Getting Started - Using mental ray for Maya shaders

This document shows you step-by-step examples of how to use some of the most common mental ray shaders in Maya.

The main goal is to provide some basic shader workflows from which you can then develop your own.

Each section begins with a simple scene, then adds shaders to demonstrate the workflow and purpose of the shader. Although you can view this document in any browser, by viewing it in the Maya web browser, you can clink links to see live demonstrations, in the Maya UI, of the discussed concepts and procedures; each link you click performs a MEL command to the scene opened. (The MEL command links will work only if each step is followed exactly as described in each section.)

For details about mental ray shaders, please refer to mental ray User Manual and mental ray Shaders Guide, which you can find in the online help.

Material Shaders
Shows the basic workflow for material shaders, with automatic light linking and manual light connection, using a Cornell box scene.
Shaders used in this section: mib_illum_lambert, dgs_material, dielectric_material tramsat

Sample Compositing Shaders
Shows the basic workflow for sample compositing shaders.
Shaders used in this section: mib_opacity, mib_reflect, mib_refract, mib_refraction_index, mib_transparency, mib_two_sided.

Texture Shaders

·         Procedural texture
Shaders used in this section: mib_texture_checkerboard, mib_texture_vector, mib_texture_remap

·         Bump map
An advanced workflow to create bump effects.
Shaders used in this section: dgs_material, mib_passthrough_bump_map, mib_texture_vector, mib_texture_remap, mib_color_mix 

Environment Shaders
Shows the basic workflow for environment shaders, with local environment mapping and global environment mapping.
Shaders used in this section: mib_lookup_spherical.

Volume Shaders
Shows the basic workflow for volume effects.
Shaders used in this section: parti_volume, transmat

Photon Shader
Shows the basic workflow for global illumination and caustics using photon shaders, including participating media effects with photons using photon volume shaders.
Uses a Cornell box scene to adds global illumination, caustics, volume scattering, volume caustics.
Shaders used in this section: dgs_material, dielectric_material tramsat, dgs_material_photon, dielectric_material_photon tramsat_photon, parti_volume, parti_volume_photon.

Light Shaders
Shows the basic workflow for light shaders; that is, how to use a light profile.
Shaders used in this section: physical_light, mib_light_photometric.

Phenomenon
Shows the basic workflow of how to create, export, load and render the phenomenon.
Shaders used in this section: mentalrayPhenomenon, mib_illum_ward, mib_texture_rotate, mib_texture_vector, mib_texture_turbulence.