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Mental Ray Production Practices

with Matt Hartle

Sample Clip

In this lecture, Matt Hartle will lead you through the steps necessary to produce a finished visual effects shot from conception to the final composited rendering. Along the way we will examine modeling, texturing, animation, lighting and rendering using Mental Ray. We will then composite the rendered layers in After Effects, using a 3D composition with a camera exported from Maya. By bringing in the camera from Maya we will be able to integrate photographed elements with our rendered elements to create a final composite. Render layers from our Maya scene will include beauty, ambient occlusion, particles, ground fog and color alpha among others.

  • Efficient Modeling
  • Lighting Strategies
  • Shading Pipeline and Custom Effects
  • Render Layers
  • Compositing in After Effects
  • Importing the 3D Camera from Maya
  1. Scene Overview
  2. Modeling
  3. Lighting
  4. Shader Design
  5. Render Layers
  6. Compositing
  • Product Code: MHA05
  • ISBN: 1-59762-840-9
  • UPC: 805366017248
  • Duration: 145 minutes
  • Formats: DVD-ROM

DVD-ROM Requirements:

  • 1GHz or faster processor
  • 512 MB RAM
  • 64 MB Video RAM
  • DVD-ROM Drive
  • 5 GB of hard disk space
  • 1280 x 1024 display

DVD-ROM and Digital Download Requirements:

Minimum Operating System:

  • Microsoft® Windows® Vista®
  • Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
  • Apple® Mac® OS X 10.2

Software:

  • QuickTime Movie Player (Version 7.0 or higher)
  • Acrobat Reader (Version 5.0 or higher)

For more information on DVD and Digital Download policies click here.

  • Software Used:

  • Autodesk
    Maya

Matt Hartle

3D Director

Matt is currently 3D Director at DEVA Studios. Matt has been in the theatrical advertising and visual effects industry for over eleven years. During that time he has contributed to many projects including dozens of film trailers such as 10,000 B.C., Wanted, Beowulf, Forbidden Kingdom, the Harry Potter franchise, Iron Man, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Charlotte’s Web to name a few. He has also led teams that created such memorable studio logos as Sony Pictures Animation, JC 23, and many iterations of the Warner Brothers logo. Matt has taught at various institutes for animation and visual effects including the Academy of Art, San Francisco and the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood. Matt studied Illustration at Art Center College.

"Matt's DVDs are a great practical resource for anyone wanting to get the most out of Mental Ray for production work."

- James Brandster
Matte Painter

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