Is there anyway to produce mental ray-like images whithout using the program? I would like to produce that same quality and photorealism without buying the expensive program. any tutorials or ideas are welcome. I know that going around mental ray will require lots of time.
I'm a little confused... if you're posting on this board, I assume you have Maya. If you have Maya 4.5 or greater, then you should already have Mental Ray... for free.
Mental Ray came with 5.0 and comes with 6.0, and for 4.5 you could download a free plug-in giving you Mental Ray.
Mental Ray only costs money if either A. You don't have 3D software that comes with Mental Ray (Maya, XSI, etc.) or B. You are looking to buy the stand-alone version, which allows for network rendering, etc.
I suppose it is possible that you are using a different 3D package, possibly a free one like POV-Ray or something, but if that is the case, then this might not be the best place to ask about producing Mental Ray-like images. You may want to go to a board for whatever program you are using.
If, however, you have Maya and want to produce Mental Ray-like images, then just load up the Mental Ray plug-in ; )
-Steve