I am a beginner learning to use 3ds max.  I purchased a model of Turbo squid that looked great and when I open it, it does not look so good.  It says it was rendered with VRay 1.5.  I am trying to learn what vray is and I am not sure.  Could someone give me a breakdown as to what vray is and if it is something I would have?

As I am sure it is obvious I am not very familiar with this program and shifting from being a 2D/3D drafter to more of a 3D modeler.  To start for a project or two I am mostly using models others have made and putting them together into a scene that renders how I want.  I am really hitting a wall with this in that I am unable to get the rendering presets and materials from others to appear properly.  Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

Thank you

Vray is a third party renderer.
http://www.chaosgroup.com/en/2/vray.html

Within 3ds Max you have two renderers available: Scanline, and Mental Ray. Different uses, different results.

My suggestion, if you really want to learn 3D is to start with the tutorials that come with the software. If you are doing general 3D work, then do the 3ds Max 2010 Tutorials. If you are more into architectural visualization, then do the 3ds Max Design Tutorials. Both types are available for download from Autodesk if you want the one that did not come with your version.

Tim Wilbers [FA]

College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Visual Arts
University of Dayton
http://www.udayton.edu/
3ds Max: 7.5, 8, 9, 2008, 2009, 2010

With a model that was done for Vray, (unless you want to buy Vray) you need to delete the vray lights. Then, load all the different Vray materials used on the model into the material editor, and for each one create a new material (either standard or MentalRay Arch&Design) and apply it to the appropriate objects.  (And finally change the renderer to Scanline or Mentalray, of course.)

--3ds Max Design 2009 64bit, Direct3D 9, Win Vista Premium 64, 3ghz quadcore Xeon, Quadro FX1700--