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

Chapter 20. Advanced Rendering

by Doug Barnard

For many jobs, the Default Scanline Renderer that you were using in the last chapter will be more than adequate. However, 3ds max has additional rendering solutions that can really put your project over the top, or provide added alternatives to the standard rendering. Be aware that with this additional power and flexibility you will have to pay the price of having to learn a more complicated set of parameters for rendering, and, in most cases, you'll have a penalty in longer rendering times.

Note

You should be familiar with standard scanline rendering before tackling this chapter.

This chapter is broken down into the following four sections:

• Ink 'n Paint
  Technically not a renderer, but a material type, this gives your scene a 2D, hand-drawn look (Figure 20.1).

  Figure 20.1. Using the Ink 'n Paint material.

  
  

  

• The Light Tracer
  One of the global-illumination rendering systems in 3ds max. This can give a very natural look to outdoor scenes (Figure 20.2).

  Figure 20.2. Output from the Light Tracer.

  
  

  

• Radiosity
  A physically accurate rendering solution that also takes into account the bounced light of global illumination. Radiosity can accurately simulate the light reflectance of surfaces and the properties of manufactured lighting (Figure 20.3).

  Figure 20.3. A Radiosity rendering.

  
  

  

• mental ray
  Version 3.3 of a professional-grade rendering solution that has all of the bells and whistles. Especially good for the caustics caused by light passing through bodies of water and thick glass. Use of mental ray does require some changes in thinking and methodology from the standard scanline renderer (Figure 20.4).

  Figure 20.4. Rendering with mental ray.

  
  

  

These four sections describe the additional rendering functions available in 3ds max 7. For those who may need to match output from other software, even more rendering solutions are available from third-party vendors.

I offer the personal caveat that I tend to use advanced rendering methods as a last resort. While all that power certainly sounds good, I find that I'll be spending a good deal of extra time to make things right. Perhaps this is because of my familiarity with the Default Scanline Renderer, and my ability to design fairly creative lighting rigs to get the look that I want. Remember that any extra effort you spend on an initial shot could multiply itself throughout the rest of the 3D production, so plan accordingly.