User Guide > Dynamics and Effects > Fur > Adding fur shading effects > 
Create fur shading and shadows
 
 
 

If you are using the Maya Software renderer, follow the workflow outlined below to create fur shading and shadows.

If you are using the mental ray for Maya renderer, you can choose between the workflow outlined below or you can use the workflow outlined in Create fur shading and shadows using the mental ray for Maya renderer (Method 2). The preferred method, when using mental ray, is to use depth map or raytraced shadows.

You can create fur shading and shadows by adding fur light attributes to the lights in your scene. A light with fur light attributes can either be an Auto-Shade light for simple shading and less expensive rendering, or a Shadow Map light for more realistic fur shadows (to cast fur shadows on geometry and vice versa). The Maya Software renderer supports only Depth Map Shadows for fur and only spot lights for fur shadow maps. The mental ray for Maya renderer supports both Depth Map Shadows and raytraced shadows for fur but only spot lights for fur shadow maps.

True ambient lights do not affect fur. In Maya, an ambient light with the Ambient Shade attribute set to 0 is a true ambient light. If the Ambient Shade attribute of an ambient light is greater than 0, then the light does affect fur. Use the Base Ambient Color and Tip Ambient Color fur attributes to create ambient shading effects. For details, see Base Ambient Colorand Tip Ambient Color.

For more information about the fur shading options, see:

To set up a light for simple fur shading

  1. Select the light you want to set up.

    For information on adding lights to your scene, see Create a Maya light source in the Lighting guide.

  2. In the Rendering menu set select Fur > Fur Shadowing Attributes > Add to Selected Light.
  3. Open the light’s Attribute Editor (Ctrl+a).
  4. Go to the Fur Shading/Shadowing section and select Auto-Shading from the Fur Shading Type drop-down list.
  5. Adjust the Self Shade and Back Shade settings as desired. For descriptions of these attributes, see Fur Shading/Shadowing attributes.

To set up a light for fur shadow maps

  1. Select the spot light you want to set up.
    NoteYou can only use a spot light for fur shadow maps.

  2. For information on adding lights to your scene, see Create a Maya light source in the Lighting guide.

  3. In the Rendering menu set select Fur > Fur Shadowing Attributes > Add to Selected Light.
  4. Open the light’s Attribute Editor (Ctrl+a).
  5. Go to the Fur Shading/Shadowing section and select Shadow Maps from the Fur Shading Type drop-down list.
  6. Go to the Shadows section and under Depth Map Shadow Attributes, turn on Use Depth Map Shadows and also turn off Use Auto Focus.

Adjust the light intensity on fur

If the fur appears too brightly lit, you can adjust the intensity of the light on the fur, even if your fur lights are set to have no shading.

To adjust the light intensity on Fur

  1. Select the fur light you want to adjust.

    The light must have Fur Shadowing Attributes. If it doesn’t then in the Rendering menu set select Fur > Fur Shadowing Attributes > Add to Selected Light.

  2. Open the light’s Attribute Editor (Ctrl+a) and go to the Fur Shading/Shadowing section.
  3. Set the Intensity Multiplier value, which is the factor by which you want to multiply the light intensity on the fur.

    For example, if the light intensity is 0.8 and the Intensity Multiplier is 0.5, the light will have an intensity of 0.8 on geometry, but 0.4 on fur.

Remove fur shadowing attributes from a light

Adding lights with fur shading/shadowing attributes increases render time. Therefore the more lights that have fur shading/shadowing attributes, the longer the scene takes to render. Including many lights that have fur shading/shadowing attributes may not noticeably improve the look of the fur. Experiment with the number of lights with fur shading/shadowing you need to achieve the effect you want and optimize render time.

You can easily remove fur shading/shadowing attributes from a light. However they only exist on a light if you’ve previously assigned them.

To remove fur light attributes from a light

  1. Select the light you want to remove fur light attributes from.
  2. Select Fur > Fur Shadowing Attributes > Remove from Selected Light.
    Note
    • You can temporarily remove light attributes from a light by setting the Fur Shading Type to No Shading (for example, when you need to quickly render a scene, and are not concerned with the shadow effects). You can restore the fur light attributes simply by changing the Fur Shading Type back to Auto-Shading or Shadow Maps. You do not need to reset the attributes.
    • You can also render a scene as if the lights in the scene have no fur shadowing attributes using the Enable Fur Shading/Shadowing option. For information, see Set up Fur Render Settings before rendering and Fur Render Settings.
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