Skip to main content

Create Realistic Glass and Caustics in Maya

Achieving a realistic render can be a challenging task, especially when re-creating a real-world object or scene. In this two-part tutorial, you learn how to build and render a realistic glass of water, complete with accurate caustics in Maya.

1. Modeling the Glass

Step 1

Create a new Maya project. Press the Spacebar to show the default views. We will start working with the side orthographic view.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_1

Step 2

To create the glass, we'll start with a CV Curve. Go to Create > CV Curve Tool.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_2

Step 3

Press X to snap the first vertex of the curve to the center (as shown in the image) and continue creating vertices for the shape of the glass.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_3

Step 4

End the CV Curve at the center of the view, it is important that the start and end vertices are aligned, as shown.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_4

Step 5

Select the curve and from the Surfaces menu, go to Surfaces > Revolve and click on the Options Box to open the tool settings.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_5

Step 6

The Revolve Options menu will open. Set the Axis preset to Y, 
End sweep angle to 360, Output geometry to NURBS and then click on the Revolve button.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_6

Step 7

This is how the glass should look after the revolve. If we needed to modify the shape of the glass, we could simply change the curve, because the NURBS object is still connected.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_7

Step 8

In this step, we will delete the glass history. After this the shape of the glass will no longer be affected by the CV Curve. Go to Edit > Delete by Type > History.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_8

Step 9

Since the curve is no longer connected, we can Delete it from our scene.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_9

Step 10

We need to convert our glass to a polygon object, because later on we will set up UVs for the textures. Select the glass and go to Modify > Convert > NURBS to Polygons and click on the Options Box.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_10

Step 11

The options box will open, generally selecting Control points as the Tessellation method should work well enough. Then click on the Tessellate button.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_11

Step 12

We will end up with two glasses, a NURBS and a polygons object. Now we can safely delete our NURBSfrom the scene.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_12

Step 13

To smooth out the polygon glass, we need to press the 3 on the keyboard, while the object is selected. Now we have an exact copy of our old NURBS object.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_13

Step 14

With the glass selected, go to Edit > Delete by Type > History.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_14

Step 15

We should start organizing the scene by naming our objects. With the glass selected, open the Attributes Editor and change the name of the object to something recognizable.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_15

2. Creating the Table

Step 1

Now well create the table for the scene, go to Create > Polygon Primitives > Cylinder.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_16

Step 2

A Cylinder should appear in the scene.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_17

Step 3

With the Scale Tool, scale the cylinder until it has the shape of a table.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_18

Step 4

In the side view, we need to align the table with the glass using the Move Tool.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_19

Step 5

Now open the Attributes Editor of the Cylinder, here we will increase the Subdivisions Axis to 40, in order to get a round table.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_20

Step 6

As we did before with the glass, we should also name this object.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_21

3. Creating the Environment

Step 1

Now we're going to create a Sphere that will be the environment for render. Go to Create > Polygon Primitives > Sphere.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_22

Step 2

The Sphere will be created, but it will be much smaller then what we need.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_23

Step 3

Select the Sphere and with the Scale Tool, increase its size until it surrounds all the objects.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_24

Step 4

With the Sphere still selected, open the Attribute Editor and change its name.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_25

4. Adding the Water

Step 1

Now we're going to create the water in the glass, go into the side orthographic view.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_26

Step 2

As we did with the glass, we need to create a CV Curve. Go to Create > CV Curve Tool.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_27

Step 3

Zoom in, in the side view and start creating the curve following the inside shape of the glass. Remember to snap the first vertex to the center.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_28

Step 4

Finish the curve with both the start and end vertices aligned.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_29

Step 5

With the new curve selected and while in the Surfaces menu, go to Surfaces > Revolve and click on the Options box.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_30

Step 6

This will open the Revolve Options. Remember to set the Axis preset to Y and the End sweep angle to 360, this will make the revolve a full circumference. Also set the Output Geometry to be NURBS, and finally click on Revolve.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_31

Step 7

Now you'll have the water object inside the glass. If the shape of the water does not match perfectly with the glass, you can adjust it by moving the vertices of the original CV Curve.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_32

Step 8

When you are done adjusting the shape, select the water object and go to Edit > Delete by Type > History.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_33

Step 9

After deleting the history, the curve will be disconnected from the object and now we can Delete it safely.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_34

Step 10

Select the water object and open the Attribute Editor to change its name.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_35

5. Lighting the Scene

Step 1

Now, we need to set up the lighting for our scene. We'll start by creating an Area Light. Go to Create > Lights > Area Light.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_36

Step 2

Select the area light we just created.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_37

