Introduction to Shading Networks in Maya

What you'll learn

In this Maya tutorial, we'll get a fundamental look at what shading networks are and how to create them. No matter if you are a modeler, an animator, a texture artist, or a rendering artist, this course is where you should start when learning how to work with shading networks. To get started, we'll spend several lessons inside of Maya's Hypershade, just getting acquainted. Not only will we learn how data flows through a node tree to define the look of our geometry, but we'll also learn how to create nodes, connect nodes together, and how to examine their connections. From here, we'll focus on learning how to use some of the most common nodes in the Hypershade. From 2D and 3D textures to file nodes, we'll learn about several nodes that you'll start incorporating into your daily workflow to create things like bump or displacement and even solve reflection and refraction issues. By the end of this Maya training, you'll have a solid foundation to begin building on when it comes to shading networks. Software required: Maya 2016.