MAXScript Language Reference > 3ds Max Objects > RendererClass >

# mental_ray_renderer : RendererClass

    mental_ray_renderer - superclass: RendererClass; super-superclass:MAXWrapper - classID: #(1492548972, 1338981315)

| Lighting And Rendering - Quick Navigation | mental ray Renderer - Quick Navigation

Topic Navigation |
--- | ---
Renderer Tab |
Global Tuning Rollout | Indirect Illumination Tab
Sampling Quality Rollout | Final Gather Rollout
Samples per Pixel Filter Spatial Contrast Options | Basic Advanced Trace Depth FG Point Interpolation
Rendering Algorithms Rollout | Caustics and Global Illumination (GI) Rollout
Scanline Ray Tracing Raytrace Acceleration Reflection/Refraction Subset Pixel Rendering | Caustics Trace Depth Global Illumination Light Properties Volumes Geometry Properties
Camera Effects Rollout | Reuse (FG and GI Disk Caching) Rollout
Motion Blur Contours Camera Shaders Depth Of Field | Mode Final Gather Map Caustics and Global Illumination Photon Map
Shadows & Displacement Rollout | Processing Tab
Shadows Shadow Maps Displacement (Global Settings) | Translator Options Rollout Memory Options Export to .mi File Geometry Caching Render Passes Material Override Mapping
Not in the UI | Diagnostics Rollout
Last Time Statistics Other Properties mental_ray_renderer interfaces | Distributed Bucket Rendering Rollout

This class represents the mental ray renderer.

It lets you construct an instance of the mental_ray_renderer class to be assigned to the Current, Production and Material Editor renderers using the renderers structure.

Constructor

    mental_ray_renderer ...

EXAMPLE:
    RendererClass.classes
    # (Default_Scanline_Renderer, VUE_File_Renderer, mental_ray_renderer, Missing_Renderer)
    renderers.current = mental_ray_renderer ()
    mental_ray_renderer:mental_ray_renderer

Properties

## Renderer Tab > Global Tuning Parameters Rollout

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.softshadowsprecision Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set the Soft Shadows Precision multiplier value.

Note that the value is exposed to the User Interface as a drop-down list, but the MAXScript exposure allows arbitrary floating point values to be used. If the value assigned via MAXScript does not match any of the items on the drop-down list, the list will display its first entry (0.125), but the internal value will be used instead. For example, 1.0 will set the list to the entry 1, but 1.1 will set the list to 0.125, while the multiplier will be internally 1.1.

Available in 3ds Max 2010 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.glossyreflectionsprecision Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set the Glossy Reflection Precision multiplier value.

Available in 3ds Max 2010 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.glossyrefractionsprecision Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set the Glossy Refraction Precision multiplier value.

Available in 3ds Max 2010 and higher.

## Renderer Tab > Sampling Quality Rollout

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### Renderer Tab > Sampling Quality Rollout > Samples per Pixel:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.MinimumSamples Integer default: -1 -- integer

Get/set the Minimum samples value.

The exposed value corresponds to the power of two value used to calculate the number of horizontal / vertical samples.

For example, when the value is 2, 2.0 to the power of 2 is 4, which means that mental ray will fire 4x4 rays to sample a single pixel. Thus, the User Interface displays 16 as the sample value which represents the minimum total number of rays to be fired.

Thus, the possible values are:

Property | User Interface | Calculated As
--- | --- | ---
-3 | 1/64 | (2.0 ^ (-3))^2 =0.125^2 =0.015625
-2 | 1/16 | (2.0 ^ (-2))^2 =0.25^2 =0.0625
-1 | 1/4 | (2.0 ^ (-1))^2 =0.5^2 = 0.25
0 | 1 | (2.0 ^ 0)^2 = 1.0^2 = 1
1 | 4 | (2.0 ^ 1)^2 = 2.0^2 = 4.0
2 | 16 | (2.0 ^ 2)^2 =4.0^2 =16.0
3 | 64 | (2.0 ^ 3)^2 =8.0^2 =64.0
4 | 256 | (2.0 ^ 4)^2 =16.0 ^ 2 =256.0
5 | 1024 | (2.0 ^ 5)^2 =32.0 ^ 2 =1024.0

    <mental_ray_renderer>.MaximumSamples Integer default: 1 -- integer

Get/set the Maximum samples value. The exposed value corresponds to the power of two value used to calculate the number of horizontal / vertical samples. See above for details.

