yeah- look at my signatuer (fav work in maya), its not as good- but whatever.
How I did it-
I went to www.cgtalk.com and into the Maya Rendering Section- VRay Style Renderings With Mental Ray.
And I read about half the thread (took a good 3 hrs to do that). That taught me 'nuff!
Hope that helps
Matt
Live the life you love, love the life you live