Rendering with mental ray & 3ds Max

Chapter 4

Mental ray and Materials

4.1  Introduction

In this chapter, we will talk about the various mental ray materials that are available inside 3ds Max once mental ray is the active rendering engine. As mentioned before, it is not necessary to use these materials, but it is advisable if you want to take full advantage of all of mental ray’s rendering capabilities.

mental ray can handle, with a few exceptions, most of the existing materials that are common to 3ds Max. If a material is not supported, mental ray will simply render the material type as black or white, so it is easy to spot. An overview of what is and isn’t supported is provided in the Help file that comes with 3ds Max.

mental ray materials only work when mental ray is the rendering ...