### Renderer Tab > Sampling Quality Rollout > Filter:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.filter Integer default: 0 -- integer

Get/set the filter type.

Possible values are:

0 - Box

1 - Gauss

2 - Triangle

3 - Mitchell

4 - Lanczos

    <mental_ray_renderer>.BoxFilterWidth Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set the Box filter width. Possible values are between 0.0 and 8.0, default is 1.0.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.BoxFilterHeight Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set the Box filter height. Possible values are between 0.0 and 8.0, default is 1.0.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GaussFilterWidth Float default: 3.0 -- float

Get/set the Gauss filter width. Possible values are between 0.0 and 8.0, default is 3.0.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GaussFilterHeight Float default: 3.0 -- float

Get/set the Gauss filter height. Possible values are between 0.0 and 8.0, default is 3.0.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.TriangleFilterWidth Float default: 2.0 -- float

Get/set the Triangle filter width. Possible values are between 0.0 and 8.0, default is 2.0.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.TriangleFilterHeight Float default: 2.0 -- float

Get/set the Triangle filter height. Possible values are between 0.0 and 8.0, default is 2.0.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.MitchellFilterWidth Float default: 4.0 -- float

Get/set the Mitchell filter width. Possible values are between 0.0 and 8.0, default is 4.0.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.MitchellFilterHeight Float default: 4.0 -- float

Get/set the Mitchell filter height. Possible values are between 0.0 and 8.0, default is 4.0.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.LanczosFilterWidth Float default: 4.0 -- float

Get/set the Lanczos filter width. Possible values are between 0.0 and 8.0, default is 4.0.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.LanczosFilterHeight Float default: 4.0 -- float

Get/set the Lanczos filter height. Possible values are between 0.0 and 8.0, default is 4.0.

### Renderer Tab > Sampling Quality Rollout > Spatial Contrast:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.RedSpatialContrast Float default: 0.05 -- float

Get/set the Red Spatial Contrast value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GreenSpatialContrast Float default: 0.05 -- float

Get/set the Green Spatial Contrast value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.BlueSpatialContrast Float default: 0.05 -- float

Get/set the Blue Spatial Contrast value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.AlphaSpatialContrast Float default: 0.05 -- float

Get/set the Alpha Spatial Contrast value.

### Renderer Tab > Sampling Quality Rollout > Options:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.LockSamples BooleanClass default: true -- boolean

Get/set the Lock Samples checkbox state.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Jitter BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the Jitter checkbox state.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.TaskSize Integer default: 48 -- integer

Get/set the Bucket Width value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.TaskOrder Integer default: 0 -- integer

Get/set the Bucket Order.

Possible values are:

0 - Hilbert (best)

1 - Spiral

2 - Left to right

3 - Right to left

4 - Top-down

5 - Bottom-up

Any values above 5 will be clamped to 0 - Hilbert (best)

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FrameBufferType Integer default: 0 -- integer

Controls the Frame Buffer Type.

Possible values are:

0 - Integer (16 bits per channel)

1 - Floating-Point (32 bits per channel)

Available in 3ds Max 8 and higher.

## Renderer Tab > Rendering Algorithms Rollout

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### Renderer Tab > Rendering Algorithms Rollout > Scanline:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.ScanlineEnable BooleanClass default: true -- boolean

Get/set the Enable Scanline checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.ScanlineMethod Integer default: 0 -- integer

Enable/disable the Fast Rasterizer method.

Possible values are:

1 - Use Fast Rasterizer (Rapid Motion Blur)

0 and any integer other than 1 - Disable Fast Rasterize.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.RapidCollectRate Integer default:3-- integer

Get/set the selection of the Samples per Pixel drop-down list.

Possible values are

0 - 1

1 - 4

2- 9

3- 16 (default)

4- 25

5- 36

6- 49

7- 64

8- 81

9- 100

10- 121

11 - 144

12 - 169

13 - 196

14 - 225

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.RapidShadingSamples Float default:2.0 -- float

Get/set the Shades per Pixel value.

Available in 3ds Max 8 and higher.

