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Ambient Occlusion in Autodesk Maya

Great for previewing a model, also known as ‘Clay’ due to the way it appears.

Requires no additional lights in the scene

  • Select object(s)
  • Lighting/Shading > Assign new material
  • Select Arnold > aiAmbientOcclusion

Then render the scene, its incredibly quick!

To Modify:

  • Click on the object(s)
  • Go to Lighting/Shading > Material Attributes

Samples: Make the shadows more precise

Spread: Like photoshop drop shadow spread, essentially makes the shadows harder (more visible) or softer (Less visible)

Falloff: The point where visibility falls off

Near Clip:

Far Clip:

AS this is a black and white render you can adjust which colours are the lighter colour (white) and the darker colour (black).

White: Change the light/objects colour

Black: Change the shadow colour

Published inArnoldMaterialsMayaRendering