to your objects |
13:22 |
| 15. |
Setting up a mental ray shading
network that is able to evaluate bump maps |
10:54 |
| 16. |
Using the mental ray bump_map2 node as
a simpler alternative to complex bump networks |
5:40 |
| 17. |
Assigning 2D textures to various parts
of the conference room geometry |
9:13 |
| 18. |
Creating a procedural shading network
to add the stitch pattern in the chairs |
8:51 |
| 19. |
Exporting multi-node shading networks
as a single Phenomena node |
11:18 |
| 20. |
Loading a mental ray Phenomena into
Maya as a custom shader (requires Maya 8.5 and
higher) |
8:09 |
| 21. |
Exploring how Ambient Occlusion can be
used to add soft indirect shadows to your renders |
11:23 |
| 22. |
Using Reflective Ambient Occlusion to
get different types of indirect shadows |
5:11 |
| 23. |
Using Environment Ambient Occlusion to
add color into your Ambient Occlusion render |
3:45 |
| 24. |
Overview of some of the common mental
ray light shaders that can be applied to your Maya lights |
7:44 |
| 25. |
Using the Photometric light shader to
import real-world light data from various lighting manufacturers |
3:52 |
| 26. |
Exploring the Blackbody and CIE_D
light shaders, which emit light color based on temperature |
4:56 |
| 27. |
Setting up a depth-of-field lens
shader to your camera to add depth to your renders |
4:54 |
| 28. |
Creating caustic light patterns using
mental ray’s photonic materials |
9:45 |
| 29. |
Overview of mental ray’s new
architectural material that has the capability to simulate many
different material types (requires Maya 8.5 and
higher) |
7:29 |
| 30. |
Looking at mental ray’s Round Corners
material, which can bevel an objects edges at render time
(requires Maya 8.5 and higher) |
5:16 |
| 31. |
Using the new Physical Sky shader to
create very realistic outdoor renders (requires
Maya 8.5 and higher) |
6:21 |
| |
Total Run Time: |
4:08:53 |