### Renderer Tab > Rendering Algorithms Rollout > Ray Tracing:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.RaytraceEnable BooleanClass default: true -- boolean

Get/set the Enable Ray Tracing checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Autovolume BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the Use Autovolume checkbox.

### Renderer Tab > Rendering Algorithms Rollout > Raytrace Acceleration:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.RaytraceMethod Integer default:0-- integer

Get/set the Raytrace Method drop-down list.

Possible values are:

0 - BSP

4 - BSP2 (available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher)

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

NoteThe previously available options Grid (1) and Large BSP (2) have been removed in 3ds Max 2009. Setting the . RaytraceMethod property to 1, 2 or 3 via MAXScript will effectively set the acceleration to BSP2.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.BSPSize Integer default: 10 -- integer

Get/set the BSP Size valueavailable when RaytraceMethodis set to BSP

    <mental_ray_renderer>.BSPDepth Integer default: 40 -- integer

Get/set the BSP Depth valueavailable when RaytraceMethod is set to BSP.

NoteThe properties GridSize2 , GridDepth and GridResolution added in 3ds Max 7 have been removed in 3ds Max 2009 together with the Grid acceleration method.

### Renderer Tab > Rendering Algorithms Rollout >Reflection/Refraction:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.MaximumTraceDepth Integer default: 6 -- integer

Get/set the Max.TraceDepth value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.MaximumReflections Integer default: 4-- integer

Get/set the Max.Reflections value.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.MaximumRefractions Integer default: 6 -- integer

Get/set the Max.Refractions value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.ReflectionsEnable Boolean default: true -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Enable Reflections checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.RefractionsEnable Boolean default: true -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Enable Refractions checkbox.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

### Renderer Tab > Rendering Algorithms Rollout > Subset Pixel Rendering:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.enable_subset_pixel_rendering Boolean default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the "Render changes to selected objects only" checkbox. When checked, only pixels belonging to changed objects will be updated.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

## Renderer Tab > Camera Effects Rollout

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### Renderer Tab > Camera Effects Rollout > Motion Blur:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.MotionBlurEnable BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Enable Motion Blur checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.MotionBlurAllObjects BooleanClassdefault: true -- boolean

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Shutter Float default:0.5-- float

Get/set the Shutter Duration (frames) value.Lowest value is 0.0, default is 0.5, practically unlimited.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.MotionBlurOffset Float default:-0.25 -- float

Get/Set the Shutter Offset (frames) value.

Available in 3ds Max 8 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Segments Integer default: 1 -- integer

Get/Set the Motion Segments value. Possible values are between 1 (default) and 15. Values outside this range will be clamped to the range.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.TimeSamples Integer default: 5 -- integer

Get/set the Time Samples value. Possible values are between 0 and 100. Lower or higher values will be clamped automatically to this range.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.RapidMotionResample Integer default: 1 -- integer

Get/set the Time Samples (Fast Rasterizer) valueavailable when Fast Rasterizer is enabled.

Possible values are between 1 and 128. Lower or higher values will be clamped automatically to this range.

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

### Renderer Tab > Camera Effects Rollout > Contours:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.EnableContours BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Enable contours checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Contour_Contrast_Shader Contour_Contrast_Function_Levels__contour default: DefaultContourContrastShader:Contour Contrast Function Levels (contour) -- SubAnim

Get/set the Contrast shader.

The default shader is:

    mental_ray_renderer.Contour_Contrast_Shader - superclass: textureMap; super-superclass:material - 10:0 - classID: #(2004031007, -2112913332)

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Contour_Output_Shader Contour_Composite__contour default:DefaultContourOutputShader:Contour Composite (contour) -- SubAnim

Get/set the Output shader.

The default shader is:

    mental_ray_renderer.Contour_Output_Shader - superclass: textureMap; super-superclass:material - 4:0 - classID: #(2004031007, 1963608696)

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Contour_Store_Shader Contour_Store_Function__contour default: DefaultContourStoreShader:Contour Store Function (contour) -- SubAnim

Get/set the Store shader.

