Advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting

If you already understand the basics of Maya, the industry-leading 3D animation and effects software, you'll be ready to move on to the sophisticated topics in this updated edition of Advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting. Detailed, easy-to-follow instructions will teach you the real-world production secrets that professional animators use to achieve amazing results. In the second edition, you will find extensive and updated coverage of the latest theories and trends in addition to an enclosed CD with exclusive content to help you sharpen your skills.

Table of Contents:
Introduction. Chapter 1 Understanding Lighting, Color, and Composition. Understanding the Art of Lighting. Using 1-Point Lighting. Using 2-Point Lighting. Using 3-Point Lighting. Using Naturalistic Lighting. Using Stylized Lighting. Understanding Color and Composition. Color Theory Overview. Checking Color Calibration. A Note on Color Temperature. Setting a White Point. Applying the Golden Mean. Rule of Thirds. Step-by-Step: 3D Lighting Examples. Chapter 2 Applying the Correct Maya Light Type. Maya Light Types. Common Light Attributes. Using Spot Lights. Using Directional Lights. Using Ambient Lights. Using Point Lights. Using Area Lights. Using Volume Lights. Linking and Unlinking Lights. Using Light Fog and Light Glow. Creating Light Fog. A Note on Environment and Volume Fog. Light Glow. Chapter Tutorial: Lighting an Interior. Chapter 3 Creating High-Quality Shadows. Rendering Depth Maps. Understanding Depth Maps. Refining Depth Maps. Solving Light Gap Errors. Comparing Shadows. Raytracing Shadows. Linking and Unlinking Shadows. Creating Effects Shadows. Shadowing with Light Fog. Shadowing with Paint Effects. Shadowing with Maya Fur. Shadowing with Maya Hair. Shadowing with nCloth. Shadowing with the Toon System. Chapter Tutorial: Lighting a Flickering Fire Pit with Shadows. Chapter 4 Applying the Correct Material and 2D Texture. Reviewing Shading Models and Materials . Shading with Lambert. Shading with Phong. Shading with Blinn. Shading with Phong E. Shading with the Anisotropic Material. Shading with a Shading Map. Shading with a Surface Shader. Shading with Use Background. Reviewing 2D Textures. Applying Cloth. Applying Water. Applying Perlin Noise. Applying Ramps, Bitmaps, and Square Textures. Mastering Extra Map Options. Setting the Filter Type. Shifting Color with Invert and Color Remap. Stacking Materials and Textures. Mastering the Blinn Material. Re-Creating Wood. Re-Creating Metal. Re-Creating Plastic. Chapter Tutorial: Re-Creating Copper with Basic Texturing Techniques. Chapter 5 Applying 3D Textures and Projections. Exploring 3D Textures. Applying Random Textures. Applying Natural Textures. Applying Granular Textures. Applying Abstract Textures. Applying Environment Textures. 2D Texture Projection Options. Placing Placement Boxes and Projection Icons. Applying the Convert To File Texture Tool. Chapter Tutorial: Creating Skin with Procedural Textures. Chapter 6 Creating Custom Connections and Applying Color Utilities. Mastering the Hypershade Window. Reviewing the Basics. Creating Custom Connections. Cleaning Up. Shifting Colors. Converting RGB to HSV. Converting RGB to Luminance. Blending Colors. Remapping Color. Remapping HSV. Remapping Value. Smearing Colors. Correcting Gamma. Adjusting Contrast. A Note on Sliders and Super-White. Clamping Values. Reading Surface Luminance. Chapter Tutorial: Creating a Custom Paint Material. Chapter 7 Automating a Scene with Sampler Nodes. Employing Samplers. A Review of the Ramp Shader Material. Coordinate Space Refresher. Using the Sampler Info Utility. Using the Light Info Utility. Using the Particle Sampler Utility. Using the Distance Between Utility. Tying into Nonmaterial Nodes. Creating Simulated Propeller Spin. Reproducing the Hitchcock Zoom-Dolly. Tapping into Construction History Nodes. Redirecting the Initial Shading Group Node. Connecting Multiple Materials in One Network. Using the Studio Clear Coat Utility. Chapter Tutorial: Building a Custom Cartoon Shading Network. Chapter 8 Harnessing the Power of Math Utilities. Math Utilities. Reversing Input. Multiplying and Dividing. Adding, Subtracting, and Averaging Values. Using