Chapter 9. Lighting with mental ray

To achieve professional-quality, realistic renders in Maya, you need to master the mental ray render plug-in that comes with Maya. mental ray is a complex rendering system that is incorporated through the Maya interface. Learning how to use it properly and efficiently takes time, study, and practice. Chapters 9 through 12 discuss various aspects of working with mental ray. This chapter is concerned with using mental ray lighting tools and techniques to create realistic renders.

There are a lot of options within mental ray that allow you to achieve a wide variety of techniques. You won't need to use them all in every case, but a good understanding of what is available will help you make better decisions when approaching ...

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