Lab 4: Textures, Shaders, and Renderers
IDS360: 3D Virtual Sculpture, Spring 2012

Objectives

General Description

• Anish Kapoor. Also see Cloud Gate images
• Naum Gabo Also see perspex images
• Luke Jerram Also see Glass Microbiology images
• Bruce Beasley (click on "Sculptures" and then "Cast Acrylic")
• Frank Gehry Also see images

Maya Tutorials

• Please work on cs-render (or copy your projects over to cs-render after you are done). The supplementary files you will need for these tutorials below can be found in the folder IDS252Resources/maya2012_gettingstartedlessondata/GettingStartedMaya2012LessonData on cs-render. Copy over the entire project folders called Rendering, Paint and UVMapping. In Maya, you will set the project to be the appropriate folder depending on the tutorial.

• In Maya, go to Help -> Tutorials. Click on the link Getting Started with Maya 2012. In the contents, click on Getting Started with Maya. The lessons will be under Rendering, Paint or Polygon Texturing. Do the following lessons:
  

  • Polygon Texturing - Lesson 1: UV texture mapping (files are in the UVMapping folder of IDS252Resources/maya2012_gettingstartedlessondata/GettingStartedMaya2012LessonData. You will need Photoshop on your computer).
      When done, you should have an image of a cracker box.
  • Rendering - Lesson 1: Rendering a scene (this is mostly review)
  • Rendering - Lesson 2: Shading surfaces.
      When done, you should have an image of a textured, bump mapped orange.
  • Rendering - Lesson 4: Global Illumination
      When done, you should have an image of a bowl of fruit.
  • (Optional) Rendering - Lesson 5: Caustics.
  • (Optional) Paint - Lesson 1: Painting in 2D using Paint Effects
  • (Optional) Paint - Lesson 3: Painting textures on surfaces

• When done, please place the following in the IDS360Sp12/Lab4 folder on cs-render in the designated subfolder

  • TutorialProjects: The Maya project files and folders for each of the tutorials.
  • TutorialImages: Your 3 completed tutorial images (cracker box, orange, fruit bowl)

Sculpture

• Decide which sculpture you are going to use, Lab1 or Lab 3. Note, Lab 1 might be a easier to use. Copy your previous Maya project for this sculpture and place it on cs-render in the folder IDS360Sp12/Lab4/SculptureProjects/your_name). You are not expected to change the geometry of your sculpture.
• As you try things out, save versions of scenes and keep notes (e.g. in a Word doc) recording the name of the scene file and what major settings were used. That way, when you find something you like, you will later on be able to recreate the effect. Below is a suggestion on how to proceed:
  • Start with using the standard Maya Software renderer; this is probably what you used in the previous lab.
  • You might want to delete all your previous lights and add new ones. It is best to add one light at a time, adjust the settings, and add additional ones only as needed.
  • Try turning on ray tracing to so you can see reflections. If all of your shaders are of type Lambert then you may not see a huge change. Change the shaders to Blinn so that you can see reflections. Adjust the reflectivity for each material to give the desired degree of reflection. Try changing some of the other properties, e.g. diffuse, transparency, etc. When you get something you like, make sure you render an image, save a copy of the image and scene files, and jot down in your Word doc which major settings you changed.
  • Add maps to some of the shader channels. For example, begin with the channels for the color, bump, or transparency. You might want different parts of your sculpture to have different shaders and maps. Many free texture images can be found at mayang. Experiment with a variety of textures and texture placements. If you have problems with the placement of the maps, you may need to generate new UV coordinates. Please ask, if you have problems. Again, when you get something you like, render an image, save the image and scene files, and make notes.
  • Mental Ray can be confusing to use. If you want to give it a try, go to the render settings and change from the Maya Software renderer to Mental Ray.
    • One of the simplest things to try is the "Physical Sun and Sky". Delete other lights in your scene. In the render settings, go to the tab Indirect Lighting and click on the Create button next to "Physical Sun and Sky". Render your scene.
    • Alternatively you could use the standard lights. Enclose your sculpture in a room (e.g. cube) so that you can see the effects of global illumination and diffuse lighting. Follow some of the steps that were used in the tutorial.

• Design: In making your final decision of what setting to use, remember that the final choice of materials need to be distributed in an intentional and strategic way. Aim for a scene that looks as realistic as possible. Include reflections. Please discuss options with the instructor(s).

• When done, please place the following in the IDS360Sp12/Lab4 folder on cs-render in the designated subfolder

  • SculptureProjects: the Maya project and folder for your sculpture
  • SculptureImages: Place your Word document along with a couple of sample images from your experimentation. Include at least two views of your final sculpture, chosen so that the characteristics of the materials are clear. Be prepared to discuss which settings you tried (as listed in your Word doc), and which settings you finally used and why you chose them.

Evaluation

Evaluation of this lab will be based on the following criteria (pdf)

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