Learning Maya 6 Rendering

Learning Maya 6: Rendering is your resource for creating dazzling imagery in Maya. Get hands-on experience with the power of the Maya rendering engine and mental ray for Maya as you set lights and cameras to your scenes, apply materials and textures to your models, create shading networks, and much more! Whether you are striving for photo-realism, expressionism, or anything in between, achieve the results you want with Learning Maya 6: Rendering.

Get the look you strive for with Learning Maya 6: Rendering. This book will enable you to explore lighting, cameras, shading networks and other rendering issues from an introductory level. Get ready to explore advanced concepts in a comfortable format while you learn to take advantage of options such as hardware and vector rendering. Get the information you need to master Caustics and Global Illumination, Final Gather and HDRI. Learning Maya 6: Rendering includes an inspiring photo gallery of images rendered in Maya and mental ray for Maya so you can see the types of results you'll soon achieve.

Each chapter includes a theoretical discussion to help you understand the concepts at play, as well as easy to follow step-by-step tutorials so that you can start working right away. The book also includes an accompanying DVD-ROM featuring chapter-by-chapter overviews offered by Alias Certified Instructors. Gain additional insight and assistance from these valuable bonus discussions. You'll also take advantage of Maya Beginner's Guide: Rendering to help you get started.
With this book you will:

* Create materials and textures
* Set up lights and cameras
* Work with shadows and raytracing
* Learn to control your renders
* Understand rendering for special effects and compositing
* Explore hardware rendering and vector rendering
* Create Caustics and Global Illumination effects
* Understand Final Gather and HDRI techniques
* Create Maya and mental ray Shaders
* And much more!