Mental Ray is a ray-tracing rendering plugin for 3D Studio Max, known as 3ds Max, and other 3-D modeling programs that allows 3-D artists to create high-quality photorealistic renderings of static and animated scenes. Using Mental Ray rendering doesn't guarantee photorealistic renders or a high render quality, of course; as with any other tool, the rendering plugin must be used correctly for high-quality results.Mental Ray Rendering
- 3ds Max doesn't use Mental Ray as a rendering engine by default. Though the rendering options for a 3ds Max scene contain preset options for Mental Ray, you still need to set Mental Ray as the rendering engine for your scene before you begin rendering. From the rendering window, go to the bottom of the "Common Tab" to the "Assign Renderer" options. You can change the renderer used for standard renders, material renders and ActiveShade rendering; you can also set your changes as the new defaults for 3ds Max.
Sun, Sky and Ground
- A scene's lighting and backdrop play a large part in creating realistic renders. Not only do they enhance the overall look of the scene, but Mental Ray also uses the environment around your focal object to supply indirect lighting and make the image look more real. Applying daylight lighting, such as the "Mr. Sun" lighting option, provides a natural light that casts shadows and can even be adjusted to represent specific times of the day. Placing a plane or other "floor" beneath your model to reflect this light and creating a sky backdrop such as the "Mr. Sky" counterpart to the daylight tool can go a long way toward bringing your scenes to life.
Reflection
- Mental Ray renders transparent and reflective surfaces very well, but the result may seem lackluster because the reflective surfaces simply don't have enough to reflect. Correct this by creating additional objects behind your camera or otherwise out of your scene and applying basic materials to the objects that represent the colors you want to reflect. Dark objects will make the facets of jewels or other faceted reflective surfaces more pronounced, while light or colorful objects will add sparkle to your reflections.
Final Gather
- When making mockups and pre-texture renders, many artists prefer models with a "clay" appearance. Selecting the "Final Gather" option in the "Indirect Illumination" tab allows untextured models to achieve the clay model look while keeping the model's fine details sharp. Enabling "Final Gather" also activates several quality options that you can use to increase the general render quality of your model regardless of whether it's rendered as a "clay" model or a fully textured scene.
Sampling Quality
- Adjusting the sampling settings on the "Renderer" tab of the rendering window can have a significant effect on the final quality of a rendered scene in Mental Ray. The higher the settings are for the minimum and maximum samples per pixel, the smoother edges will be in the final rendering. The trade-off, of course, is that this increases the amount of time and processing power required to complete the render in 3ds Max.
