Let There Be Light

A fantastically useful plug in that generates a lighting dome for you.
1. The plug in is in the Groups Disk > Art > minada > Art 353
2. Follow the instructions in the plug in folder.
3. Hey, your stuff looks a lot better now!

Some Maya Light and Fog Tutorials

Check out these useful tutorials. You probably won't be sorry.
Remember to post any good tutorials you find on your site so you can hip your classmates to the magic.
Fog, underwater-style. Dolphin-icious.

Fog on da street.

Studio-style lighting set-up.

Quick Maya Lighting Reference

Types of lights in Maya

1. Ambient Lights = Bad (or last ditch cheat)

2. Directional Lights = Infinite in size and casts light in one direction. Often used to simulate the sun. Can cast shadows.

3. Point Lights = Omni-directional light source emanating from a single point. Can be used for light bulbs, the sun in a planetary system, a fire. Can cast shadows and be attenuated.

4. Area Lights = Similar to Directional Light but with a limited size. Can cast shadows and be attenuated. Can be used for skylights and large light fixtures. Akin to a "soft box" in movie lighting. "Relatively expensive" in terms of render time.

5. Spotlights = Most common and versatile of the lights. Your work horse. To move the aim point separately from the light, hit "T" for the "manipulator" tool.

Maya Lighting Tutorials

HDR vs LDR as seen in Far Cry

Links to some interesting Maya lighting tutorials. Pick a few, work through 'em and apply your hard-won knowledge to your own work.

Ambient Occlusion Mapping
http://4sidedpolygon.com/blog/2008/04/24/maya-ambient-ocllusion-with-mental-ray-tutorial/
http://www.game-artist.net/forums/vbarticles.php?do=article&articleid=17
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=7&t=505350&highlight=displacement
(3DS MAX) http://en.9jcg.com/comm_pages/blog_content-art-34.htm

HDRI (High Dynamic Range Imaging)
Wikipedia entry on HDRI (with Far Cry example)
http://www.dbki.de/tutorials/eng/hdr_lighting/index.htm
http://en.9jcg.com/comm_pages/blog_content-art-10.htm
http://tuuhia.freehostia.com/hdri_tutorials.htm

Natural Lighting
http://www.3dtutorialzone.com/Creating-Natural-Light

Global Illumination
http://tuuhia.freehostia.com/gi_tutorial.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_illumination