Step 3

To position our light, while in the View menu, go to Panels > Look Through Selected.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_38

Step 4

This will change our view to be the position of the light. Change the view until you're looking towards the scene from the top, on a slight angle.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_39

Step 5

Now we need to get back to our perspective view. In the View menu, go to Panels > Perspective > persp.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_40

Step 6

Select the Area Light, open the Attribute Editor and change its name.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_41

Step 7

We need to create another light, this time we'll create a Spotlight. Go to Create > Lights > Spot Light.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_42

Step 8

Select the Spotlight we just created.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_43

Step 9

We'll set its position as we did with the area light. In the View menu, go to Panels > Look Through Selected.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_44

Step 10

Position the light in a similar position as showed in the image.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_45

Step 11

We need to get back to our perspective view. In the View menu, go to Panels > Perspective > persp.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_46

Step 12

We'll now create a third light. Go to Create > Lights > Spot Light.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_47

Step 13

Again, select the Spotlight we just created.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_48

Step 14

We'll set its position as before. In the View menu, go to Panels > Look Through Selected.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_49

Step 15

Position this light higher than the other Spotlight.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_50

Step 16

We need to get back to our perspective view once again. So from the View menu, go to Panels > Perspective > persp.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_51

Step 17

Your lighting setup should now look similar to the one in the image.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_52

6. Adding the Camera

Step 1

Now we need to have a main camera for our render. Go to Create > Cameras > Camera.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_53

Step 2

You'll see the new camera created, now select the Camera.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_54

Step 3

Go to the Attribute Editor and change its name.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_55

Step 4

With the camera still selected, and while in the View menu, go to Panels > Look Through Selected.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_56

Step 5

This will set our view to be our main camera.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_57

7. Render Settings

Step 1

Click on the Resolution Gate button in the View menu. This will let us see the limits of our render with the current resolution.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_58

Step 2

Next open the Render Settings.
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_59

Step 3

In the Common tab, change the Renderable Camera option to the main camera, and the Image Size Presetto whatever resolution you would like to render the final image. For this tutorial, we'll work with the HD 720preset. Finally close the render settings
Maya_Realistic_Glass_PT1_60

Conclusion

Now with our resolution set, we can position our camera like so. In the next part, we'll add realistic materials and textures to the scene, set up caustics and adjust render settings.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Modelling Tools In Maya

By now you should know how to create a polygon primitive and begin modifying its shape by pushing and pulling edges, faces, and vertices . That's a step in the right direction, but it's really only part of the battle—it's virtually impossible to create a highly complex model from a basic primitive without making wholesale alterations to the mesh. To truly begin making finished 3D pieces , we need to learn how to modify the topology of our model by adding faces and edges where we need more detail or control. There are literally dozens of different tools in Maya's modeling shelf, but many of them are only useful in specific situations. In practice, you'll probably spend 90% of your time using the same five or six commands. Instead of introducing every single tool Maya has to offer and having you forget how to use half of them, in the next few lessons we'll take a look some of the most commonly used techniques in Maya's polygon workflow. Insert E...
Post a Comment
Read more

Selection & Duplication In Maya

Selection Modes Let's continue by discussing the different selection options in Maya. Place a cube in your scene and click on it—the cube's edges will turn green, indicating that the object has been selected. This type of selection is called Object Mode . Maya has a number of additional selection types, and each one is used for a different set of operations. To access Maya's other selection modes, hover your mouse pointer over the cube and then click and hold the right mouse button (RMB) . A menu set will appear, revealing the Maya's component selection modes— Face , Edge , and Vertex being the most important. In the fly menu, move your mouse to the Face option and release the RMB to enter face selection mode. You can select any face by clicking its center point and can then use the manipulator tools we learned in the previous lesson to modify the shape of the model. Select a face and practice moving, scaling, or rotating it like we've done in the e...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Extrude Tool In Maya

Extrusion Extrusion is our primary means of adding additional geometry to a mesh in Maya. The extrude tool can be used on either faces or edges, and can be accessed at Mesh → Extrude , or by pressing the extrude icon in the polygon shelf at the top of the viewport (highlighted in red in the image above). Take a look at the image we've attached for an idea of what a very basic extrusion looks like. On the left we started with a plain old default cube primitive. Switch into face mode, select the upper face, and then press the extrude button in the polygon shelf. A manipulator will appear, which looks like an amalgamation of the translate, scale, and rotate tools. In a sense it is—after performing an extrusion, it is essential that you either move, scale, or rotate the new face so that you don't end up with overlapping geometry (more on this later). For this example, we simply used the blue arrow to translate the new faces a few units in the positive Y direction. N...
Post a Comment
Read more