mental ray for Maya 3ds Max and XSI -- Dedication -- Acknowledgements -- About the Author -- Contents at a Glance -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: Introduction to mental ray -- What Is mental ray? -- Why Use mental ray? -- The Structure of mental ray -- mental ray Integration -- Command-Line Rendering and the Stand-Alone Renderer -- mental ray Shaders and Shader Libraries -- Indirect Illumination -- Chapter 2: Rendering Algorithms -- Introduction to Synthetic Lighting -- Rendering under the Hood -- mental ray Rendering Algorithms -- Scanline Rendering in Depth -- Raytrace Rendering in Depth -- Hardware Rendering -- Chapter 3: mental ray Output -- mental ray Data Types -- The Frame Buffer -- Frame Buffer Options -- mental ray Cameras -- Output Statements -- Chapter 4: Camera Fundamentals -- Camera Basics and Aspect Ratios -- Camera Lenses -- Host Application Settings -- Chapter 5: Quality Control -- Sampling and Filtering in Host Applications -- Raytrace Acceleration -- Diagnostic and BSP Fine-Tuning -- Chapter 6: Lights and Soft Shadows -- mental ray Lights -- Area Lights -- Host Application Settings -- Light Profiles -- Chapter 7: Shadow Algorithms -- Shadow Algorithms -- Raytrace Shadows -- Depth-Based Shadows -- Stand-Alone and Host Settings -- Chapter 8: Motion Blur -- mental ray Motion Blur -- Motion-Blur Options -- Motion-Blur Render Algorithms -- Host Settings -- Chapter 9: The Fundamentals of Light and Shading Models -- The Fundamentals of Light -- Light Transport and Shading Models -- mental ray Shaders -- Chapter 10: mental ray Shaders and Shader Trees -- Installing Custom Shaders -- DGS and Dielectric Shading Models -- Glossy Reflection and Refraction Shaders -- Brushed Metals with the Glossy and Anisotropic Shaders -- The Architectural (mia) Material -- Chapter 11: mental ray Textures and Projections.

Texture Space and Projections -- mental ray Bump Mapping -- mental ray Projection and Remapping Shaders -- Host Application Settings -- Memory Mapping, Pyramid Images, and Image Filtering -- Chapter 12: Indirect Illumination -- mental ray Indirect Illumination -- Photon Shaders and Photon-Casting Lights -- Indirect Illumination Options and Fine-Tuning -- Participating Media (PM) Effects -- Chapter 13: Final Gather and Ambient Occlusion -- Final Gather Fundamentals -- Final Gather Options and Techniques -- Advanced Final Gather Techniques -- Ambient Occlusion -- Chapter 14: Subsurface Scattering -- Advanced Shading Models -- Nonphysical Subsurface Scattering -- An Advanced Shader Tree -- Physical Subsurface Scattering -- Appendix: About the Companion CD -- What You'll Find on the CD -- Customer Care -- Index -- mental ray Color Gallery -- mental ray Shaders and Shader Trees (excerpt) -- The Architectural (mia) Material -- Surface Approximation Methods -- mental ray Approximations -- Approximation Techniques and Styles -- Polygon and Subdivision Surfaces -- Host Application Approximation Settings.