- Copyright
- Dear Reader,
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Introduction
- 1. Understanding Lighting, Color, and Composition
- 2. Applying the Correct Maya Light Type
- 3. Creating High-Quality Shadows
- 4. Applying the Correct Material and 2D Texture
- 5. Applying 3D Textures and Projections
- 6. Creating Custom Connections and Applying Color Utilities
- 6.1. Mastering the Hypershade Window
- 6.2. Shifting Colors
- 6.2.1. Converting RGB to HSV
- 6.2.2. Converting RGB to Luminance
- 6.2.3. Blending Colors
- 6.2.4. Remapping Color
- 6.2.5. Remapping HSV
- 6.2.6. Remapping Value
- 6.2.7. Smearing Colors
- 6.2.8. Correcting Gamma
- 6.2.9. Adjusting Contrast
- 6.2.10. A Note on Sliders and Super-White
- 6.2.11. Clamping Values
- 6.2.12. Reading Surface Luminance
- 6.3. Chapter Tutorial: Creating a Custom Paint Material
- 7. Automating a Scene with Sampler Nodes
- 7.1. Employing Samplers
- 7.2. Tying into Nonmaterial Nodes
- 7.3. Connecting Multiple Materials in One Network
- 7.4. Using the Studio Clear Coat Utility
- 7.5. Chapter Tutorial: Building a Custom Cartoon Shading Network
- 8. Harnessing the Power of Math Utilities
- 8.1. Math Utilities
- 8.2. Using Esoteric Utilities and Scene Nodes
- 8.3. Chapter Tutorial: Creating Eye Glow with Advanced Math Utilities
- 9. Improving Textures through Custom UVs, Maps, and Sliders
- 10. Prepping for Successful Renders
- 10.1. Determining Critical Project Settings
- 10.2. Mastering the Render Settings Window
- 10.3. Rendering with the Command Line
- 10.4. Organizing the Render
- 10.5. Selecting Image Formats and Render Resolutions
- 10.6. Creating Depth of Field
- 10.7. Applying Motion Blur
- 10.8. Step-by-Step: Splitting Up a Render
- 11. Raytracing with Maya Software and mental ray
- 12. Working with Global Illumination, Final Gather, and mental ray Shaders
- 13. Texturing and Lighting with Advanced Techniques
- 13.1. Adding Realism with HDRI
- 13.2. An Introduction to RenderMan For Maya
- 13.3. Creating Textures with the Transfer Maps Tool
- 13.4. Managing Renders with the Render Layer Editor
- 13.5. Step-by-Step: Creating the Cover Illustration
- A. About the Companion CD
- Additional Techniques
- A.5. 4.1: Creating a Custom Wireframe Render with a Ramp Texture
- A.6. 4.2: Creating a Custom Window Reflection with Ramp Textures
- A.7. 6.1: Controlling a Bicep with a Clamp Utility
- A.8. 6.2: Creating Stylized Chrome with the Surface Luminance Utility
- A.9. 7.1: Replicating Iridescence with the Surface Sampler Utility
- A.10. 7.2: Re-creating Skin Translucence
- A.11. 8.1: Rotating a Tire with Multiply Divide Utilities
- A.12. 8.2: Solving the Length of a Triangle's Edge with a Plus Minus Average Utility
- A.13. 9.1: Rebuilding Closed and Periodic Surfaces
- A.14. 10.1: Adjusting NURBS Surface Tessellation
- A.15. 12.1: Applying mental ray Diagnostic Tools
My thanks to the excellent editorial, production, and compositing staff at Sybex and Wiley & Sons, including Acquisitions Editor Mariann Barsolo, Development Editor Susan Herman, Production Editor Laurel Ibey, Technical Editors Keith Reicher and Eric Keller, Copy Editor Liz Welch, and Proofreader Ian Golder.
Special thanks to the faculty, staff, and students at the Art Institute of Las Vegas and Westwood College Online for inspiring me to perfect my craft. Special thanks also to my family and friends who supported my wild ambitions. And the biggest thanks to my beautiful wife, Anita, who encouraged me all the way, despite all those late, late 3D nights.
Several of the photos in this book were provided by the photographers of Stock XCHNG (www.sxc.hu). This is a wonderful site that provides royalty-free, restriction-free material simply out of love of the medium. Additional models were purchased from Turbo Squid (www.turbosquid.com), another excellent service.
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