So simple, you say! Well, it gets even simpler with Mental Ray's new Mia_material, available in versions of Maya 8.5 and after!

Creating Glass with a MIA Material

The Mia_material is a super awesome, physically accurate material that can simulate almost any type of surface. From Lambert or Oren-Nayer style diffuse surfaces, to metals, brushed metals, anisotropic, glass and gems, glossy metal, frosted materials, translucent surfaces – you name it. It has built in Ambient Occlusion, Final Gathering (per object basis), Fresnel reflectivity (BRDF), and metalicity. Plus, it comes with presets. Let's use one now: create the Mia_material (Fig.23).


Choose the correct preset (you will notice there are many to choose from). Now render (Fig.24 – 25).





We have now looked at 3 different ways to create realistic glass in materials in Maya. Here is one last look at the 3 glasses side by side by side (Fig.26).