Realistic Eye Shaders With Arnold in Maya

Lighting TD Arvid Schneider has covered creating realistic skin shaders in Arnold recent. So it only stands to reason that realistic eye shaders would complete that segment of discussion.

Arvid uses the alSurface shader for creating realistic eye shaders in Maya 2017. Realistic eyes can be quite complex to get right, with lots of reflective and refractive surfaces involved. Although eye shaders can be created procedurally, it is the maps in the end that are key to make it look as realistic as possible. Arvid uses resources from the WikiHuman project, which is a collaborative effort to advance the study for digital humans in 3D.

If you are unfamiliar with Arnold (which recently has replaced mental ray in Maya), Arvid’s tutorials are a great way to get started. For related Arnold resources, check out the post “BUILDING A DETAILED SKIN SHADER WITH ARNOLD” to get up to speed with alSurface’s sub-surface scattering component, and the post a Practical Guide to Displacement Shaders in Arnold.