Okay... I'm racking my brains here and I wanna know if I'm on the right track. What does everyone on the list use or what technique(s) do you all use to get GI to work in Maya. I know the expensive way to do it is to get Mental Ray. What I found was a MEL script called... well... Global Illumination v1.1 at High End 3D. I'm not sure what to expect with it and I don't even know if I'm doing the right things I need to with it. I need some mentoring here, everyone! For the most helpful answer, I have a cardboard cookie or a plastic porkchop for you... Ooooooooo.... :p

TIA!!!

Russell Bolding

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Russell Bolding
CEO/Founder - Russelltopia Studios
Web:https://www.russelltopia.com
Email:russbo@russelltopia.com

I use the Sky plug in. It's a Utility that you plug into your material in the hypershade. You map it with an image, usually a panoramic view of some outdoor scene (I'll attach mine). You can get it at highend, too.

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-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

How about if you're lighting an indoor scene? :/

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Russell Bolding
CEO/Founder - Russelltopia Studios
Web:https://www.russelltopia.com
Email:russbo@russelltopia.com

Normally, I wouldn't think you'd have global illumination indoors, but it works just as well. I usually use it indoors, too.

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-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

I don't use anything, never had a need

Darkon

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Red bellows of flame have blackened my stones
Convulsing my frame and cracking my bones
Hell's dragons of steel who roar in their chains
Crawl into my caves to suck out my veins.....

-The Mountain P.F.M.

Try it.

I use it with the same polar image distortion as mtmckinley said.

Just grab your HDR image, or HDR sequence, or any decent image with decent white and black point vlaues, and map that to RealFakeGI's color or ambient color and you're good to go

Then, connect the Real Fake GI output to your shaders ambient channel

Make sure your lights ONLY cast shadows.
Otherwise, it messes up your overall light intensity.
(though, sometimes it's not a big deal)

Global Illumination is all around us, inside and out.

If you use it when you render spearate passes of specular, diffuse, etc. it comes in REAL handy for that added extra touch of realism

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Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com