Similar to my previous post on creating a multi-pass render from Maya 2011, this technique deals with creating a plain and simple ambient occlusion render in Maya 2012 (although the same technique works with Maya 2011 and Maya 2009). This technique is different in that you will only render out the Ambient Occlusion image, rather than all the separate layers of the image.
Here is a simple way to set up render passes to separate out different passes of your 3D image for use in compositing and post processing. Maya 2011 has this process more or less built in to be able to render out a multi layered photoshop file or a set of tiff or iff files that can be imported into Photoshop, After Effects or another compositing program.
UPDATE - If you're looking to just render an Ambient Occlusion image by itself, check out this blog post.
When developing an external python script, it is often preferrable to develop it in an external editor and source it through Maya. To speed up this workflow wouldn't it be nice to have a custom button on your shelf to be able to execute the external script? Here's how to do it:
It's been awhile since I last posted, but I have been working on finishing up my demo reel video for 2010.
I also updated and added new images I've been working on in the gallery section of my website.
Here is a short tutorial on a combination of settings I have found for rendering out volumetric clouds using PyroCluster in Maxon's Cinema 4D. These are the settings I used on my Airplane renders.
While making one of my more recent images, I created a couple images as textures that I would like to share. One would be the default desktop of a Mac computer, saved at 1440x900 resolution. The other being a Photoshop file of the keyboard layout of a MacBook Pro. The Photoshop file contains every part of a keyboard separated out into layers, and is best used for UV mapping and close up detailed shots. Preview images and downloads can be found below.