Mental Ray is fully programmable and infinitely variable, supporting linked subroutines also called shaders written in C or C++. However assuming these shaders are available to mental ray, any mi file can be rendered, regardless of the software that generated it.

Most of these software front-ends provide their own library of custom shaders (described below). Currently there are many programs integrating it such as Autodesk Maya, 3D Studio Max, Cinema 4D and Revit, Softimage|XSI, Side Effects Software's Houdini, SolidWorks and Dassault Systèmes' CATIA. mi scene file format for batch-mode rendering. Mental Ray was designed to be integrated into a third-party application using an API or be used as a standalone program using the. Any combination of diffuse, glossy (soft or scattered), and specular reflection and transmission can be simulated. It also supports caustics and physically correct simulation of global illumination employing photon maps. The software uses acceleration techniques such as scanline for primary visible surface determination and binary space partitioning for secondary rays. The primary feature of Mental Ray is the achievement of high performance through parallelism on both multiprocessor machines and across render farms. An image rendered using Mental Ray which demonstrates global illumination, photon maps, depth of field, ambient occlusion, glossy reflections, soft shadows and bloom

Mental ray 3ds max 2018