The default shader is:

    mental_ray_renderer.Contour_Store_Shader - superclass: textureMap; super-superclass:material - 11:0 - classID: #(2004031007, -1957461970)

### Renderer Tab > Camera Effects Rollout > Camera Shaders:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.Enable_Camera_Lens_Shader BooleanClass default: true -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Lens checkbox enabling the Lens Camera shader.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Camera_Lens_Shader UndefinedClass default: undefined

Get/set the Lens Camera shader.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Enable_Camera_Output_Shader BooleanClass default:false-- boolean

Get/set the state of the Output checkbox enabling the Output Camera shader.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Camera_Output_Shader GlaretextureMap default: DefaultOutputShader:Glare -- SubAnim

Get/set the Output Camera shader.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Enable_Camera_Volume_Shader BooleanClass default: true -- boolean

Get/set the state of theVolume checkbox enabling the Volume Camera shader.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Camera_Volume_Shader UndefinedClass default: undefined

Get/set the Volume Camera shader.

### Renderer Tab > Camera Effects Rollout > Depth Of Field:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.DepthOfFieldEnable BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Enable depth of field checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.DepthOfFieldMode Integer default: 0 -- integer

Get/set the selection in the depth of field mode drop-down list.

Possible values are

0 - f-Stop

1 - In Focus Limits

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FocusPlane Float default: 100.0 -- float

Get/set the Focus Plane value available when the Focus mode is set to f-Stop.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.fStop Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set the f-Stop value available when the Focus mode is set to f-Stop.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.NearFocus Float default: 90.0 -- float

Get/set the Near focus value available when the Focus mode is set to In Focus Limits.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FarFocus Float default: 110.0 -- float

Get/set the Far focus value available when the Focus mode is set to In Focus Limits.

## Renderer Tab > Shadows & Displacement

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### Renderer Tab > Shadows & Displacement > Shadows:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.ShadowsEnable BooleanClass default: true -- boolean

    Get/set the state of the Enable Shadows checkbox.

Get/set the Shadows Mode drop-down list selection.

Possible values are

0 - Simple

1 - Sort

2 - Segment

### Renderer Tab > Shadows & Displacement > Shadow Maps:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.EnableShadowMaps BooleanClass default: true -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Enable Shadow Maps checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.MotionBlurShadowMapsEnable BooleanClass default: true -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Motion Blur checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.ShadowMapRebuild BooleanClassdefault: true -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Rebuild (Do Not Re-Use Cache) checkbox.

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.UseShadowMapFile BooleanClassdefault: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Use File checkbox.

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.ShadowMapFilename String default: "" -- string

Get/set the name of the Shadow Maps file.

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

### Renderer Tab > Shadows & Displacement > Displacement (Global Settings):

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.view BooleanClass default: true -- boolean

Get/set the state of the View checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Smooth BooleanClass default: true -- boolean

Get/set the state ofthe Smoothing checkbox.

Available in 3ds Max 8 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Edge_Length Float default: 2.0 -- float

Get/set the Edge Length value in pixels.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Max_Displace Float default: 20.0 -- float

Get/set the Max.Displace value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Max_Level Integer default: 6 -- integer

Get/Set the Max.Subdiv. value.

Possible values are:

0 - 4

1 - 16

2 - 64

3 - 256

4 - 1K

5 - 4K

6 - 16K

7 - 64K

## Indirect Illumination Tab > Final Gather Rollout

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### Indirect Illumination Tab > Final Gather Rollout > Basic

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.numFinalGatherPresets Integer default: 6 -- integer

Get the number of Final Gather Presets. Exposed by the mental_ray_renderer_functions Interface.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherEnable2 BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Final Gather Enable checkbox.

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FGMultiplierScalar Floatdefault:1.0 -- float

Get/set the Final Gather Multiplier value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FGMultiplierColor colordefault:(color 255 255 255) -- color

Get/set the Final Gather Multiplier color.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FGProjectionMode Integerdefault: 0 -- integer

Get/set the selection index of the Final Gather Projection Mode drop-down list.

Possible values are:

0 - Project FG Points From Camera Position (Best For Stills)

1 - Project Points From Positions Along Camera Path

A value of 0 disables FG Shooters. A value of 1 enables FG Shooters. Any values outside of 0 and 1 will be assumed as 0.

Available in 3ds Max 2010 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FGProjectionModeNumSegments Integerdefault: 9 -- integer

Get/set the number of segments to divide thecamera path into when .FGProjectionMode is set to 1.

Possible values are: 1,4,9,16,25,36,49,64,81,100 (or N^2 where N is between 0 and 10).

