Yes the term is rendering, and I think its pretty much as complex as the other aspects of 3D. There are different renderers to choose from, each with their own advantages, limitations and 'issues'. The help files should give you the basics. In some cases, especially with Mental Ray you'll need to search elsewhere since a lot of the documentation was made with the programmer in mind.
Last edited by GecT; 08-09-2008 at 05:11 AM.