'This book is the definitive reference manual for mental ray version 3.4. It starts with a brief overview of the features of mental ray and continues with the specification of the mental ray scene description language, the mental ray shader interface, and the integration interface for third-party applications. All material is presented in reference form, organized by grammar elements and C function call, rather than by feature set. The book is intended for translator writers, shader writers, and integrators, who are familiar with the C and C++ programming languages. This third, completely revised edition was extended to cover the new generation of mental ray, version 3.4, throughout the book, and also includes the mental ray integration manual. The enclosed CD contains a full-featured demo version of the mental ray stand alone and the mental ray library, as well as example shaders with source code and demo scenes, for a variety of computer platforms.