INSIDE 3DS MAX® 7 [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Chapter 19. Rendering Basics

By Doug Barnard

With the modeling, lighting, texturing, and animation completed, it's time to bring our masterpiece to the small screen. The complicated strategies that we've put into play should be manifested in all their glorious splendorat least that's the idea. In this chapter we'll cover the basics of rendering and ways to make the process less painful.

The processing of object, material, lighting, and other data to form a picture is the formal definition of rendering. 3ds max has four primary rendering methods: ActiveShade, the Default Scanline Renderer, Radiosity, and the mental ray renderer. We are interpreting the rendering methods somewhat loosely here, so we can look at the different ways that 3ds max 7 makes pictures.

• ActiveShade
  A fast renderer used for previewing the scene.

• Default Scanline Renderer
  The primary method of rendering in 3ds max, a good compromise between speed, ease of use, and quality. Additional functions of the scanline renderer include raytracing, the Light Tracer, and toon shading.

• Ray Tracing
  A rendering algorithm that traces the path of a ray of light from its source throughout the scene. This can make for excellent sharp shadows, reflections, and refractions.

• Toon Shading
  A method of portraying geometry in a scene as if it had been hand-drawn in pen and ink. A black outline typically surrounds colored areas, for a two-dimensional look.

• Light Tracer
  This method provides for color bleeding and soft shadows, and it works well for brightly lit settings such as outdoor scenes. Light Tracer is easier to use than Radiosity, and does not attempt to create a physically accurate model.

• Radiosity
  A physically accurate rendering system that takes into account light reflected off objects. A favorite among architects as they design the way that buildings are lit.

• mental ray
  A high-end renderer, formerly sold separately, that interfaces directly with 3ds max. Many Hollywood productions make use of mental ray. It delivers outstanding quality at the expense of speed and ease of use.

• NTSC and PAL
  Various broadcast standards used throughout the world. NTSC (29.93 frames per second, or 60 fields per second) is used in North America, most of Central and South America, and Japan. PAL (25 frames per second, or 50 fields per second) is used in most European countries.