As we start the demo, here is a render with no additional Photon or Shadow Shaders.
Also note that we will be applying these into the Shading Group node of our desired material in the mental ray section.
Using Mental Ray Photon and Shadow Shaders
This demo is a brief introduction to MR photon and shadow shaders for creating alternate effects in rendering.
STEP 1:
As we start the demo, here is a render with no additional Photon or Shadow Shaders.
Also note that we will be applying these into the Shading Group node of our desired material in the mental ray section.
STEP 2:
The first step is to create a shadow shader for the green sphere which will override it's shadow settings. You can find it in the hypershade here:
Then Apply it into the Shading Group in this slot:
STEP 3:
Change the Color, if you like!
Notice how now, the green sphere has a blue shadow.
By altering the Transparency Slider, you can effect the brightness of the shadow.
STEP 4:
I have replaced the flat green now with a reflective, refractive, transparent glass. The Shadow shader works exceptionally well at filling the whole shadow with the appropriate color, going from the first render (without it) to the second render (with it).
STEP 5:
Now lets have some fun with the Bounced light from the Red Sphere. By default when rendering with Global Illumination, the photon bleeding will cause the red sphere to glow red into it's surroundings. Here we can change that by creating a photon shader. If you are using a DGS or Dialectric, make sure to choose their specific shaders. For all other materials, use the mib_photon_basic as seen here.
STEP 6:
Set it into the shading engine in the photon shader section.
STEP 7:
I have altere the colors here to show a more dramatic difference, and take a look at the render below as well. Note that now the sphere will bleed BLUE not RED! Compare it to our first image (very bottom) to see the change.
