Mastering Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2011: Autodesk Offical Training Guide

Chapter 15. Finishing It Off: Atmosphere, Effects, and Compositing

3ds Max Design 2011 has several features for adding the appearance of objects in your scene without actually adding any geometry. These features fall into one of two categories: atmospheric effects and rendering effects. Atmospheric effects are effects that appear to show particulate matter in the air (such as mist, smoke, or even fire). Rendering effects change the appearance of a rendered scene by adding objects such as glows and starbursts, but they can also be used to add hair or fur to an object in the scene. The Hair and Fur effect can be used to simulate grass in a scene.

You can also render images simulating such real-world camera effects as glare from extremely bright reflections ...