Morten Jæger shows of an simple yet interesting technique for using the Maya Sampler Info Node together with V-Ray Light Material to create a more realistic rendered lighting effect.
Using the “old school” method for creating glancing angles or faking fresnel in shaders, the standard Sampler Info Node along with the Ramp Node’s U or V coordinate, Morten demonstrates how you are able to finesse the color of the light material to taste.
A quick tutorial showing how to set up and use the sampler info node in conjunction with the vraylight material to get a more realistig light effect
As Morten suggests, this is a pretty good way to create materials for lightbulbs, and neon lights, allowing you to easily create and edit colors based on the glancing angle from the camera.
Technically for a neon effect, if you are rendering physically in the strictest sense, and create all the model parts as in real life, and and don’t break physical when rendering, everything should work out as a realistic render. This is a great technique to quickly get there without all the unnecessary scene pieces that would be there for physicality.