Product 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.

Key Features:
* Color reproductions illustrate a wide array of subtle techniques.
* Contains never-before-published information about how shaders work
* Companion CD-ROM includes tutorial project files

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76811 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
Put yourself on a path to productivity with Joep's deliberate approach to a logical workflow. Enjoy the exercises and the satisfaction you get from producing cost effective renderings and a foundation of knowledge that you can apply to your work.
Ted Boardman,
Author and Instructor

'A solid foundation. with thorough explanations, practical examples, and lots of pictures. Each chapter provides a clear set of objectives and insightful production tips.'
Steven D. Papke,President, Vizdepot.com

From the Back Cover
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 illumination options including Final Gather, Caustics, and Global Illumination
. Render options such as Contour Line rendering, Camera Effects, Displacement, Depth of Field, and Motion Blur effects
. Lighting options including those provided within 3ds Max, as well as the four mr lights-Area Omni and Area Spot inside the Standard Light group, and mr Sky and mr Sun inside the Photometric Light group
. Material options available inside 3ds Max including Arch and Design and Car Paint, DGS and Glass materials, and Sub Surface Scattering materials
. Shader options including mr material-related shaders, the tiny shaders that control small specific effects, and shaders that are used to create water, with all its effects

The companion CD includes tutorial files and sample files that demonstrate the possibilities.

About the Author
is formally trained as a civil engineer. He has worked in computer animation and visualization for the past15 years, devoting recent years to sales and training for 3ds Max and Viz within the Benelux countries. As an extension of his training activities Joep hosts an internet support portal (www.3dstudio.nl) with related tutorials and models, and annually teaches a high school level course on the fundamentals of 3ds Max. Joep mastered mental ray rendering by repeatedly throwing himself into its cold deep waters without water wings.

Customer Reviews

Book Review
It certainly made my life easier...book is layed out in an orderly fashion
and takes you through the difficult steps of mental ray in a step by step approach..I highly recommend this book....and kindly ask the author to write another one that will go in more depth and more examples.....

Excellent book
This is an excellent book for anyone who has the basic knowledge on 3ds Max and wants to fully understand how the rendering process works using the mental ray renderer. Coherent and rational structure, short and precise text (no waste of time), clearly-aimed example files; all you ask of an instructional book.
* Those interested in Architectural Visualization will be satisfied.
* It is based on 3ds Max 9, but I recommend it for later versions too.

buen libro no tecnico pero si muy grafico
es un libro con algunos conceptos tecnicos sobre mental ray, iluminacion global, final gather, caustica y ambient occlusion..basicamente trabaja con los shaders qeu el programa trae consigo..y los que trae mental ray... algunos buenos trucos visuales...no abunda en detalles tecnicos pero si presenta ejemplos paso a paso y se entiende rapido. recomiendo el libro para los fanaticos del mental ray!!