Digital Tutors - Introduction to Lighting in Maya

The first step to creating impressive final renders is learning how to configure appropriate lighting for your scene. In this tutorial, we?ll start off slow, covering essential tools and techniques you?ll need to know in order to get the most out of your renders.To get started we?ll take a brief look at each of the major light types, learning key attributes of each. Next, we?ll focus on Maya spot lights and some of the specialized features that come with them. From here you?ll learn about loads of important tools and techniques including the difference between Depth Map Shadows and Ray Trace Shadows, as well as how to simulate illuminated light sources and the importance of render stats. Finally, we'll go over how to link shadows and lights to objects in your scenes as well as how to create volumetric light fog.

After completing this training, you?ll have a great foundation to building on when it comes to setting up the right lighting for your own scenes.

1. Introduction and project overview

2. Overview of various light types

3. Understanding common attributes of Maya lights

4. Essential attributes of Maya spot lights

5. Methods for easily aiming lights in Maya

6. Using the Show Manipulator Tool in Maya

7. Exploring the Barn Doors feature of spot lights

8. Working with ambient lights in Maya

9. Using Depth Map shadows in Maya

10. Rendering Ray Trace shadows in Maya

11. Controlling the Render Stats of Maya objects

12. Simulating illuminated light sources in Maya

13. Light and shadow linking in Maya

14. Using gobos in Maya

15. Creating volumetric light fog in Maya

16. Creating light glows and lens flares in Maya

17. Controlling reflection and refraction depth in Maya