Most of the objects were modelled from cubes and cylinders. Once I was happy with the smoothed version (Fig.08) I was ready to begin setting up the lighting.
(Fig.08)
Lighting And Rendering :
I decided to duplicate the model and flip it around to show the back, as I had spent time adding detail to all sides of this model and wanted the final composition to display that. For the scene I created a simple backdrop and positioned two reflector cards for reflections (Fig.09).
(Fig.09)
For the lighting I opened up the Render Settings and enabled Mental Ray. I used “Physical Sun and Sky” to light this image. I also turned on Global Illumination and Final Gathering with the following settings (Fig.10).
(Fig.10)
You will notice that once you enable “Physical Sun and Sky”, Maya creates a directional light. I rotated this light to set the direction of the shadows. I then assigned a white surface shader to the two reflection cards. Because Final Gathering was enabled, these cards would also provide additional illumination to the scene. With all of this I did a test render of the light setup (Fig.11).
(Fig.11)
3DTotal
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Because I was not going for a realistic render, most of the materials I used for this scene were very basic blinns and phongs. I connected reflection maps to the “reflected colour” channel of the chrome and glass materials. For the paint materials I used phongs and made some minor adjustments to the specular attributes. The only textures that were needed for this scene were the ones used on the headlights, wood, and license plate (Fig.12). I used Photoshop to create and modify these images. I then assigned these materials to the appropriate parts of the model (Fig.13).
(Fig.12)
(Fig.13)
With the lighting set up and the materials applied to my model, it was time to render. The only problem I ran into when rendering was that the model on the right was reflecting onto the model beside it. I found this to be quite distracting (Fig.14). To fix this issue I put each one on their own layer and rendered them separately. I then used Photoshop to combine the two renders.
The final image can be seen in Fig.15.
(Fig.14)
(Fig.15)
Conclusion:
This image was a lot of fun to create and because it was my first cartoon vehicle render it served as a learning experience as well. I am very happy with the final result and the positive response it has had. I would like to thank all the support I had in the Threedy forums throughout this project.
