To simulate fog, smoke, dust, or other atmospheric effects with Maya software rendering, you create a volumetric primitive
(shape) and assign one of Maya’s volumetric materials to the shape.
Important
Environment fog cannot cast shadows. If you want to cast shadows, use .
To create environment fog
- In the section of the tab of the window, click the map button beside the attribute. Maya automatically creates an environment fog node and an environment fog light node (an ambient light).
- Choose between or . For more information on each of these fog types, see Environment Fog.
- Place the environment fog as desired. To position the environment fog interactively, press the hotkey t to display the camera/light
manipulators. Alternatively, you can choose Display > Rendering > and select among different types of light manipulators.
For more information regarding manipulators, see Show, hide, or resize a light manipulator.
To adjust the depth range for environment fog
- To make environment fog fill a specific region (between two distances from the camera), set to and adjust the and attributes.
To adjust the vertical range for environment fog
- To make environment fog fill a specific vertical region, turn on and adjust the and attributes. To make the edges of the region gradually blend, adjust the Blend Range attribute.
To create variations in environment fog’s density and color
- To create variations in the density and color of environment fog across the camera’s view, turn on and assign a texture to the attribute. (You may need to limit the , and increase for the environment fog shape to see the effect.)