Converting Lightwave tut 2 Maya
 

Hi there all,
I had found an awsome tutorial that goes from modeling to 2 texturing, and then lighting which is athttp://67.15.36.49/team/tutorials/po_diner/diner.asp.

I got through the modeling part so far and now I am working on texturing. Though thinking that there shouldn't be to much of a difference, I was dead wrong!!! :( .

To start, here is one area I am having troubles with....
In Jason's tutorial he mentions this...

First off what the heck is turbulance procedural, and is there anything simular in Maya and if so, then how?

The second thing he mentions that I don't know if possible is that he also used texture layering. Is this possible in Maya and if so, then how?

The next question I have is that in Lightwave, light intensity is marked by precentages. Now I am assumming this, but not sure. What I think the conversion to this would be 0.69. Woul;d this be the correc setting for Maya?

The fourth question is that Jason also described that in his spotlight, he set the falloff to "Inverse Distance". Is there a way that I can do this in Maya and if so, then how?

The last question I have is setting the map size and map fuzziness. I see that Maya has a map size option though what I am asking is that he had set it to 2000 which sounds a little high for Maya, though I never played with the map size before so I could be wrong. And as to the map fuzziness, I don't see an option there. Is there anything for this setting in Maya and if so, then what is it?

Re: Converting Lightwave tut 2 Maya
 

I think the Maya equivelant would be a fractal texture node.

Sure, the layered texture is at the bottom of the Create Render Node dialog.

Maya uses a 0 to 1 range, so .69 would be 69%. Note; it is possible to create "super bright" lights, i.e. over 1.0. Haven't found need for this myself yet.

By adjusting the decay rate type and falloff you should match this.

Okay I don't have clue on this last part. Sorry.

Re: Re: Converting Lightwave tut 2 Maya
 

Hey thanks for the fast reply... though can you enlighten on some of this stuff? such as...


... and what is a fractal texture AND how is it used?

... and which decay rate should I use? "Linear", "Quadratic" or cubic? Also in my original post I thought I explained this though what I mean is in Lightwave there are no numbers in falloff they are differnt names. Since I don't have lightwave and never used it before, how can I set Maya to the word "Inverse Distance", AND when you say "by adjusting the decay rate type and falloff" I don't see any option that says falloff. Do you mean dropoff? Is this the same?

I hope I don't sound too rude, though I thought I was pretty clear asking my questions by pretty much on most of my questions I said "...in Maya and if so, then how?

Not my strong suit, but here goes...

Procedural textures are textures generated from mathematical functions of X,Y. A turbulence procedural texture should create a greyscale noise pattern. Maya has the fractal procedural texture, which should be close to LW turbulence. I'm not a mathmatician so I can't give you much on the math envolved. Maya lets you adjust variable in the equation via slider for various attribute, such as amplitute, and threshold. Although it is generated in grayscale you can set hues in the attributes section also. Really, you'll probably just have to get in and play with the attributes sliders. If you need a more varigated look, like marble, you could use a noise texture instead. You would assign the procedural texture to the color channel of the shader.

Decay rates:
Linear = intensity diminishes over distance uniformally and with soft transitition
Quadratic = intensity diminishes in proportion to distance (this is probably the one you need as it matches real world lighting fairly well)
Cubic = intensity dimishes at a much reduced distance with a sharp drop

sorry, yes I meant dropoff. Dropoff adjusts the intensity of the light from center to outer edge while the penumbra angle adjust the edge softness (these settings are only for spotlights... I think)

Keep the attribute editor open when you're creating the shader and light nodes so that you can see the various attributes. And, like I wrote above, just play with the attributes to see how the affect the scene.

If you need more detailed explanations, I probably can't help you. :(

if you have a fall off other than linier you sometimes need a higher intensity.

Thanks to the both of you...

playing with the decay rate, I have to agree with LauriePriest. I been noticing even with linear decay I need to set it above 1.0, and Quadric I need to set it above 2.0, and cubic I need to set it above 4.0 to even get a my scenery to look like it is using a .69 intensity with no decay rate.

also, not being a light expert, I have been noticing that a lot of the tutorials wheather it be using Max, LW, or Maya, they descibe that they are using a 3 point lighting method. Though I thought that 3 point lighting is for posing? What if you are doing a walk-through scenery?

For example if I make a a rancher, for someone to walk-through do I need to apply the 3 point lighting method on all the rooms? I here that mental ray does better light bouncing but I think in my opinion I need to get the hang of basic lighting with depth map shadding first before I can even touch Mental Ray. So I ask what would be the best way to light up each room? Should I use 3 point lighting in each evey room?