ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the basic concepts of visualization through camera, light, material, and rendering, and introduces several efficient methods to produce photo-realistic renderings in Autodesk Maya. Advanced 3-D programs and rendering engines, through their capacity to apply a virtual camera in a scene, have contributed to the emergence of new methods of form and spatial expression. The camera lens is an important component in any camera system because it defines the way in which the 3-D world is projected onto the projection plane of a camera. A monochromatic 2-D image can be used as a transparency map to define the opacity of a 3-D object. As the focal length of a fixed lens increases, its angle of view decreases. Single shadow casting from the key light, such as sunlight, is typical for setting up primary lighting without building up any complexity. Baking light information into vertex color is a popular technique widely used in the game industry.
