Chicago Mental Ray Seminar 2010

We had a great company trip the 3DS Max Chicago user group Mental Ray seminar put on by Autodesk with featured speaker Jennifer O'Connor.  She took 15 minutes to break down each chapter in her new book Mastering mental ray: Rendering Techniques for 3D & CAD Professionals.

Some highlights were:

• Discussing a linear workflow with Gamma and Exposure Settings
• Going over the new Slate Material Editor in 3DS Max 2011 
• Getting a better understanding of BSP (Binary Space Partition) and BSP2
• Looking a performance settings in Caching, Sample Qualities, and Processing Render Settings
• Explanations of Final Gathering, Caustics, and Global Illumination settings with information about the new Importions and Irradiance technology

Definitely check out Jennifer's website at www.mastering-mentalray.com and pick up a copy of the book.  You won't regret it!

Other nontechnical highlights were the free breakfast and lunch provided by Autodesk, an AREA T-shirt and a free copy of Autodesk Maya 2010: The Modeling and Animation Handbook.