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Jenni · Post subject: mental ray 101, Part 1 Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:42 am

Hi!

This is a little something I've been working on for my 3ds max / Maya and Motion Builder User's Group in the Chicago area, and also for the classes I teach at the college:

www.4dartists.com/CLC/...index.html

And, of course, for all the members here. Very Happy

Let me know what you think. It is a work-in-progress, so proofreading is always appreciated. Smile

Thanks!

Jenni

GHIOM · Joined: Nov 26, 2005 Posts: 197 Location: france

that's a good start,
I suppose that the next step is some tips about good use of material, environements and light .

Off topic : FG is so powerfull that i never use GI with mental ray ! what do you think about this ?

Jenni · Post subject: Re: mental ray 101, Part 1 Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:49 am

Yep, it is mean't to be a start. Very Happy

This will go with labs for my classes in max and Arch Visualization.

I'm working on Daylight System now, and will cover the Arch & Design materials at minimum.

FG? It is very much on-topic, as I'd like to hear what others are doing. Smile

Generally I don't use GI, either, and stick to FG. I was less pleased with the GI+FG renderings I made than with the FG only renderings.

What else do you like or use a lot in mental ray? Have you used the Arch & Design materials much?

Jenni

GHIOM · Joined: Nov 26, 2005 Posts: 197 Location: france

yes, i always start with Arch&design materials and only switch to mentalray materials or standard scanline materials if the Arch&Design don't do what i want. the possibility to add AO, the blurred reflections, rounds corners ... clever Arch&Design Materials !!

Daylight system is really helpfull. I also use it to create some ambiant light for interior render or non realistic render. It's also incredible powerfull for some special FX. Try to put a map in the Haze parameters and play with the output value of this map Wink

I only use GI when i want to have good caustic . seems to work better with GI on . But most of Time, Final gathering is doing a very good job very fast. But for very photorealistic rendering and good caustic, i use unbiased renderer like Fry.

I love how it's fast to play with blurry reflection with Mental Ray.
The mental ray shadow map is a good subject too .

and finally, the render passes !! the advanced part maybe of mental ray.

And the Expert one that i'm really not an expert : writing your own shader. usefull for product design or NPR movies.

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