If you are wondering how to render out a simple wireframe, this post will explain Matthew’s process in Autodesk Maya using Mental Ray.

First, you will need a model to render out. Then go to Render Settings > Render Using > Mental Ray. If Mental Ray is not an option, go to Window > Settings/Preferences > Plug-In-Manager. Find the file that says Mayatomr.mll and check Load and Auto Load.

Go back to Render Settings > Common tab, and fill out all of the necessary information under File Input. And do not forget to go under Frame Range and set your Start Frame and End Frame. By default, Autodesk Maya will only render the first ten frames. Then select your Renderable Camera and Image Size. While you are still in Render Settings, click on the Features tab. Scroll down until you see the section that says Contours. Check Enable Contour Rendering and Hide Source. The Flood Color will be your background color. So, set that to whatever you would like. Set your Over-Sample to 40, your Filter Type to Gaussian Filter, and Filter Support should be set to 2.000. Now, go under Contour, and select the section that says Draw By Property Difference. Make sure to check Around All Poly Faces and exit Render Settings.

Now, open up your Hypershade. To do this, go to Window > Rendering Editors > Hypershade. You want to create a new Lambert material, so click on Create Maya Nodes > Surface > Lambert. Now, click on the new Lambert material that you just created, under the Materials tab, and click Input And Output Connections. This will bring up two nodes that are connected by a single line in the Work Area of the Hypershade. Select the node that says lambert_SG and press Ctrl+A. This will open up the Attribute Editor of the shadingEngine associated with your new Lambert material.

While in the Attribute Editor, scroll down until you see Mental Ray. Select Mental Ray > Contours. Check Enable Contour Rendering. Color will be the color of the wireframe. So, again, set this to whatever you would like. And the only other thing that matters is Width. Play around with this parameter until you are pleased with the outcome.

Now, select the model you want to render out, go back to your Hypershade, and in the Work Area, right-click on the node that simply says “lambert_” and select Assign Material To Selection. You are now free to render out your model!