rendering as liquid in maya

[deadplant155]

hey guys. i'm tryin to make a clear glass of an amber colored liquid in maya with pretty caustics and such. i know how to do caustics and use the mental ray renderer and all that jazz, that's not what i'm askin. i can get caustics and reflections and refractions all to show up, they just look....not good. i want to get caustics kinda like on that scene in final fantasy the spirits within, where the general has that glass of whiskey on his desk. i know i've seen caustics like that in some of these great renders on this site and others, and people say they did it wtih mental ray, whether max or maya. so if anyone who knows could give me a hand, i'd appreciate it. thanks.

-loren

[deadplant155]

here's a quick render i did to show you what i mean about the caustics. any suggestions about lighting, materials, etc. appreciated.

[Brent]

I don`t know much of Maya but in Max your increase the # of photons to get crisper looks to the caustics...mabey Maya be the same?

ciao