Maya 2011 Controlling Shadows to Improve Render Quality Tutorial by Stuart Christensen.mov

If you are new to rendering in Maya, learning about shadows and how they effect render quality and render time is essential to getting a professional look. There's lot's of various adjustments to make before arriving at a quality render and this tutorial by Stuart Christensen will help you get acquainted with the various settings to look at first as you "fine tune" the overall render. You will learn about the basic settings and be on you way to achieving great results quickly and painlessly!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Maya
• 2011
• Shadows
• Rendering
• Physical
• Sun
• Sky

[eR0ck1nit]

@deepfriedectoplasm Thanks for the reply. It seems like everything I do causes that, but mostly all I do is modeling and still life stuff (very little animation). I'm still in the learning phase I should prob just buy the book I guess. Like if my model gets just a little complicated it will lag just moving the camera or perspective around. Also, say I go from one operation to another it will lag (i.e. From modeling back to changing perspective and visa versa).

[deepfriedectoplasm]

@eR0ck1nit Depending on the complexity of your model, Maya can be sluggish even on a really super computer especially if you have the viewport set to high quality, lights, shadows, and textures. If you are experiencing lagging it could be due to a combination of these things. Check the preferences and turn on "fast interaction". And yes, if you are just starting out, check out Amazon.com for a used version of Mastering 2009/2010/2011/2012 for about $20-30 bucks.

[eR0ck1nit]

I'm using a mac that's been upgraded in the hardware, but I still get pinwheels all the time. Is there a good resource out there for optimizing maya on my mac? (3.1 Intel i7 1, 12 GB 1600 mhz ddr3, and a 1GB video card...)

[deepfriedectoplasm]

@eR0ck1nit That sounds like a beefy little mac and it should have no problem with running Maya. Are you doing something in particular when the program crashes? Sometimes it's more a matter of having correct render settings for optimizing performance...and most of the time spinning beachballs indicate operator error or asking Maya to do something that is impossible. It's sort of hard to answer without lot's more information.

[voidreamer]

I've seen you use student version of maya, can you activate external plugins for it, like vray for maya and so?, can u export to fbx ?, thanks

[deepfriedectoplasm]

@voidreamer Yes, the student/educator version is exactly the same as the commercial version, it's just that I can't use the educational version for commercial purposes. Hope that helps.

[voidreamer]

@deepfriedectoplasm thank you 8))

[Zandalor16]

Thanks again! There were countless situations when I couldn't do something without you :) I started using Maya half a year ago and in the beginning I was a little bit confused..lot of stuff and options..didn't know where to start :D I started watching more of your tutorials 'cos I didn't want give it up..I must say that "absolutely worth it" :)Lots of practice and here I am, a 18 years old Hungarian guy who modelled his school :) I will send a videoto you because I'm curious about your opinion:)

[IWTBFOY]

Thank you so much!!

[deepfriedectoplasm]

@SweaterSwagg In due time! The problem with demonstrating GI is that sometimes in order to see the effects clearly there are usually lot's of textures and stuff in a scene, and when activated, Global Illumination can add significant amounts of time to a render, (2-3 minute renders or more are not uncommon) which makes tutorials sort of hard to do in a "reasonable" amount of time. Keep learning stuff and I'll try and cover this soon.