Instancing test using Maya's Mash + Vray

This is a test for instancing grass with Mash in Maya. Very simple. Very quick. The settings are low and the render took next to no time. Perfect for previewing.

Oh how I am going to love using mash... and it has a python node!

I recently delved into writing some math nodes for Maya with python, (and compiling them in c++), with the idea of building something like what Rhino has with Grasshopper. It's turning into an excellent learning exercise. However, mash already has a lot of what I always wanted Maya to have. So... fun times ahead.

To test out some instancing using Maya's Mash:

1. Paint Effect for grass  - converted to polygon quads;

 

2. UV's organized 3X3. Vray 2 sided shader applied:

 

3. I thought I would throw in an old skull I poly modeled a long time ago. I decimated it in Zbrush, instead of using a displacement, and gave it a Vrays SSS shader. Here is a time-lapse of the Maya session:

4. In mash I instanced the grass over a plane and created a falloff object to mute the grass around the skull within a strength node. I also added a random node to the mix.

There is so much artistic control with this kind of procedural approach. Change, add, swap, blend, randomize, mute, duplicate etc.