Rendering with Mental Ray [Paperback]

Thomas Driemeyer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 3211836632 | ISBN-13: 978-3211836637 | Publication Date: July 27, 2001 | Edition: 2nd

mental ray is the leading rendering engine for generating photorealistic images, built into many 3D graphics applications. This book, written by the mental ray software project leader, gives a general introduction into rendering with mental ray, as well as step-by-step recipes for creating advanced effects, and tips and tricks for professional users. A comprehensive definition of mental ray's scene description language and the standard shader libraries are included and used as the basis for all examples. The second edition was extended to cover the new generation of mental ray, version 3.0, throughout the book. A CD with a fully programmable demo version of the software together with example scene data and shaders that are described in the book is enclosed. The software permits experimentation on a wide variety of supported computer platforms.

Product Details

• Paperback: 546 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 2nd edition (July 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3211836632
• ISBN-13: 978-3211836637
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,368,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Rendering With Mental Ray (Mental Ray Handbooks Volume 1), May 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Rendering with mental ray (mental rayŽ Handbooks) (Paperback)

This is old. The new revised edition is available. This one doesn't contain information on V 3.0 (only up to 2.1)
and it's the Same basic book. Shouldn't they have at least changed the color of the cover or something.
Why Amazon is still passing this off as current?? anyway. The new one is the same price, and it comes with a CD... go find the Vol 1:Second Revised edition.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like it or leave it -- these are the docs, August 23, 2006

By 

Chad R. Dombrova - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Programming Mental Ray (Mental ray handbooks) (Paperback)

there's not really anything to love or hate about this book. it's merely the documentation for the renderer. in reference to the previous review, this book IS available in html form if you purchase mental ray standalone, and it is also bundled with the docs of most 3d applications that include mental ray as a built-in renderer, such as Maya or XSI. buy it if you like to have a hard-copy of your docs around.

the book includes a cd with all the example shaders as well as some additional resources that mental ray programmers might find useful. overall, it is a very thorough, no-nonsense, documentation of the mental ray renderer.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for professionals using Mental Ray!!!, October 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Rendering with mental ray (mental rayŽ Handbooks) (Paperback)

This and volume two are absolute must haves for any CGI professionals using Mental Ray. Very thorough in their explanations and examples these books go to the very heart of the Mental Ray render structure. Both volumes, especially volume two, can be a little bit daunting to the uninitiated at first, but if you really are looking to dig into Mental Ray to get the best quality out of it you can, you must have these books.