Thursday, May 27th, 2021 Posted by Jim Thacker

Master texturing for production in Mari and Maya


The Gnomon Workshop has released Material Texturing for Production in Mari & Maya, a detailed guide to production techniques for visual effects, recorded by Cinesite cross-show lead texture artist Peter Aversten.

The workshop, which comprises over eight and a half hours of video training, explores how to use Mari to texture assets for rendering using Maya and RenderMan.

Discover Mari texturing techniques used in modern visual effects work
During the workshop, Aversten reveals the texturing techniques he uses in production, demonstrating the workflow using a vehicle model typical of a UDIM-based hero asset from a feature film project.

Aversten begins by explaining fundamental texturing concepts, and introducing Mari’s node graph for the benefit of artists transitioning from a traditional layer-based workflow.

Topics covered include UVs, material assignments in Maya, working with software like Substance Painter for baking utility maps, and using readymade texures from the Substance Source and Megascans libraries.

Averten also discusses how to texture assets for RenderMan, demonstrating how to create some of the vehicle’s major materials using a combination of procedural and texture-library-based techniques.

He reveals how to use physical values for texturing, using data from Index of Refraction databases; and how to set up a test scene using RenderMan for Maya to check textures during development.

As well as the tutorial videos, Gnomon Workshop subscribers can download the 3D model used in the workshop, the Mari procedural nodes, and the IOR values used in the RenderMan shader.

About the artist
Peter Aversten is currently cross-show lead texture artist at Cinesite, working on a contract basis. He was previously full-time lead texture artist at MPC.

He has over 20 years of experience working on movies and commercials, and has contributed to films including Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Justice League, The Revenant and Captain America: Civil War.

Pricing and availability
Material Texturing for Production in Mari & Maya is available via an online subscription to The Gnomon Workshop, providing access to over 300 tutorials. Subscriptions cost $49/month or $490/year.

Read more about Material Texturing for Production in Mari & Maya on The Gnomon Workshop’s website


Full disclosure: CG Channel is owned by Gnomon.