Rendering a simulated frame

Now that you have assigned mia_material_x shaders to the objects in the scene, you can use the mental ray for Maya renderer to render selected frames of your simulation.

To render a simulated frame

1. In the timeline, go to frame 111.

   You will render this frame, where the output mesh pours into the glass.

2. In the Render View, select Options > Render Settings.
   

   The Render Settings window appears.

3. From the Render Using list, select mental ray.
   TipIf mental ray does not appear under the list of renderers, you must load the mental ray plug-in via the Plug-in Manager. Select Window > Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager and select Loaded for the Mayatomr.mll plug-in.
4. Click the Common tab and set the following:
   • In the Renderable Cameras section, select renderCam from the Renderable Camera list.
   • In the Image Size section, select 320×240 from the Presets list.
5. Click the Quality tab, and set the following:
   • From the Quality Presets list, select Production.
   • In the Raytracing section, turn on Raytracing.
   • Set Shadows to 4.
6. Click Close to close the Render Settings window.
7. To render the current frame, in the Render View, select Render > Render > renderCam.

   The current frame appears as a rendered image in the Render View.

   

   You can continue to make changes to the render settings, change the renderCam view, or select another simulated frame to render. After you are satisfied with your render settings, you can render the frame as a full-size image.

To render a full-size image

1. In the Render View, select Options > Render Settings.
2. Click the Common tab and in the Image Size section, select 640×480 from the Presets list.
3. From the Rendering menu set, select Render > Render Current Frame.