Comments on: layering shaders with mentalray http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/ more serious than before (in a good way) Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:50:37 +1100 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: poorawaste http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/comment-page-1/#comment-10375 poorawaste Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:14:45 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/#comment-10375 hi david thank you for your help. i really appreciate it. Your tip worked. i was trying to blend two mia_material_x materials. i am fairly new to maya and I can do some very basic connection editor stuff. But i cannot do advanced stuff with it. Your advice makes absolute sense. i can see how it can be a very powerful tool. thanks again hi david
thank you for your help. i really appreciate it. Your tip worked. i was trying to blend two mia_material_x materials. i am fairly new to maya and I can do some very basic connection editor stuff. But i cannot do advanced stuff with it. Your advice makes absolute sense. i can see how it can be a very powerful tool.

thanks again

]]> By: david http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/comment-page-1/#comment-10374 david Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:01:20 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/#comment-10374 mia_material_x can be layered like other shaders, but unfortunately the connection will not get made via drag-and-drop. You have to use the connection editor, and hook up mia_material_x.result to the color slot of the dj_mix_color (or mib_color_mix, or what ever layer method you choose). mia_material_x has a bump slot (actually 2) so you do not need any layering if all you want to do is add a bump. If you want to layer AND have a bump just on one of the layers, then you need to mask the bump map correctly (as shown in the example in this post). If you don't mask it, the renderer will ignore the layers when it computes the bump and render it in all layers. If you are new to maya and learning how to construct shader networks, then make some time to get familiar with the connection editor. Once you get the hang of it you will find it a very powerful tool. mia_material_x can be layered like other shaders, but unfortunately the connection will not get made via drag-and-drop. You have to use the connection editor, and hook up mia_material_x.result to the color slot of the dj_mix_color (or mib_color_mix, or what ever layer method you choose).

mia_material_x has a bump slot (actually 2) so you do not need any layering if all you want to do is add a bump. If you want to layer AND have a bump just on one of the layers, then you need to mask the bump map correctly (as shown in the example in this post). If you don't mask it, the renderer will ignore the layers when it computes the bump and render it in all layers.

If you are new to maya and learning how to construct shader networks, then make some time to get familiar with the connection editor. Once you get the hang of it you will find it a very powerful tool.

]]> By: poorawaste http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/comment-page-1/#comment-10373 poorawaste Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:01:15 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/#comment-10373 Hi, Is there a way to use mia_material_x with the dj_color_mix. I want to use some bump on the mia_material_x. I tried to the best of my ability, but I couldn't figure it out. Sorry. I'm new to maya. Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks Hi,
Is there a way to use mia_material_x with the dj_color_mix. I want to use some bump on the mia_material_x.
I tried to the best of my ability, but I couldn't figure it out. Sorry. I'm new to maya.
Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks

]]> By: david http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/comment-page-1/#comment-8865 david Thu, 15 May 2008 14:13:41 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/#comment-8865 MrT, I did some testing with dj_mix_colors blending displacement maps. The mix weight was animated using a set-driven-key, where the driver was the output of a blendshape slider that was animated. I used ctrl_multid_single (from ctrl.studio) as the mentalray displacement shader (so not using the maya displacement slot). I'm using a subdivision approximation on my polySphere (no displacement approximation). I found that the set-driven-key is ignored in the batch render (I think this is a known limitation), but the displacement works as expected - but no animated blend. The animated blend of the displacement works correctly if it is keyed directly, rather than via set-driven-key. So dj_mix_colors seems to be ok with displacements (at least in this simple test). MrT,
I did some testing with dj_mix_colors blending displacement maps. The mix weight was animated using a set-driven-key, where the driver was the output of a blendshape slider that was animated. I used ctrl_multid_single (from ctrl.studio) as the mentalray displacement shader (so not using the maya displacement slot). I'm using a subdivision approximation on my polySphere (no displacement approximation).
I found that the set-driven-key is ignored in the batch render (I think this is a known limitation), but the displacement works as expected - but no animated blend. The animated blend of the displacement works correctly if it is keyed directly, rather than via set-driven-key.

So dj_mix_colors seems to be ok with displacements (at least in this simple test).

]]> By: david http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/comment-page-1/#comment-8844 david Wed, 14 May 2008 12:42:36 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/#comment-8844 When you say "current frame", do you mean in the renderview window? Or do you mean the first frame of the batch render? I've head of people having problems with batching animation driven shaders, but never had those problems myself, and often wondered if thats becauise my render farm manager always does one frame at a time. I havent used dj_mix_color as an input to displacements before though. I'll give it a try. (I've used it extensively in just about everything else, without a problem). Maybe its a phenomenon/displacement limitation. Thanks for the comment. When you say "current frame", do you mean in the renderview window? Or do you mean the first frame of the batch render? I've head of people having problems with batching animation driven shaders, but never had those problems myself, and often wondered if thats becauise my render farm manager always does one frame at a time.

I havent used dj_mix_color as an input to displacements before though. I'll give it a try. (I've used it extensively in just about everything else, without a problem). Maybe its a phenomenon/displacement limitation.

Thanks for the comment.

]]> By: MrT http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/comment-page-1/#comment-8833 MrT Wed, 14 May 2008 00:26:23 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/02/01/layering-shaders-with-mentalray/#comment-8833 David, Thanks for all your hard work writing code, tutorials and sharing them for free! I tried to use dj_mix_colors for blending displacement maps in Maya 2008 and had some unexpected results. The renders worked fine if I rendered as current frame but batch renders didn't work. They came up blank. The displacement maps were driven by blendshapes. I had to resort to using the original mr mix color utility. Have you experienced anything like this? Thanks again! MrT David,

Thanks for all your hard work writing code, tutorials and sharing them for free!

I tried to use dj_mix_colors for blending displacement maps in Maya 2008 and had some unexpected results. The renders worked fine if I rendered as current frame but batch renders didn't work. They came up blank. The displacement maps were driven by blendshapes. I had to resort to using the original mr mix color utility. Have you experienced anything like this?

Thanks again!
MrT

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