Clear Coat (Maya 5.0) ?
 

Can anyone tell me the correct way to use Clear Coat plugin? I've tried using it and cannot get it to work.

Can't say I've heard of it. What does it do?

Well, in the Plugin Manager, theres a selection called clearcoat.mll. I did some research on it and aparently it allows you to have a "clear coat" render node added to your Hypershade. Supposed to give the appearance (when configured correctly) of a automotive clearcoat paint job.

I was wondering if any of the modelers out there (particularly the vehicle modelers) had heard or were actually using this feature and is it really worth the headache of configuring (if in fact it is hard to do - assuming here).

just a suggestion, but what about asking the manual (at least i found it in 4.5 manual ;) )?

using maya->rendering->general utilities->clear coat.

if the plug in is loaded you should have the clear coat utility in the general utility section of hypershade.

hope that helps

I read all that and it says to link the CC node to the Reflectivity of the receiving node. That doesn't seem to work to well. If I link Output of CC node to lets say Diffuse on receiving node, then things start to happen visually, but can't get that bad ass car paint look that I've seen on some car models in here.

dont forget that reflectivity only works when there is something to reflect. if you only have the car in your scene, it will not work ;)