Move a CV to absolute coordinates

Here's the question I got from Bart:

John:
>
> I've got a "move CVs" question. Is there something that can be entered in the Command Line that will force a CV to a certain value? For instance, I want to move some CVs to a Z value of "0". I know you showed us one technique for this. Can it be done in the command line as well?
>
> Thanks,
> Bart

Yes, you can click on the word CVs (click to show) in the channel box to see their relative coordinates. The problem is, all of them start life at relative 0,0,0 until you tweak them.

The MEL command to do an absolute move will work as expected, however.
Just pick a CV and then type:
move 0 0 0;

That'll send it to the origin.

To do an absolute translation on a single axis:
move -z 0;

That'll leave x and y alone.

For full info, type:
help move
into your script editor.

-JP

Ambient occlusion

Intro Class (specifically Kirk),

Here is the recipe for doing an ambient occlusion render:

Assign a SurfaceShader material to your objects.

In the Out Color slot of the material click on the checkerboard box (create render node) and then choose the Mental Ray tab, Textures turndown and the mib_amb_occ texture.

Switch the renderer to mental ray from the Render Settings tab.

Hit render.

To adjust the quality, increase the samples to something like 64 - 128 in the mib_amb_occ node.