Arnold for Maya Depth of Field (DOF)

Posted on by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Maya 2018 | Arnold 5

Untitled-2.jpg

  1. In the camera shape node’s Arnold Attributes:
    Check ‘Enable DOF’.
  2. Set ‘Aperture Size’ and ‘Focus Distance’ to control the effect.
    Note:
    The Aperture Size attribute isn’t an f-number aperture like we would expect in photography but a radius in world units.
    Larger Aperture Size values (larger lens Iris opening), and shorter Focus Distances will cause a narrower Depth of Field which will result in the background appearing more blurry.
    DOF is generally more apparent with ‘long lenses’ (shorter focal length).
  3. Set other Aperture attributes like the number of blades and aspect ration to further design the appearance of out of focus areas and especially highlights.
    * The optical effect referred by the term ‘Bokeh’ in photography.

 

Related Posts:

Arnold for Maya Motion-Blur

After Effects Camera Lens Blur

Maya – Set render output Files

Posted on by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Maya 2018

Setting the file output path:

File > Project Window

In the ‘Images’ path,
Click the folder button on the right to set the path

* You can set a general Project folder for more global control of project related file paths

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Setting the file format:

Render Settings > Image File Output

* Click ‘Image Format Options’ for more image file format control

untitled-32.jpg

 

Displacement in V-Ray for Maya

Posted on by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Maya 2018 | V-Ray 3.6

Basic Displacement through the shader:

1) Connect a displacement map to the Displacement Shader input of the Shading Group Node.

2) Multiply the value to set the displacement amount.

3) Control Displacement Settings globally through VRay Render Settings:
Edge Length:
The minimum size in pixels for new created edges.
Lower values will create more detailed geometry but cost more memory.

Disp_A.jpg

 

Per Object Displacement with more controls:

1) Add a VRay Displacement node to the object (See images).

2) Connect Displacement Map

3) For more control, and Local displacement quality settings,
In the Attributes Editor, Add VRay Displacement Control and VRay Subdivision and Displacement Quality attributes to the object (See images).

Disp_B.jpg

Disp_B1.jpg

V-Ray for Maya Matte / Ray Visibility

Posted on by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Maya 2018 | V-Ray 3.6

Basic object render visibility can be set through Maya’s Render ‘Stats settings’ in the object shape node.

For more control and Matte Object / Shadow catching options, add VRay Object Properties to the Object (See Example)

To Create a Shadow Catcher:

1) Add VRay Object Properties to the objects (see image)

2) In the VRay Object Properties attributes, check ‘Matte Object’

3) Check Shadws

vray_maya_matte1.jpg

Shadow Catcher Notes:

* Artifacts in shadows while using Light Cache GI (no problem with Brute Force GI)

* When using a Dome Light, the Dome light Back ground will not show through the Matte Object but the Environment background to solve that connect the Dome light texture also to the VRay Enviroment Override.

* In order for ‘Affect Alpha’ to work and produce transparent image, ‘Alpha Contribution’ must be set to -1.

 

Materials:

Matte Shadow and Ray Visibility can also be set through shaders, by using a VRayMtlWrapper:

Untitled-3.jpg

And also by using a VRayRaySwitch texture:

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V-Ray for Maya Physical Camera

Posted on by Oded Maoz Erell

To access V-Ray Physical Camera functionality in Maya,
V-Ray Physical Camera attributes must be added to the camera and enabled.

1) select the camera

2) In the attribute editor open the Attribute menu and choose V-Ray > Physical Camera

3) make sure treat as physical camera is enabled

* you can add more V-Ray Attributes to the camera like this

V-Ray_Physical-camera

Arnold renderer – First impressions

Posted on by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Maya 2018 | Arnold 5

As a 3D rendering instructor I’ve been recently required to get familiar with rendering animations using Arnold for Maya so that I’ll be able to train VFX / Animation students to do so.

So today, after about 15 years since the last time I worked with Maya, I installed the latest version of the software’s educational edition on my PC, and started finding my way around the basics, and rendering with the Arnold renderer.

So obviously, the Arnold renderer is a state of the art production ray-tracer for the film VFX industry, and it sure feels that way with its no-nonsense super-realistic uncompromising physical approach to all the aspects of rendering, giving the artist total freedom to configure whatever he or she can possibly want,
And for someone with an understanding of physical definitions of light sources, optical attributes of surfaces, physical shaders and the technical process of ray-tracing, it’s an absolute joy to use.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is that the Arnold renderer wasn’t developed as a practical rendering solution for independent artists relaying on one or two PC CPU’s as the main rendering work force.
Arnold’s Brute Force rendering approach is very convenient to use and provides awesome shading quality, but it requires massive processing power to be practical in production of animations, even with today’s multicore desktop CPU revolution that was started with AMD launching the Ryzen chips.

* I must admit that (in the field of 3D visualization) I got spoiled by using Mental Ray and V-Ray over the years and got used to rendering with at least 3 bounces of indirect diffuse illumination,
Something that using interpolated GI calculations like irradiance caching and such can be done relatively fast on a desktop PC, but using accurate Brute Force to do it (on a desktop PC CPU) makes it impractically too slow.

The good news:

A) The GPU rendering revolution that was enabled by the nVidia Cuda technology is making massively parallel Brute Force rendering practical at a fraction of the price of CPU processing power.
Example:
About 3 years ago I decided I must check what’s this “Cuda rendering” all about, so I purchased a Geforce Gtx Titan Black GPU (Geforce 7 series) for about 1200$.
That GPU had Brute Force rendering power equivalent to about 16 3Ghz CPU cores.
Today you can get the same speed and memory with a 300$ Geforce Gtx 1060 GPU.
But Arnold isn’t a GPU renderer.. one may rightfully say….
* It should be said that GPU rendering is currently limited in the amount of memory compared to CPU rendering, and also OSL shaders are not supported.

B) Cycles renderer, Blender’s own built-in render engine is a GPU renderer, and it’s very similar to Arnold in its highly physical no-nonsense Brute Force rendering approach.
So if you wish to enjoy an “Arnold Style” physical shading and Brute Force rendering workflow in a small indie studio environment, GPU rendering with Blender and Cycles is a good way to do that, plus the software is free.
A relatively modest investment in 2 Geforce Gtx 1070 GPUs will give you Brute force rendering power roughly equivalent to 40 3Ghz CPU cores, at about a 4th or a 5th of the price it would cost in CPU’s.

All that being said..
Arnold is absolutely awesome! 😀

Update:
It seam that a version of Arnold that can render on GPU is on it’s way, and this is great news!