Note that the UI exposes this property as a drop-down list, but the MAXScript value does NOT control the index of the drop-down list's selection but the actual value to be used. Only values that are on the list can be effectively specified though - any values not on the list will be clamped down to the nearest value. For example, assigning the value of 8 will set the property to 4, assigning 10 will set it to 9 and so on.

The higher this number is set to, the higher the initial Final Gather Point density should be.

Available in 3ds Max 2010 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherDensity Floatdefault:1.0 -- float

Get/set the Initial FG Point Density value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherAccuracy Integer default: 250 -- integer

Get/set the Rays per FG Point value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherInterpolationSamples Integerdefault:27 -- integer

Get/set the Interpolate Over Num. FG Points value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherBounces Integer default: 0 -- integer

Get/set the Diffuse Bounces value.

Available in 3ds Max 8 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherBounceMultiplier Floatdefault:1.0 -- float

Get/set the Final Gather Diffuse Bounces Weight value.

### Indirect Illumination Tab > Final Gather Rollout > Advanced

| Back To Topic Navigation |  | Lighting And Rendering - Quick Navigation

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherFilter Integer default: 1 -- integer

Get/set the selection of the Noise Filtering (Speckle Reduction) drop-down list. Possible values are:

0 - None

1 - Standard

2 - High

3 - Very High

4 - Extremely High

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherPreview BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Draft Move (No Precalculations) checkbox.

### Indirect Illumination Tab > Final Gather Rollout > Trace Depth

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherTraceDepth Integer default: 5 -- integer

Get/set the Final Gather Max.Depth value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherReflectionDepth Integer default: 5 -- integer

Get/set the Final Gather Max.Reflections value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherRefractionDepth Integer default: 5 -- integer

Get/set the Final Gather Max.Refractions value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherFalloff BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Use Falloff (Limits Ray Distance) checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherFalloffStart Float default: 0.0 -- float

Get/set the Falloff Start value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherFalloffStop Float default: 0.0 -- float

Get/set the Falloff Stop value.

### Indirect Illumination Tab > Final Gather Rollout > FG Point Interpolation

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherUseRadiusInterpolation BooleanClass default:false -- Boolean

Get/set the state of the Use Radius Interpolation Method (Instead of Num. FG Points) checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherView BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Radii in Pixels checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.UseFinalGatherRadius BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Radius checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherRadius Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set the Radius value when Radii in Pixels (. FinalGatherView ) is unchecked.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherMinRadius Float default: 0.1 -- float

Get/set the Min. Radius value when Radii in Pixels (. FinalGatherView ) is unchecked.

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherRadius_View Float default: 5.0 -- float

Get/set the Radius value when Radii in Pixels (. FinalGatherView ) is checked.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherMinRadius_View Float default: 0.5 -- float

Get/set the Min. Radius value when Radii in Pixels (. FinalGatherView ) is checked.

## Indirect Illumination Tab > Caustics and GIRollout

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### Indirect Illumination Tab > Caustics & GI Rollout > Caustics

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.CausticsEnable BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Caustics Enable checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.CausticMultiplierScalar Floatdefault:1.0 -- float

Get/set the Caustics Multiplier value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.CausticMultiplierColor Colordefault: (color 255 255 255) -- color

Get/set the Caustics Multiplier color.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.CausticAccuracy Integer default: 100 -- integer

Get/set the Maximum Num. Photons Per Sample value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.UseCausticRadius BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set whether to use the Maximum Sampling Radius.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.CausticRadius Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set the Maximum Sampling Radius value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.CausticsFilter Integer default: 0 -- integer

Get/set the Caustics Filter Type drop-down list selection.

Possible values are:

0 - Box

1 - Cone

2 - Gauss

    <mental_ray_renderer>. Kernel Float default: 1.1 -- float

Get/set the Filter Size value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.CausticOpaqueShadows BooleanClassdefault: true -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Opaque Shadows when Caustics are Enabled checkbox.

