Material Editor > Click a sample slot that contains a material other than a Multi/Sub-Object or a mental ray material. > mental ray Connection rollout
The mental ray Connection rollout is available for all types of materials except the Multi/Sub-Object material and the mental ray materials themselves (for which it would be redundant). With this rollout you can add mental ray shading to conventional Autodesk VIZ materials. These effects are visible only when you use the mental ray renderer.
Important: The mental ray Connection rollout does not appear unless you have enabled the mental ray extensions by using the mental ray Preferences panel. In addition, you can't assign shaders to the options in this rollout unless the mental ray renderer is the currently active renderer.
For each kind of shader on this rollout, there is a toggle and a button.
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The toggle controls whether the assigned shader is active or not.
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The button lets you assign a shader to the component type. Clicking it displays the Material/Map Browser: assigning a shader is just like assigning a map to a component of a standard material.
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In addition to the toggle and button, some of the shader types have a lock button to the right. When button is on, the component
is inherited from the base material, and you can't assign a shader. For example, by default the Surface component is locked,
and the surface is shaded using the settings of the Autodesk VIZ material (basic parameters, maps, and so on). Turn off this
button to replace the base material's settings with a mental ray shader.
Note: Using a shader for the Surface component can result in a material whose appearance in mental ray renderings is completely different from the appearance it has in the sample slot, viewports, and scanline renderings.
Surface—Shades the surface of objects that have this material. Default=locked to parent material.
In addition to any of the usual Autodesk VIZ materials, the surface component can be assigned the following mental ray materials or shaders:
| Shader | Library |
|---|---|
| Bump | Autodesk VIZ |
| DGS Material | Autodesk VIZ |
| Dielectric | base |
| Dielectric Material | Autodesk VIZ |
| Edge | lume |
| Facade | lume |
| Glass | lume |
| Glow | lume |
| Landscape | lume |
| Material to Shader | Autodesk VIZ |
| Metal | lume |
| Ocean | lume |
| Opacity | base |
| Reflect | base |
| Refract | base |
| Shader List | Autodesk VIZ |
| Stain | lume |
| Translucency | lume |
| Transmat | physics |
| Transparency | base |
| Two Sided | base |
| UV Generator | Autodesk VIZ |
| Water Surface | lume |
| Wet-Dry Mixer | lume |
| XYZ Generator | Autodesk VIZ |
Note: Unlike a standard Autodesk VIZ material, if you assign the Surface component a bitmap with tiling turned off, the original surface color does not “show through.” In renderings, you see only the untiled map, and none of the rest of the object.
Shadow—Assigns a shadow shader. Default=locked to parent material.
The shadow component can be assigned the following shaders:
| Shader | Library |
|---|---|
| Edge Shadow | lume |
| Facade | lume |
| Glass | lume |
| Glow | lume |
| Material to Shader | Autodesk VIZ |
| Metal | lume |
| Shader List | Autodesk VIZ |
| Shadow Transparency | base |
| Translucency | lume |
| Transmat | physics |
| Water Surface Shadow | lume |
Photon—Assigns a photon shader. Photon shaders affect how object surfaces respond to photons; that is, they control how the surfaces behave when generating caustics and global illumination. Default=locked to parent material.
The photon component can be assigned the following shaders:
| Shader | Library |
|---|---|
| DGS Material | Autodesk VIZ |
| Dielectric Material Photon | Autodesk VIZ |
| Edge | lume |
| Glow | lume |
| Material to Shader | Autodesk VIZ |
| Metal | lume |
| Photon Basic | base |
| Translucency | lume |
| Transmat | physics |
Photon Volume—Assigns a photon volume shader. Photon volume shaders affect how an object's volume responds to photons; that is, they control how the volume behaves when generating caustics and global illumination.
The photon volume component can be assigned the following shaders:
| Shader | Library |
|---|---|
| Material to Shader | Autodesk VIZ |
| Parti Volume Photon | physics |
| Shader List | Autodesk VIZ |
Displacement—Assigns a displacement shader. Default=locked to parent material.
The displacement component can be assigned the following shaders:
| Shader | Library |
|---|---|
| 3D Displacement | Autodesk VIZ |
| Material to Shader | Autodesk VIZ |
| Ocean | lume |
Volume—Assigns a volume shader.
The volume component can be assigned the following shaders:
| Shader | Library |
|---|---|
| Beam | lume |
| Material to Shader | Autodesk VIZ |
| Mist | lume |
| Parti Volume Photon | physics |
| Shader List | Autodesk VIZ |
| Submerge | lume |
Environment—Assigns an environment shader. The environment shader provides an environment local to the material. It is visible if the material is reflective or transparent.
The environment component can be assigned the following shaders:
| Shader | Library |
|---|---|
| Environment | Autodesk VIZ |
| Material to Shader | Autodesk VIZ |
| Shader List | Autodesk VIZ |
Contour—Assigns a contour shader.
The contour component can be assigned the following shaders:
| Shader | Library |
|---|---|
| Combi | contour |
| Curvature | contour |
| Depth Fade | contour |
| Factor Color | contour |
| Layer Thinner | contour |
| Simple | contour |
| Width From Color | contour |
| Width From Light | contour |
| Width From Light Dir | contour |
Light Map—Assigns a light map shader.
Warning: No light map shaders are provided with Autodesk VIZ. This option is for users who have access to light map shaders via other shader libraries or custom shader code.