Xeon18
11-23-2008, 02:01 PM
ok I know this is so un-game like but our VFX environments teacher is making us use mental ray lighting for our RENDERED scene so anyone know any good tutorials for Maya Mental ray lighting?
SpiralFace
01-27-2009, 12:05 AM
well the best I can say is to simply get the bible:
http://www.amazon.com/mental-ray-Maya-3ds-Max/dp/0470008547/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233043019&sr=8-1
And don't discount Mental Ray so easily. Many cutting edge game engines these days are going the way of Mental ray and Maya procedural shading trees. So learning how to get the most out of them can do nothing but help you when it comes down to things like Unreal 3.
Since now a days, these game engine shader trees are actually much more advanced then anything ANY 3d app can display in viewport.
(I mean come on. Unreal can handle real time sub surface fakes along with real time fresnel rim reflections.)
Not to mention the fact that the better you know the mechanics of the individual shader attributes, the better you can get them to work for you.
Trust me. I went to school for games, but I'm now doing Video game Cinematic and TV. If I didn't take a movie end texture shading class, I don't think I would have been able to stay employed as long as I have been.