PDA

View Full Version : How does one make a mirror?

ahistog42
02-08-2006, 07:53 PM
Hello all. I'm new to the boards, but not necessarily to Maya. I've been learning Maya since 2004, however one of my major deficits is surfacing and UV mapping.

How would one make a mirror? I've read in many places that we would have to apply "environment maps" to some node in the material properties.. What kind of maps, and how would we make them? Can these reflections reflect moving things, or are they only good for still renders? Would they reflect Maya Hair?

The personal project I'm working on now calls for a character in the passenger seat of a car to look into the side view mirror and see herself, and the environment whizzing by.

Any advice or links to mirroring tutorials would be appreciated. Although, if given, please start from step 1.
I would like to start with some of the most basic advice on making a simple reflective surface, and go from there. I'm not concerned at this time with making any surface imperfections or gloss. I'll save that for later.

Also please bear in mind that I most likely do not know offhand any letters-only abbreviations that may be used in explanations.

Lastly, If it's relevant to any advice given, I'm working in Maya 6.5.

Thank you for your time.
vantage
02-09-2006, 01:23 AM
you just simply use the blind material and set the reflection to 1 to a nurbe plane
kvale
02-09-2006, 06:12 AM
In addition to setting the reflectivity to 1. You may also want to try turning the color all the way black, and the diffuse all the way to 0. Truly reflective surfaces like Mirrors have very very little diffuse capabilities as they reflect 100% of the light sent to them. Or nearly anyway. And I'm sure you realize this but this method requires Ray Tracing, make sure that's checked in your render globals.
ahistog42
02-09-2006, 02:37 PM
Thanks to those who posted.
I figured it out only after I asked...

Turns out I wasn't turning on Raytracing in Render Globals. For some reason my former instructor once told me don't turn on Raytracing in Render Globals. Although in retrospect, that was for another lesson he was doing at the time, and I guess it just stuck in my head and applied to all situations.

No wonder all those other times never worked...
:banghead:
Ohlda
05-20-2006, 12:38 PM
see below ....
donīt know how to delete the wrong post
Ohlda
05-20-2006, 12:40 PM
Hi,

When working with raytracing and materials like glass or mirrors itīs not only a matter of turning on raytrace shadows in the render globals but also a matter of adjusting the raytrace depth value;

same with max trace depth value and shadow trace depth value for the light attributes

send me a note if you need more information on that

regards m°
CGTalk Moderation
05-20-2006, 12:40 PM
This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.