TABLE OF CONTENTS In Chapter 11, you learned how to render an advanced lighting simulation of the Villa Savoye model with the radiosity renderer. Radiosity was originally popularized in the mid 90s by Lightscape Technologies, which made a stand-alone product called Lightscape (later bought out by Autodesk). Radiosity technology was integrated into VIZ 4 and brought with it the ability to create stunningly realistic images with its physically based lighting renderer.
In this chapter, you will learn how to use the mental ray renderer. As you learned in Chapters 10 and 11, radiance files containing a high dynamic range are supported in VIZ 2007. Radiance HDRI (High Dynamic Range Image) files are another hot topic in computer graphics and you will be using them in conjunction with mental ray in this chapter.
Understanding mental ray
Using Photon Maps
Final Gathering
Contour Renderings
Skylight Global Illumination
Using High Dynamic Range Images
| Tip | It is up to you to educate yourself on the numerous minor settings that can help refine the mental ray rendering process. It is worth reading the technical details on mental ray in the VIZ User Reference if you plan to use it professionally. |
mental ray is an optional renderer that you can use in VIZ. More than just a renderer, mental ray uses special materials, lights, cameras, and rendering controls. Therefore ideally, you should decide whether to use the Default Scanline Renderer or the mental ray renderer before you begin...
