Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 13, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Although mental ray is integrated into a variety of Autodesk programs, the stand-alone version is intended to bring improvements when handling large rendering projects in 3ds Max, 3ds Max Design, Maya and Softimage.
According to Autodesk, the new version of the renderer will no longer require another program to run. It is operated through the command line.
Software Requirements:
The Windows (32- and 64-bit), Mac OS X (32-bit) and Linux (64-bit) operating systems are supported.
The 32-bit version of mental ray Standalone 3.7.5x runs on these operating systems:
Microsoft Windows Vista Business SP1 or later)
Windows XP Professional (SP3 or later)
Mac OS X 10.5.7 or later
The 64-bit version supports these systems:
Windows Vista Business (SP1 or later)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition (SP2 or later)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 WS
Fedora Core 8
Mac OS X 10.5.7 or later
Pricing and Availability
mental ray Standalone 3.7.5x is expected to cost 745 US dollars. Autodesk has not yet announced a specific release date; it says only that the software will appear “soon.”
Further Links:
- mental ray Standalone at Autodesk