Great lighting is the key to getting professional-looking output from Maya and Mental Ray. Now, for the first time, Pixar Technical Director Jeremy Birn shares his secrets, his settings, and his Maya scenes, in a Maya-specific training DVD. This new DVD features over 3 hours of tightly edited demonstrations of professional lighting and rendering techniques using Maya and Mental Ray.

* Step-by-step lighting of full Maya scenes

* Simulated radiosity style lighting for realism and speed

* Every kind of Maya light and shadow explored in depth

* Hacks, tricks, cheats, and creative uses for light attributes

* Practical approaches to professional-looking color choices

* Ray-traced shadows: how to optimize them and control their appearance

* In-depth guide to fixing different kinds of shadow artifacts and light leaks

* Mental Ray controls in lights, shadows, shaders, and render settings

* Adjusting shadows in reflections, through transparency and fur, in real-time, and in other special cases

The DVD features 18 video lectures that you can play on your computer. The videos are high-resolution to show every pixel of the Maya interface in each demonstration. All the Maya scenes are included on the DVD as well, along with necessary textures, lights, and shaders to re-create each demonstration. Printable PDF course notes provide a quick reference guide to lighting and rendering functions in Maya.