The final stage in adding fur to your models is to render the scene. You can render Fur using the Maya Software renderer or the mental ray for Maya renderer.
Rendering fur in the Maya software renderer vs. mental ray for Maya
Refer to the following table for the differences between rendering Fur in the Maya software renderer and mental ray for Maya. For mental ray specific Fur render settings, see Render Stats and mental ray.
See also see About the mental ray for Maya renderer.
The way that lighting and shading is calculated on Fur is slightly different between the native Maya renderer and mental ray and therefore the resulting renders will differ slightly in this respect; in both cases, an illumination model known as Kajiya/Kay is used, but the intensity at a given point is calculated in Fur's own model for the native renderer, and in mental ray core for the mental ray renderer. This intensity is then used in the Kajiya/Kay illumination model to calculate diffuse/specular components.
| Fur item | Maya software renderer | mental ray for Maya |
|---|---|---|
| Support for reflections |
None |
Fur shows up in reflective material, but is not reflective itself |
| Support for refractions |
None |
Fur is refracted through refractive material, but is not refractive itself |
| Support for colored shadows |
Supports only black shadows |
Yes |
| Support for correct penumbra and drop off |
Not accurate |
Yes |
| Support for correct DOF composition |
Not accurate |
Yes |
| Support for transparency |
Fur can be transparent, but is not visible through transparent material (can render in layers and composite) |
Fur is able to be transparent and to show up through transparent material |
| Support for motion blur |
3D only |
Yes |
| Need to add Fur Shadowing Attributes to lights to shadow Fur |
Yes |
No This workflow is supported by mental ray for Maya but an alternative workflow is also available. See Create fur shading and shadows using the mental ray for Maya renderer (Method 2) for more information. |
| Support for fast fake Back and Root Shading (AutoShade) |
Yes |
No |
| Support for ray-traced shadows |
No |
Yes |
| Support for depth-map shadows |
Yes |
Yes |
| Fur integrated into scene |
As a post process via z-depth composite |
Fully integrated |
| Support for area value calculations (Fur Render Settings > Calc. Area Values) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Support for 16 bit rendering |
No |
Yes |
| Support for texture-mapped lights |
No |
Yes |