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

### Indirect Illumination Tab > Caustics & GI Rollout > Global Illumination:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.GlobalIllumEnable BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Global Illumination Enable checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GIMultiplierScalar Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set theGlobal Illumination Multiplier value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GIMultiplierColor Color default: (color 255 255 255) -- color

Get/set the Global Illumination Multiplier coloe.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GlobalIllumAccuracy Integer default: 500 -- integer

Get/set the Maximum Num. Photons Per Sample value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.UseGlobalIllumRadius BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set whether to use the Maximum Sampling Radius value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GlobalIllumRadius Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set the Maximum Sampling Radius value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GIPhotonMergeDistance Floatdefault:0.0 -- float

Get/set the Merge Nearby Photons (saves memory) value.

### Indirect Illumination Tab > Caustics & GI Rollout > Volumes:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.VolumeAccuracy Integer default: 100 -- integer

Get/set the Maximum Num. Photons per Sample value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.UseVolumeRadius BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set whether to use the Maximum Sampling Radius.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.VolumeRadius Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set the Maximum Sampling Radius value.

### Indirect Illumination Tab > Caustics & GI Rollout > Trace Depth:

| Back To Topic Navigation |  | Lighting And Rendering - Quick Navigation

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GIMaximumTraceDepth Integer default: 5 -- integer

Get/set the value of the Max.Depth spinner.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GIMaximumReflections Integer default: 5 -- integer

Get/set the value of the Max.Reflections spinner.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GIMaximumRefractions Integer default: 5 -- integer

Get/set the value of the Max.Refractions spinner.

### Indirect Illumination Tab > Caustics & GI Rollout > Light Properties:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.GlobalLightCausticPhotons Integer default:20000 -- integer

Get/set the Average Caustic Photons per Light value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GlobalLightGIPhotons Integer default:20000 -- integer

Get/set the AverageGIPhotons per Light value.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.GlobalLightDecay Float default: 2.0 -- float

Get/set the Decay value.

### Indirect Illumination Tab > Caustics & GI Rollout > Geometry Properties:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.OverrideIIObjProps BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the All Objects Generate & Receive GI and Caustics checkbox.

## Indirect Illumination Tab > Reuse (FG and GI Disk Caching) Rollout

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### Mode

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.IlluminationCacheMode Integer default: 0 -- integer

Get/set the selection of the Mode drop-down list.

Possible values are:

0 - Single File Only (Best for Walkthrough and Stills)

1 - One File Per Frame (Best for Animated Objects)

Available in 3ds Max 2010 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.SkipFinalRender BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Calculate FG/GI and Skip Final Rendering checkbox.

When checked, the Final Gather or Global Illumination calculations will be peformed to create the respective maps on disk, but the final image will not be rendered.

Available in 3ds Max 2010 and higher.

### Final Gather Map

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.UseFinalGatherFile BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

When set to true, the Final Gather Map drop-down list will be set to Incrementally Add FG Points To Map Files or Read FG Points Only from Existing Map Files mode depending on whether .FinalGatherFreeze is set to false or true.

When set to false, the Final Gather Map drop-down list will be set to Off (Do not Cache Map to Disk) mode.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherFreeze :BooleanClass default:false -- boolean

Used only when .UseFinalGatherFile is set to true.

If set to false, the Final Gather Map drop-down list will be set to Incrementally Add FG Points To Map Files causing Final Gather to update the files on disk.

If set to true, the Final Gather Map drop-down list will be set to Read FG Points Only from Existing Map Files causing the Final Gather to freeze the existing files and reuse them without modifying them.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FGInterpolateNFrames Integer default: 2 -- integer

Get/set the value of the Interpolate Over N Frames spinner.

Available in 3ds Max 2010 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherFilename String default: "" -- string

Get/set the Final Gather Map filename.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherTempFilename String default: "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2010\sceneassets\renderassets\temp.fgm" -- string

Get/set the Final Gather Map Temp. filename.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

See Also the mental_ray_renderer_functions Interface for methods related to managing the Final Gather maps and Final Gather Presets.

### Caustics and Global Illumination Photon Map

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.PhotonMapUseFile BooleanClassdefault: false -- boolean

When set to false, no photon maps will be cached on disk and the drop-down list will be set to Off (Do not Cache Map on Disk).

When set to true, photon maps will be used and the drop-down list will be set depending onwhetherthe state of the .PhotonFreeze value is false or true - either to Read/Write Photons to Map Files or to Read Photons Only from Existing Map Files.

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.PhotonFreeze BooleanClass default: false --Boolean

Get/set whether to update the existing Photon Map files on disk or to reuse them without updating. Only used when .PhotonMapUseFile is set to true.