Expressions. Changing the Range of a Value. Mapping Per-Particle Attributes. Working with Vectors and Matrices. Testing a Condition. Switching Outputs. Using Esoteric Utilities and Scene Nodes. Stenciling Color. Applying Optical FX. Converting Units. Understanding Scene Nodes. Chapter Tutorial: Creating Eye Glow with Advanced Math Utilities. Chapter 9 Improving Textures through Custom UVs, Maps, and Sliders. Preparing UV Texture Space. Prepping NURBS Surfaces. Preparing Polygons. Using the 3D Paint Tool. The Basic Workflow. Roughing in a Texture. PSD Support. Bump and Displacement Mapping. Bump Mapping. Displacement Mapping. The Height Field Utility. Custom Sliders. Chapter Tutorial: Preparing the UVs of a Polygon Model. Chapter 10 Prepping for Successful Renders. Determining Critical Project Settings. Deciphering Aspect Ratios. Switching between Square and Nonsquare Pixels. Selecting a Film Back. Displaying Gates. Selecting a Focal Length. Selecting Frame Rates and Interlacing. A Note on Frame Rate Conversion. Mastering the Render Settings Window. Prepping Maya Software Renders. Prepping Maya Hardware Renders. Prepping Maya Vector Renders. Rendering with the Command Line. Organizing the Render. Cleaning Up. Recovering Lost Bitmaps. Selecting Image Formats and Render Resolutions. Differentiating Image Formats. A Note on 16-Bit Color Space. Changing Compression Settings. Oversized Rendering. Creating Depth of Field. Applying Motion Blur. Industry Examples: Splitting Up a Render. Chapter 11 Raytracing with Maya Software and mental ray. Maya Software vs. mental ray. Raytracing with Maya Software. Comparing the Scanline and Raytracing Processes. Setting Up a Raytrace. Creating Reflections. Managing Refractions and Aberrations. Raytracing with mental ray. Mastering mental ray Quality Settings. Using mental ray Motion Blur. Controlling mental ray Shadows. Creating Reflections and Refractions with mental ray. Reproducing Water. Water as a Liquid. Water as a Solid. Reproducing Glass. Creating Glass with Maya Software. Chapter Tutorial: Texturing and Rendering an Ice Cube. Chapter 12 Working with Global Illumination, Final Gather, and mental ray Shaders. Understanding Indirect Illumination. Tracing Photons. Rendering Global Illumination with mental ray. Adjusting Global Illumination Attributes. Reviewing Photon Hits. Applying Caustics. Applying mental ray Shaders. Using Dgs-material. Using Dielectric-material. Using "Mib" Shaders. Using "Misss" Shaders. Using Lens Shaders. Using Environment Shaders. Using Mib-volume and Parti-volume. Preparing mental ray Shaders for Global Illumination. Using Final Gather. Adjusting Final Gather Attributes. Using Irradiance. Fine-Tuning mental ray Renders. Rendering the Cornell Box. Rendering the Cornell Box with Maya Software. Chapter Tutorial: Creating Caustics with Final Gather. Chapter 13 Texturing and Lighting with Advanced Techniques. Adding Realism with HDRI. Comparing LDR and HDR Images. An Overview of Supported HDR Formats. Displaying HDR Images. Texturing with HDR Images. Tone Mapping with mental ray Lens Shaders. Lighting with HDR and LDR Images. An Introduction to RenderMan For Maya. Creating Textures with the Transfer Maps Tool. Normal Mapping. Creating Displacement Maps. Baking Lighting and Shading Information. Managing Renders with the Render Layer Editor. Render Layer Overview. Creating Member Overrides and Render Pass Options. Creating Render Settings Window Overrides. Using Presets. Creating Material Overrides. Step-by-Step: Creating the Cover Illustration. Appendix About the Companion CD. What You'll Find on the CD. Project Files. Bonus Chapter. System Requirements. Using the CD. Troubleshooting. Customer Care. Index.

About the Author :
Lee Lanier is a professional animator and instructor who has created digital special effects for such films as Mortal Kombat. He served as a senior animator in the Modeling and Lighting departments on Antz and Shrek and has produced and directed the animated short films Millennium Bug, Mirror, Day Off The Dead, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and 13 Ways to Die at Home. He has taught at several schools, including the Academy of Art University, Art Institute of Las Vegas, and Westwood College Online. His work can be seen at beezlebugbit.com.