MR, Ambient Occlusion and SSS in Maya 6.5

# 1 07-02-2005 , 12:46 AM

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Hi all,

As of late, I haven't gotten any responses to recent posts so I'll try again here. I've already posted something like this in the Mental Ray section but it's been a few days - I finally updated to Maya 6.5 and lemme tell ya, it has so many new tools and tool sets as well as improved rendering with a better implimented Final Gathering setup.
That said, I have to ask, I recently tried to render a model of mine using the provided ambient occlusion and now, ta da(!), subsurface scattering shaders and I just feel as if I'm missing something. Please look at my image and tell me what you think I'm missing, anything at all! Thanks in advance!

Your friend,
Russell

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# 2 07-02-2005 , 08:40 AM

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arms...

no seriously are you wanting comments on the model? The render? The lighting? or something else?

Other than the arms, or lack thereof, the model is fine. The skin seems like it could use a little luster, as the character looks pale and lifeless to me.

Is the protrusion from his forehead his hairstyle? If so you might want to add some sort of hair texture. user added image

AIM: mhcannonDMC

"If you love your job, you'll never work another day in your life."

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# 3 07-02-2005 , 04:41 PM

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I'm not sure what you're asking but, if you're using SSS shader, what kind of material did you try to make the model look like.

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# 4 08-02-2005 , 03:38 PM

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Sorry FOr The Confusion, Mates...

Yo,

Sorry about that. What I was asking was about the SSS shading. I'm trying to use both an ambient occlusion and subsurface scattering shader but I can't get the SSS to look like skin. I was looking for more of a "The Incredibles" shading look. My problem lies in connecting the nodes properly. I'm not sure what to do in that area.
The AO shader is connected to the lambert5.ambientColor node and the SSS is connected to the lambert5.incandescence node. I'm using the misss_fast_shader for SSS. Any ideas? Also, Mr. Cannon, sir, that IS his hair user added image

... I just haven't figured out how to section of the hairline yet to be able to "color" the right parts. I'm considering PFX but not sure if it's the right course of action to take. Never mind his nose... I decided he needed a little "pixel" surgery so he's getting a nosejob this week.
Basically, I'm just trying to figure out how all of this SSS stuff works or is supposed to work, I was using the SubScatter plug-in from Mark Davies but now that 6.5 is out, I'll have to wait til he updates his plug-in to use it again. If you can still give a little advice, I'd appreciate it.

Russell

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# 5 08-02-2005 , 05:35 PM

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just applying the miss_fast_shader alone will not give you subsurface scattering.
here is a quick and simple way to do it. https://cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=163360&page=3

"1. Install the MR shaders/scripts/icons etc as instructed in the readme file.
2. You shouldn't need to edit that AE template script file that Phoenix mentioned because a modified one comes in the package and you already installed it with the other scripts.
3. Start Maya.
4. Create one/some objects.
5. Create a light and get the scene looking how you want it for the final render (with just the Lambert1 shader still applied).
6. Select the object you want the fast SSS shader applied to.
7. Right click on it in the viewport and go to Materials > Assign New Material > Misss_fast_simple_maya.

That's the shader I've been using so we'll just use that for now. It's good. If you do a render now, you'll just get a funny tan coloured shader. Leave all the settings the way they are. In fact, do a render now and 'keep' the image so you can compare later and see that everything works.

8. Open out the Lightmap section of the shader.
9. Click on the texture applying button next to the lightmap slot.

It will automatically create the 'mentalrayTexture' shader that you need and open it's properties.

10. On the mentalrayTexture attributes, tick the Writable checkbox.
11. Change the File Size Depth to 32 bits.

You MUST change it to 32 bits for it to work.

12. Change the lightmap resolution to double the width of your render resolution, and to the same height as your render resolution.

For example, if you're going to render at 640x480 your lightmap should be 1280x480.

13. In the Image Name slot, type "\mySuperSSS" or something like that (but without the quotes).

You do NOT give a file extension as Mental Ray uses whatever it's lightmap file format is (extensionless). You MUST start the name with either a \ (UNIX style) or with C:\ etc because that's just the way it goes, you can't just type in a filename with no path. Going on my example, "\mySuperSSS" will create a lightmap file with no extension at C:\mySuperSSS. But don't look for it yet (even if you render) because we aren't finished yet.