When set to false, the list will show Read/Write Photons to Map Files and the files will be updated.

When set to true, the list will show Read Photons Only from Existing Map Files and the existing files will be used without updating.

Available in 3ds Max 2010 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.PhotonMapFilename String default: "" -- string

Get/set the photon map file name.

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.FinalGatherOnly BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

    <mental_ray_renderer>.PhotonsOnly BooleanClass default: false --Boolean

## Processing Tab > Translator Options Rollout

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### ProcessingTab >Translation OptionsRollout > Memory Options:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.Use_Placeholders BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set thestate of the Use Placeholder Objects checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Conserve_Memory BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Conserve Memory checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.mental_ray_Manages_Maps BooleanClassdefault: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Use mental ray Map Manager checkbox.

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Memory_Limit Integer default: 650 -- integer

Get/set the manual Memory Limit value.

Since 3ds Max 2010, it is not exposed to the UI anymore and is not used by default - see below:

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Memory_Limit_Auto BooleanClass default: true -- integer

Get/set the state of the internal Automatic Memory Limit switch.

It is on by default, causing an automatic calculation of the memory limit based on the installed and available memory.

When set to false, the .Memory_Limit value will be used instead.

See Interface: IBitmapPager for details.

Available in 3ds Max 2010 and higher.

### Processing Tab > Translation Options Rollout > GeometryCaching:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.EnableGeometryCache BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of theGeometryCache Enable checkbox.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.IsGeometryCacheEmpty BooleanClassdefault: true -- Boolean

Get whether theGeometryCache is empty (true) or full (false). To clear theGeometryCache, use the .ClearGeometryCache() method exposed by the mental_ray_renderer_functions interface.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.LockGeometryCache BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of theGeometryCache Lock checkbutton. When set to true, the cache will not be updated even if scene objects have changed.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

### Processing Tab > Translation Options Rollout > Material Override:

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.Enable_Material_Override BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Controls the state of the Enable checkbox in the Material Override group of controls in the Translator Options rollout of the Processing tab. When set to true, the material assigned to the .Override_Material property will be used to override all scene materials.

Available in 3ds Max 8 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Override_Material UndefinedClass default: undefined

Get/Set the Override Material assigned through the Material Override group of controls in the Translator Options rollout of the Processing tab. When the .Enable_Material_Override property is set to true, this material will be used to override all scene materials.

Available in 3ds Max 8 and higher.

### Processing Tab > Translation Options Rollout >Export to .mi File

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     <mental_ray_renderer>.Export_On_Render BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Export on Render checkbox.If true, an .mi file will be generated when the renderer is called.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Export_ASCII BooleanClass default: true -- boolean

    Get/set the state of the Un-compressed checkbox.If true, the content of the .mi file will be pure ASCII without compression.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Incremental_Echo BooleanClassdefault: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Incremental (Single File) checkbox.

Available in 3ds Max 7 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.Export_Filename String default: "" -- string

Get/set the .mi file nameto export.

### Processing Tab > Translation Options Rollout >Render Passes

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No properties exposed.

### Processing Tab > Translation Options Rollout >Mapping

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.Skip_Texture_Maps BooleanClass default:false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Skip Maps and Textures checkbox.

## Processing Tab > Diagnostics Rollout

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.DiagnosticsEnabled BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Diagnostics Enable checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.DiagnosticMode Integer default: 0 -- integer

Get/set the Diagnostics Mode radio buttonstate.

Possible values are:

0 - Sampling Rate

1 - Coordinate Space

2 - Photon

3 - BSP

4 - Final Gather

    <mental_ray_renderer>.DiagnosticGridMethod Integer default: 0 -- integer

Get/set the selection of the BSP Mode drop-down list.

Possible values are:

0 - Object

1 - World

2 - Camera

    <mental_ray_renderer>.DiagnosticGridSize Float default: 1.0 -- float

Get/set the Grid Size value..

    <mental_ray_renderer>.DiagnosticPhotonMethod Integer default: 0 -- integer

Get/set the selection of the BSP Mode drop-down list.

Possible values are:

0 - Density

1 - Irradiance

    <mental_ray_renderer>.DiagnosticBSPMethod Integer default: 0 -- integer

Get/set the selection of the BSP Mode drop-down list.

