An intro to eyes in Maya: Overview
Credit to Oliver Wolfson for the eye texture we used at the end, his website is gone so I can no longer add a link.
This tutorial is aimed at being an overview of the general process I use to make an eye, I missed a lot of stuff simple to stop the video begin a few hours long. I'm hoping to make a full series where we can break it down in to multiple videos so I can cover more details but here's a few key things that I did not put in this video, do some extra research in to these and your eye renders will look much better than the result of this particular video.
Iris displacement:
Texturing XYZ and flipped normals have some great stuff for this, it really enhances how the eye reacts to your lighting.
Cornea displacement:
Having some small surface breakup on the "whites" of the eye will help the eye feel much more real
Caustics:
These are a nightmare to get to work properly, most artists have different approaches to this. You can always create an "eye rig" for your lights to get the enhanced effects you may want
Actual eye texturing:
This video completely dodges the whole eye texturing process just because it is so big of a topic. If you want to make great looking eyes you will have to work for it in Mari or Substance! (Or just buy assets online, that works too)
The meniscus:
There is a small layer of water that line where the eye touches your eyelids, it is visible in my title image and adding it helps the eye feel wet and alive. This is something I hope to cover in a future video :)
SSS radius color:
Although I mentioned it in subtitles it is worth repeating here, for organic looking eyes it is helpful to set your SSS radius to a colour. It helps create a really beautiful transition from light to dark in more extreme lighting!
And much much more!
If you have any suggestions or helpful resources please post them in the comments, if there is anything else you want me to cover feel free to ask!
Also, here's some promotion :)
www.mikecauchiart.com
Cheers!