Maya Render Tests

These render tests are for the first class assignment of VSFX 752 3D Lighting and Rendering produced in January, 2014.
Note: As for the assignment’s requirement, these four render test were render using the same shader and camera position,t at 720 x 480 resolution and in TIFF format. 
Description of the four images
  • Maya Software Renderer, Raytracing, spotlight and Raytrace Shadow,
  • Mental Ray, Global Illumination only, no light source in the scene
  • Mental Ray, Final Gather only, with an emitter plane as light source
  • (Additional) Mental Ray, Physical Sun and Sky

Stereo Render in Anaglyph

Picture

Light Animation

Comparison and Conclusion

Below is a comparison of three render technique that are commonly in use, as well as a comparison between default shader and renderer optimised shaders.

Raytracing

Software Renderer
Pros
  • Easy to setup
  • Rendering speed is fast
  • Light and shader is simple
Cons
  • Light and shader is unrealistic, or very difficult to achieve realistic effect
  • Doesn’t support glossy (or “blurred”) reflection/refraction

Global Illumination

Mental Ray
Pros
  • Good for “colour bleeding” effect
  • Can easily simulate indirect lighting and shadow
  • Very useful to interior scene
Cons
  • Render speed is slower than raytracing
  • Can have trouble if light source is moving in space

Final Gather

Mental Ray
Pros
  • Realistic direct and indirect illumination
  • Good results for both interior and exterior scene, when use together with Global Illumination
  • “Emitter Plane” lighting can simulate a real-world photography “soft-box” light
  • Realistic rendering when using optimised shader
Cons
  • Physical Lighting workflow depends on light and shader type, can have problems with default software shader

Default Shader

“Lambert”, “Blinn”, etc
Pros
  • Easy to setup
  • Responsive viewport shading
  • Compatible with different renderer
Cons
  • Sometimes can have problem when using with external render plug-ins

Renderer Optimised Shader

“mia_material”, “VRayMtl”, etc
Pros
  • Renderer optimised, faster and more realistic
  • More advanced settings available
  • Highly customisable with shading language
  • Compatible with Physical Lighting and Linear Workflow
Cons
  • When switch to another renderer, shader needs to be rebuild in order to be compatible