Other rendering programs
 

I've been using mental ray for a while now, and it works nicely. I have noticed though, that some people use maya to build their artwork, and use another program like "flamingo" to render it. Does anyone why people do this?
I might want to try it out for myself.:bandit:

different renderers have different strengths and weaknesses. mental ray is very powerful but also complicated in some manner. you can have full control but need to know very well what you are doing here. VRay for 3ds max has the magic render button for interiors - set up some lights, use default settings, boom - photorealism kind of. maxwell renderer is cool for physical correct caustics and dispersion effects ´n stuff like that. where I work most renderings are done with final render. don´t ask me why. play around and find out what works best for different situations.

is there a plugin vray for maya?

vray is a max only renderer.

For the moment. Chaos Group have a Beta program for VRay for Maya. Check out VRay for Maya

Do you download new rendering programs like you would HDRI, or do you have to buy them seperately?

I would like to try some and see how they affect my artwork.
But... I haven't tried taking full control of mental ray and I will try when I get a chance. Maybe Ill post some artwork when I try out stuff with mental ray.

...Can I even change the settings with the PLE version???? :confused:

most companies have evaluation software. have a look at their sites and search for demos.

O.k. I'll try it. Thanks for the advice.