Rendering with mental ray and 3ds Max, 2nd Edition

3.5 Daylight system and Physical Sky shader

You’ve already placed a Daylight system in a scene, but let’s take the time to look more closely at how that daylight acts with the physical environment in an outdoor scene. You’ve learned that a convenient method of creating the physical environment in an outdoor scene is to use the mr Physical Sky shader that provides a convincing gradient 360° environment around the scene. The Physical Sky shader adapts itself to the date and location set in the Daylight system parameters for a reddish horizon near dawn and dusk and a clearer, bluer sky at noon.

In this section you’ll learn more of the controls of the Daylight system and methods of creating the illusion of clouds in the sky environment.

You’ll begin ...