Rendering with mental ray & 3ds Max

Rendering with mental ray & 3ds Max

by Joep van der Steen, Ted Boardman
Released October 2012
Publisher(s): Focal Press
ISBN: 9781136141010

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Realize your vision with stunning renders of your 3ds Max projects that can only be achieved with a powerful engine like mental ray. Beginning with a concise review of the essential concepts, you proceed to step-by-step tutorials that teach you how to render scenes with indirect light or with specific effects, such as depth of field and motion blur. Contour line shading and various other mental ray features are presented in detail, then you learn how to use the different light types of 3ds Max inside mental ray and how to use mental ray's own specific area lights and its new daylight system. Finally, the book reviews mental ray-specific materials and what effects can be obtained by using most of the specific mental ray shaders.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. Acknowledgements
  7. Chapter 1. Getting Started with mental ray® in 3ds Max
    1. 1.1 Introduction
    2. 1.2 Important Information before We Get Started
      1. 1.2.1 Software Driver
      2. 1.2.2 Units
    3. 1.3 Concepts
      1. 1.3.1 Shaders
      2. 1.3.2 Global Illumination
        1. 1.3.2.1 Direct Light
        2. 1.3.2.2 Shadows
        3. 1.3.2.3 Bounced Light
        4. 1.3.2.4 Environment Light
        5. 1.3.2.5 Materials
        6. 1.3.2.6 Caustics
        7. 1.3.2.7 Volumetric Effect
    4. 1.3.3 Final Gather
    5. 1.3.4 Photons
    6. 1.3.5 Ambient Occlusion
  8. Chapter 2. Rendering with mental ray inside 3ds Max
    1. 2.1 Switching on mental ray
    2. 2.2 Mental ray and Indirect Illumination
      1. 2.2.1 Introduction
      2. 2.2.2 Indirect Illumination
        1. 2.2.2.1 Final Gather (Exterior)
        2. 2.2.2.2 Final Gather (Interior)
        3. 2.2.2.3 Caustics
        4. 2.2.2.4 Global Illumination
        5. 2.2.2.5 Global Illumination and Final Gather Combination
    3. 2.3 Mental ray and Hidden Lines Contour Rendering
      1. 2.3.1 Introduction
        1. 2.3.1.1 Setting Up mental ray for Contour Line Rendering
    4. 2.3.2 Contour Component Shaders
      1. 2.3.2.1 Introduction
      2. 2.3.2.2 Contour Contrast Component
      3. 2.3.2.3 Contour Store Component
      4. 2.3.2.4 Contour Output Component
      5. 2.3.2.5 Contour Composite Shader
      6. 2.3.2.6 Contour Only Shader
      7. 2.3.2.7 Contour PS (PostScript) Shader
    5. 2.3.3 Contour Line Shaders
      1. 2.3.3.1 Simple Contour Shader
      2. 2.3.3.2 Width from Color Contour Shader
      3. 2.3.3.3 Width from Light Shader
      4. 2.3.3.4 Width from Light Dir Shader
      5. 2.3.3.5 Curvature Contour Shader
      6. 2.3.3.6 Depth Fade Contour Shader
      7. 2.3.3.7 Factor Color Contour Shader
      8. 2.3.3.8 Layer Thinner Shader
      9. 2.3.3.9 Combi Contour Shader
    6. 2.4 Mental ray and Camera Shaders
      1. 2.4.1 Introduction
      2. 2.4.2 Camera Lens Shaders
        1. 2.4.2.1 Distortion Shader
        2. 2.4.2.2 Night Shader
        3. 2.4.2.3 WrapAround Shader
      3. 2.4.3 Camera Output Shaders
      4. 2.4.4 Camera Volume Shaders
        1. 2.4.4.1 Beam Shader
        2. 2.4.4.2 Mist Shader
        3. 2.4.4.3 Parti Volume Shader
    7. 2.5 Mental ray and Displacement
      1. 2.5.1 Introduction
      2. 2.5.2 Displacement without Special Shaders
      3. 2.5.3 Displacement Based on the 3D Displacement Shader
      4. 2.5.4 Displacement Based on the Height Map Displacement Shader
    8. 2.6 Mental ray and Motion Blur
    9. 2.7 Mental ray and Depth of Field
  9. Chapter 3. Mental ray and Lights
    1. 3.1 Introduction
    2. 3.2 Standard Lights
      1. 3.2.1 Omni and Spots
      2. 3.2.2 Skylight
      3. 3.2.3 Mental ray Area Lights (mr Omni and mr Spot)
    3. 3.3 Photometric Lights
      1. 3.3.1 Photometric Lights
      2. 3.3.2 IES Sun and IES Sky
      3. 3.3.3 Daylight System (IES Sun and IES Sky)
      4. 3.3.4 Daylight System (mr Sun and mr Sky)
    4. 3.4 Mental ray–Specific Light Rollouts and Shaders
      1. 3.4.1 Mental ray Indirect Illumination Rollout
      2. 3.4.2 Mental ray Light Shader Rollout
        1. 3.4.2.1 Ambient/Reflective Occlusion Shader
        2. 3.4.2.2 Light Infinite Shader
        3. 3.4.2.3 Light Point Shader
        4. 3.4.2.4 Light Spot Shader
  10. Chapter 4. Mental ray and Materials
    1. 4.1 Introduction
    2. 4.2 Arch & Design Material
      1. 4.2.1 Introduction
      2. 4.2.2 User Interface
    3. 4.3 Car Paint
    4. 4.4 Mental ray Material
    5. 4.5 DGS Material
    6. 4.6 Glass Material
    7. 4.7 SSS Materials
      1. 4.7.1 SSS Fast Material
      2. 4.7.2 SSS Fast Skin Material
      3. 4.7.3 SSS Fast Skin Material plus Displacement
      4. 4.7.4 SSS Physical Material
  11. Chapter 5. Mental ray and Shaders
    1. 5.1 Introduction
    2. 5.2 Material-Related Shaders
      1. 5.2.1 DGS Material Shader
      2. 5.2.2 Dielectric Material Shader
      3. 5.2.3 Metal Shader
      4. 5.2.4 Car Paint Shader
      5. 5.2.5 SSS Physical Shader
      6. 5.2.6 Glass Shader
      7. 5.2.7 Landscape Shader
      8. 5.2.8 Ambient/Reflective Occlusion Shader
      9. 5.2.9 Parti Volume and Parti Volume Photon Shaders
      10. 5.2.10 Translucency Shader
      11. 5.2.11 Bump Shader
      12. 5.2.12 Environment Shader
      13. 5.2.13 Glow Shader
      14. 5.2.14 Material to Shader
      15. 5.2.15 Shader List Shader
      16. 5.2.16 Transmat Shaders
      17. 5.2.17 Photon Basic Shader
    3. 5.3 Water-Related Shaders
      1. 5.3.1 Water Surface Shader
      2. 5.3.2 Water Surface Shadow Shader
      3. 5.3.3 Submerge Shader
      4. 5.3.4 Wet–Dry Mixer Shader
      5. 5.3.5 Ocean Shader
  12. Index

Product information

  • Title: Rendering with mental ray & 3ds Max
  • Author(s): Joep van der Steen, Ted Boardman
  • Release date: October 2012
  • Publisher(s): Focal Press
  • ISBN: 9781136141010