mental ray Workflows in Maya: Caustics

Learn creative practices for caustics, reflecting and refracting light rays, and time-saving rendering techniques that can be used in an array of scenarios that require caustic effects. Contains over 2 hours of project-based training. Perfect for intermediate artists.

Popular highlights include: Understanding Caustic Photons; Emitting Photons from Various Light Sources; Controlling Photon Energy and Decay Rates; Altering Photon Color Attributes; Separating Caustics from Direct Lighting; Tuning Caustic Scale, Radius, and Accuracy; Photon Tracing with Transparent Surfaces; Saving and Re-using Caustic Photons Maps; Dielectric Material Properties; Troubleshooting Rendering Errors; Using the Map Visualizer; Photon Interactions with Maya Materials; Photon Interactions with mental ray Materials;

1. Understanding caustic photons in mental ray 3. Altering caustic color attributes 5. Raytracing attributes to correctly calculate refractive surfaces 7. Controlling how photons interact with Maya materials 9. Adding complex color variation to caustic patterns 11. Overview of mental ray's Dielectric material 13. Saving and re-using caustic photon maps 15. Using Photon Tracing to control how caustics interact with transparent surfaces 17. Caustic lighting exercise - Setting up direct lights and caustic emitters

2. Controlling caustic photon emission and photon energy properties 4. Separating caustic effects from direct illumination 6. Fine-tuning caustic attributes in the Render Settings 8. Controlling how photons interact with mental ray materials 10. Creating caustic effects with mental ray's architectural materials 12. Creating an accurate glass-liquid interaction with Dielectric materials 14. Using the Map Visualizer to view photons in a scene 16. Caustic lighting exercise - geometry and material preparation 18. Caustic lighting exercise - increasing caustic quality