With the introduction of Qt in Maya 2011, it is now easy to modify the color / style of your interface.
Example: create a shortcut for your Maya 2011 .exe

RMB click and choose properties

in the target filed, add -style <stylename>
Style  examples

“C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2011\bin\maya.exe” -style plastique

“C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2011\bin\maya.exe” -style cde

“C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2011\bin\maya.exe” -style motif

“C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2011\bin\maya.exe” -style cleanlooks

“C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2011\bin\maya.exe” -style windows

“C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2011\bin\maya.exe” -style monolith

Note: Mac users, the only one I’m aware of that can work is the -style macintosh
/Applications/Autodesk/maya2011/Maya.app/Contents/MacOS/maya -style macintosh

I made this class for Autodesk last year. It will cover the most common errors users face when exporting from Mudbox to Maya.

In this session we will look at the approximation errors  such as
“polygon mesh can’t be exported as a subdivision surface”
We will also look on how to maintain the proper displacement scale .

The HD vr. can be found here.

Continuing on my previous post Mental Ray Production Library– Enabling mip Shaders .We can now start exploring the available new nodes.
In this session we will have a closer look at  how to use the mip Shaders, in particular the mip_rayswitch and mip_rayswitch_advanced.
This Shader will act as a gateway for the outgoing rays that are bouncing of an object or an environment. For example you can change the color of the reflection of any giving object in the scene. It can also be used to alter environments.

The HD vr. can be found here.

Continuing on my previous post Mental Ray Production Library– Enabling mip Shaders .We can now start exploring the available new nodes.
In this session we will have a closer look at  how to use the mip Shaders, in particular the mip_grayball.
This is a simple Shader that can be utilized to shade an object via a texture file, very similar to the behavior of Mudbox lit Sphere material.
With this workflow you can achieve the same look that you have in any 3D package, just by using a simple rendered sphere.

The HD vr. can be found here.

Continuing on my previous post Mental Ray Production Library– Enabling mip Shaders .We can now start exploring the available new nodes.
In this session we will have a closer look at  how to use the mip Shaders, in particular the mip_gamma_gain.
This is a simple Shader that can be utilized to allow a linear workflow. It can be used either on a texture or on the entire render.

The HD vr. can be found here.