ACTING & FILM SCHOOL

3D Animation Student Talks About Mental Ray

Lately I have been hearing about how now a days an artist has to assume a Renaissance approach towards the field of his or her interest, regardless of what it is. In other words, to excel in a wide variety of subjects or fields. I completely relate to this now that I am studying 3D Animation at the New York Film Academy. Basically it goes like this, the more you know and the wider range of programs and software you are able to use in your advantage, the better.

One of the new fields we have been introduced to this semester is the rendering application mental ray which can be defined in a very limited manner as a plug-in Software in order to create Photorealistic Images through physical shaders and light simulations in a computer generated scene.

In order to achieve these Photorealistic Images we must first understand basic Photography and Lighting concepts and that is what we have been dedicating our time the last two mental ray lessons.

To make a brief review of these concepts I can mention the careful study of the electromagnetic spectrum, the kelvin scale and the two points for calibrating an image being these white balance and exposure. We first had to go through these concepts so that we could then talk about the interaction of light with different surfaces which we could classify them depending on the form of interaction as Diffuse, Specular and Glossy ranging from reflections to transmissions.

After engaging with these concepts through a theoretical approach, the lessons took a turn in the practical sense. Viewing realistic photographs and analyzing them applying the concepts we had previously discussed. While at it, new concepts arose such as Caustics, Anisotropic Reflections, Depth of Field, Final Gathering and how to manipulate (High Dynamic Range) Images.

All though this may sound familiar or not, the final outcome is incredible images that can only be achieved through the application of the previously mentioned concepts which to some, it’s a completely new field of study which takes extensive dedication that will eventually lead us toward this new artistic Renaissance approach that I mentioned before.

Federika Tovar
One Year 3D Animation Student, 2009