Maya® Professional Tips and Techniques

Chapter 8. Rendering

THE FINAL STEP in any 3D animation is rendering. Although rendering isn't glamorous, proper attention to the process can improve any project. In particular, you can save time and energy by splitting up renders based on objects or shading components. You can even separate shadows from the rest of the scene or temporarily assign objects to specialized materials through the Render Layer Editor. Careful attention to rendering can also prevent such problems as raytraced "black pits." Last, specialized rendering techniques, including those that involve the Maya Vector renderer and the Hardware Render Buffer window, can expand the presentation possibilities of a demo reel.

This chapter's topics are organized into the following techniques: ...