VRay是由chaosgroup和asgvis公司出品的一款高质量渲染软件。VRay是目前业界最受欢迎的渲染引擎。基于V-Ray 内核开发的有VRay for 3ds max、Maya、Sketchup、Rhino等诸多版本，为不同领域的优秀3D建模软件提供了高质量的图片和动画渲染。除此之外，VRay也可以提供单独的渲染程序，方便使用者渲染各种图片。
3D Studio Max，常简称为3ds Max或MAX，是Autodesk公司开发的基于PC系统的三维动画渲染和制作软件。其前身是基于DOS操作系统的3D Studio系列软件。在Windows NT出现以前，工业级的CG制作被SGI图形工作站所垄断。3D Studio Max + Windows NT组合的出现一下子降低了CG制作的门槛，首选开始运用在电脑游戏中的动画制作，后更进一步开始参与影视片的特效制作，例如：《X战警II》，《最后的武士》等。
Explore the lighting, shading, rendering, and compositing features of using 3ds Max and V-Ray. This course covers how to generate high-quality project renderings. Find out how to create daytime or nighttime lighting. Examine the benefits and limitations of different lighting methods by leveraging built-in camera lighting and adjusting the lighting settings in a modeled environment. Next, see how to render a scene and then take your render layers into Photoshop, where you can use painting and compositing tools to add light and shadows. Finally, learn how to finalize your image for output.
Topics include:
Types of exposure compensation
Whether to use photometric lighting
Adding sunlight
Adjusting auxiliary lights
Balancing lights
Rendering passes using State Sets
Adding an ambient occlusion pass
Adding reflection and selection pass
Creating and adjusting flames
Simulating firelight
Illuminating a floor lamp
Rendering for mattes
