mental ray is the leading rendering engine for generating photorealistic images, built into many 3D graphics applications. This book, written by the mental ray software project leader, gives a general introduction into rendering with mental ray, as well as step-by-step recipes for creating advanced effects, and tips and tricks for professional users. A comprehensive definition of mental rays scene description language and the standard shader libraries are included and used as the basis for all examples. The second edition was extended to cover the new generation of mental ray, version 3.0, throughout the book. A CD with a fully programmable demo version of the software together with example scene data and shaders that are described in the book is enclosed. The software permits experimentation on a wide variety of supported computer platforms.