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Introduction to mental ray in Maya 2014

by Kyle Green

In this tutorial, we will be exploring the core tools and features of mental ray in Maya. Software required: Maya 2014 .

What you'll learn

In this tutorial, we will be exploring the core tools and features of mental ray in Maya. Having a solid understanding of mental ray's core features and how they work is a crucial step toward becoming an efficient and productive rendering artist in Maya. We will begin our training by learning two different methods for simulating realistic indirect lighting in Maya, the first method will use global illumination, then we will learn about the second method using final gather. We will also explore how you can use caustic photons to simulate the detailed light patterns that are created when light passes through refractive surfaces. In addition, we will also explore Image-based lighting techniques, how to render our scenes in multiple passes, as well as many other tools and techniques that will allow you start generating high quality work for a multitude of projects. Software required: Maya 2014 .

About the author

Kyle was one of the first authors for Digital-Tutors, now a Pluralsight company. and has been a part of the team for over 10 years. Kyle began his career in computer graphics education as a college instructor and worked as a Digital-Tutors rendering tutor and curriculum manager since 2002. Kyle has contributed to many of the most popular projects and helped the Digital-Tutors team win awards throughout the company's history. Kyle has had the honor of having his art exhibited at the New York ... more

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