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3D Tools Training

The CGschool provides 3ds Max training at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Learn the tools to maximize speed and efficiency.

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Post Production Training

Think you know Photoshop? We would love the opportunity to show you what you do not know. Fusion? PF Track? If you are working with animations and not using programs like these, you have only scratched the 3D surface of knowledge.

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Web & Internet Training

Dreamweaver, Wordpress, Flash. Everyone has a website, but few are truly art, and even fewer are utilized to their full potential. CGschool provides one of the best Internet training programs you will find anywhere on the planet.

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Rendering Engine Training

Do not just use programs like V-Ray and mental ray ... understand them. With the CGschool, learn what goes on behind the algorithms of these top render engines.

mental ray for Architectural Visualization (3ds Max) Beginner and Interm.

Course Details

Course Description

Instructor Profile


	Recording Price:		$299
	Recording Length:		18 Hours
	Example Video (Please View at Full Screen)
	1st 10 Minutes of Webinar (View Full)


	This training course is designed for users with less than 12 months of production experience in mental ray. All major features within mental ray are explained through an easy to understand approach. Rather than providing a list of good settings, which may work on some scenes and not others, the instructor dissects each major setting and explains the math and reasoning behind the settings so that students will know how to troubleshoot any scene and get the best mixture of speed and quality. All settings fall into 3 categories; quality settings, appearance settings, and tools. The instructor shows students how to maximize quality by controlling noise and improving detail, while simultaneously minimizing render times. The artistic side of the program comes to life with an explanation of the settings that control the appearance of renderings, as well as an explanation of various exterior and interior lighting techniques. Finally, all of the incredible tools within the program are illustrated in great detail so that students can make the most out of program and maximize efficiency. This course requires an fundamental level of knowledge of 3ds Max.The mental ray renderer is a plug-in that allows 3ds Max users to bypass the default scanline renderer and achieve truly photorealistic quality with minimal effort. Most of the support files provided in Max 2010 or earlier.


	Jennifer O’ Connor is the author of the book ‘Mastering mental ray’ (Sybex 2010) and isis an accomplished visual design artist, instructor, speaker, and expert on mental ray and 3ds Max Design. She is the founder and President of 4D Artists, Inc., a 3D rendering and animation company. She is an Adjunct Professor if 3D Modeling/Rendering, Animation, and Architectural Illustration at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois, and runs the Chicago 3ds Max AAUGA chapter. Jennifer has been working with CAD software since 1985 and 3D Studio since 1992 on projects ranging from museum animations and tropical islands to product visualization…[Read Bio ]

(DAY 1)

Introduction to mental ray
0800-0900	The integration of mental ray and the user interface
0900-1000	What’s new in 3ds Max 2011
1000-1100	Image quality and rendering optimizations

Global Illumination
1100-1200	Essential theory behind photon mapping
1300-1400	Essential theory behind final gather
1400-1500	Interaction between lighting and materials
1500-1600	Using global illumination with animations

Materials and Shaders pt.1
1600-1700	mental ray materials and shaders introduction
1700-1800	ambient occlusion

(DAY 2)

Material and Shaders pt. 2
0800-1100	mental ray materials in depth, a case study with the Arch & Design material
1100-1200	Common shaders and their application

Lighting Strategies
1300-1500	A look at interior and exterior lighting methods and how to maximize efficiency
1500-1600	Typical artifacts and how to remedy them

Production effects
1600-1700	Atmospheric effects and stylized rendering
1700-1800	Motion blur, Depth of field and other mental ray production tools