Introduction

• Introduction to mental ray Rendering

Part 1 - Structure

• .mi Scene File Structure
• Shader Structure
• Shaders in the Scene
  • Exercise 1 - Locating various shaders in the application

Part 2 - Color

• Single Color
• Color from Orientation
• Color from Position
  • Exercise 2 - Use color shaders
• Transparency
  • Exercise 3 - Use transparency shader
• Color from Image Files (Texture Maps)
  • Exercise 4 - Use texture shaders
• Color of Edges

Break

Part 3 - Light

• Point Lights, Spot Lights and Shadows
• Light on Surface - Direct Illumination with Lambert, Phong, etc.
  • Exercise 5 - Use Lambert, and one other shader
• Reflection
• Refraction
  • Exercise 6 - Use glossy reflection shaders
• Light from Other Surfaces - Indirect Illumination
  • Exercise 7 - Use indirect illumination with shaders
• Ambient Occlusion

Part 4 - Shape

• Modifying Surface Geometry
• Modifying Surface Orientation
• Creating Shapes
  • Exercise 8 - Shape displacement and bump

Lunch Break

Part 5 - Space

• Global and Object Environment
  • Exercise 9 - Using environment shaders
• Global and Object Volume
  • Exercise 10 - Using volume shaders

Part 6 - Image

• Samples, Pixels and Tiles
  • Exercise 11 - Sample diagnostics
• Motion and Temporal Samples
• Lens Shaders
  • Exercise 12 - Using the fisheye lens
• Rendering Image Components
  • Exercise 13 - Using framebuffer components
• Output Shaders
  • Exercise 14 - Using the letterbox output shader

Break

Part 7 - Implementation

• Renderering Techniques
• Using the Rasterizer
  • Exercise 15 - Transparency and motion
• Render Process - the render report
• Feature enabling, disabling
• Shadows - traced and shadowmaps
• Non-Render Pipeline Options
• Memory - Scene Cache
• Approximation - Scene Geometry
• Diagnostics -- BSP, Grid, Photon, FG
  • Exercise 16 - Performance Optimization
• Online Shader Manual