2010

Table Of Contents
Render your liquid simulation
In this section, you render your nParticle effect using the mental ray for Maya
renderer. Since rendering a particle effect can take several minutes to an hour,
in this lesson, you only render selected frames of the simulation. Rendering
simulated frames is the easiest way to see how some attributes affect your
simulation.
To prepare your scene for rendering, you assign mental ray mia_material_x
shaders to the pitcher, glass, and water meshes. Lights have been created and
placed in the scene so that realistic shadows and reflections appear in the
rendered frame. The scene also includes a camera named renderCam that is
positioned for the rendered view. For more information about rendering, see
the Rendering and Render Setup guide.
Preparing to render
To prepare your scene and workspace for rendering, you will do the following:
Cache your simulation so that you can play it or scrub through it to locate
the simulated frame you want to render.
Change the view arrangement of your Maya workspace to make it easier
to assign material shaders to meshes and view rendered frames of your
simulation.
Show hidden light objects and the camera you use to render a simulated
frame.
To cache your simulation
1 In the Outliner, select nParticle_Water.
2 Select nCache > Create New Cache >
.
The Create nCache Options window appears.
3 In the Create nCache Options window, do the following:
Set the Cache directory to the folder where you want your caches
saved.
Set the Cache name to LiquidSimulationCache.
For File distribution, select One File.
Click Create.
Render your liquid simulation | 971