Possible values are:

0 - Depth

1 - Size

## Processing Tab > Distributed Bucket Rendering Rollout

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.DistributedEnable BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the Distributed Render checkbox.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.LocalBitmaps BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

Get/set the state of the DistributedMaps checkbox.

## Last Time Statistics

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.LastTotalNonRenderTime_ms : integer

The time, in milliseconds, spent by the translator outside of rendering. The accounts for everything the translator does outside of the command that starts the mental ray render. If placeholders are being used, then geometry translation time will not be included in thisvalue; only placeholder setup time will be accounted for.

Available in 3ds Max 9 and higher.

    <mental_ray_renderer>.LastTotalGeomTranslationTime_ms : integer

The time, in milliseconds, spent translating geometry. If placeholders are OFF, this is a subset of LastTotalNonRenderTime_ms; if placeholders are ON, this time accounts for both placeholder setup (mostly bounding boxes calculations) and placeholder geometry translation.

Available in 3ds Max 9 and higher.

The translator outputs the statistics as information messages in the mental ray message window.

HERE IS A SAMPLE:
    MSG 0.0 info : Total non-render time: 71.3281 s.
    MSG 0.0 info : Total geometry translation time: 3.5781 s.
    MSG 0.0 info : Total number of entities translated: 7884.

## Other Properties

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    <mental_ray_renderer>.SlavesOnly BooleanClass default: false -- boolean

    <mental_ray_renderer>.BarycentricClipLimitMultiplier Floatdefault:1.0 -- float

     <mental_ray_renderer>.TaskSizeAuto BooleanClass default:true -- boolean

Enable/disable the automatic bucket size adjustment when rendering very low resolution images.

When set to true (default), mental ray will adjust the bucket size automatically to use all cores optimally (for example when updating Material Editor samples).

When set to false, the specified bucket size will be used, potentially causing a single core to work on a Material Editor sample.

The setting is saved with the scene, but is not exposed to the UI.

Available in 3ds Max 2011 and higher.

## mental_ray_renderer interfaces:

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    Interface: IMtlRender_Compability_Renderer

No Properties, Methods or Actions exposed.

    Interface: mental_ray_renderer_functions

Properties:

    <mental_ray_renderer>.numFinalGatherPresets : integer : Read

Get the number of Final Gather Presets.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

Methods:

    <void><mental_ray_renderer>.ClearGeometryCache noPrompt:<boolean>

    noPrompt default value: false

Clears theGeometryCache. Equivalent to pressing the ClearGeometryCache button in the UI. If the noPrompt : optional keyword argument is supplied as true, the Cache will be cleared without prompting the user.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

    <void><mental_ray_renderer>.DeleteFinalGatherFile noPrompt:<boolean>

    noPrompt default value: false

Deletes the Final Gather map file. Equivalent to pressing the [X] button in the UI. If the noPrompt : optional keyword argument is supplied as true, the Final Gather map file will be cleared without prompting the user.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

    <string><mental_ray_renderer>.GetFinalGatherPresetName <index>index

Returns the name of the indexed Final Gather Preset.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

    <void><mental_ray_renderer>.CaptureFinalGatherPreset <index>index

Captures the current settings into the current Final Gather Preset.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

    <void><mental_ray_renderer>.RestoreFinalGatherPreset <index>index

Restores the indexed Final Gather Preset.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

    <index><mental_ray_renderer>.FindFinalGatherPreset ()

Returns the index of thecurrentFinal Gather Preset.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

    <void><mental_ray_renderer>.UpdateUI()

Reloads the mental ray UI from internal parameters, similar to renderSceneDialog.Update() .

This method is much faster and produce fewer display artifacts then the equivalent renderSceneDialog method. However it updates only mental ray parameters, thus having no effect on the Common tab of the Render Dialog.

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

    <void><mental_ray_renderer>.CommitUI()

Sets mental ray internal parameters based on the UI, similar to renderSceneDialog.Commit()

Available in 3ds Max 2009 and higher.

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#### See Also

- Default_Scanline_Renderer : RendererClass

- VUE_File_Renderer : RendererClass

- Quicksilver_Hardware_Renderer : RendererClass

- Renderers

- Render Scene Dialog

- renderSceneDialog

- Interface: mental_ray_Preferences