14. Navigate your way to the Shading Group node of the Misss_fast_simple_maya (so you can see all the MR shader slots).

15. Click on the texture-applying button next to the 'Light Map Shader' slot.

16. Apply a Misss_fast_lmap_maya shader. It will take you to the attributes of it.

Notice that there's a "Include indirect lighting" checkbox at the top, tick that later if you want to add Final Gather to the SSS effect.

17. Open out the Lightmap Write section.

18. Into the lightmap slot, type "mentalrayTexture1" and press enter.

It just connects this shader to the mentalrayTexture shader, so if the name of your mentalrayTexture shader is different just type that instead. Alternatively you could drag and drop the mentalrayTexture shader onto that slot to achieve the same effect.

19. Render! That's it! "

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# 6 10-02-2005 , 02:06 AM

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Hiya Vlad! user added image

Thanks for the thorough reply. I actually checked out that post at CGTalk and tried it out but got stuck at this place...

---> 14. Navigate your way to the Shading Group node of the Misss_fast_simple_maya (so you can see all the MR shader slots).

I may still be a newbie of sorts but I'm no Maya dummy. I keep trying to locate the Shading Group and I get lost. I'm actually considering sticking with 6.0 until I find out 6.5 is worth the money. I said earlier I'd already updated to 6.5 but I meant that I'd considered it... just haven't committed to making that leap yet. I had access to it though. I'm kind of impressed. I'm still using 6.0 and I'm using Light Engine's SubScatter and it looks great but I'm still having trouble even getting that one to work right. My PC keeps crashing on me everytime I try to render. Thanks for your time and help though. I appreciate it a lot.

Russell

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# 7 10-02-2005 , 02:19 PM

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Originally posted by Russell
Hiya Vlad!

Thanks for the thorough reply. I actually checked out that post at CGTalk and tried it out but got stuck at this place...

---> 14. Navigate your way to the Shading Group node of the Misss_fast_simple_maya (so you can see all the MR shader slots).

Russell

Originally Posted by

select the miss_fast shader, in the hypershade, and click on the input/output graph stream, it should come up as miss_fast_simple_maya_SG
or select the miss_fast shader and go in the attribute editor
and it should be in the first tab.

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# 8 14-02-2005 , 05:10 PM

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Better?

Hey guys!
How's this? Any better? I may have figured out where iwnet wrong. I did, however, decide to use SubScatter and it works perfectly! See?

Russell

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# 9 17-02-2005 , 06:08 AM

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Looking MUCH better!

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 10 17-02-2005 , 06:36 PM

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Thank you thank you thank you thank you! Izzy, my man! Thanks dude! I'm uploading yet another image of my man but in order to give him a Paint Effects pompadour, I had to give him cancer and put him through chemo! user added image

Not sure yet how to do it yet (the 'do) so we'll see. thanks again, Mr. Rage. BTW... SSS Provided by SubScatter plug-in. user added image

Russell

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# 11 22-02-2005 , 05:19 PM

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Update

Here's another update on Pigeon Rights Guy... not sure anyone is following this thread... maybe all three of my fans out there. The ears aren't attached yet but you get the idea of how it's going to look. Now all I need is to give him hair and eyebrows (maybe eyelashes) and he'll almost be finished. I'm not going to model him from the waist down yet because that won't be on camera in the finished film. I will finish that section when I put him in my next film which features him getting into a few hairy situations.... user added image

Enjoy...

Russell

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# 12 17-03-2005 , 10:16 PM

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For those following this post, here's my latest render. I may have gotten the hang of this SSS stuff. user added image

Russell

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# 13 21-04-2005 , 05:28 PM

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Update!

Here's my latest renders. Yep, I definitely have a grasp of SSS and I'm starting to grasp ambient occlusion/Dirtmap.

Russell. user added image

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# 14 21-04-2005 , 06:03 PM

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altho i see its looking better, but it seems like you are setting things up for the SSS phenomenon to occur and be visible all the time.
this is not the case.
proper light set p is also key. and a subtle SSS looks much better. my current tests and WIP witht he MiSSS fast skin
https://forum.simplymaya.com/showthre...threadid=16408

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# 15 21-04-2005 , 06:44 PM

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Hmmmmmm... so what could I do to change things up? Here are a few of the pictures I saved to hopefully help me set up my other renders for any other character using a similar formula to achieve the results I got with the picture you saw. I believe the Algorithm control I chose was 90. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Vlad.

Russell

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