Introduction

Rendering is the process of generating a two-dimensional image of a three-dimensional scene, somewhat like taking a photograph with a camera, or filming with a motion picture camera.

Like photography, rendering requires that you determine a number of factors before you actually render the image. You need to

• Model the objects
• Assign shaders and textures to objects
• Optimize the scene
• Light the scene
• Set the size of the image to be produced

Rendering is an iterative and experimental process altering your environment to suit the needs of your rendering image.