Mental Images GmbH (stylized as mental images) was a German

computer generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The ima ...

(CGI) software firm based in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, and was acquired by

Nvidia Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...

in 2007, then rebranded as Nvidia Advanced Rendering Center (ARC), and is still providing similar products and technology. The company provides rendering and

3D modeling In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical coordinate-based representation of any surface of an object (inanimate or living) in three dimensions via specialized software by manipulating edges, vertices, ...

technology for

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousan ...

, computer-aided design,

scientific visualization Scientific visualization ( also spelled scientific visualisation) is an interdisciplinary branch of science concerned with the visualization of scientific phenomena. Michael Friendly (2008)"Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, st ...

and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

. The company was founded by the physicists and computer scientists Rolf Herken, Hans-Christian Hege, Robert Hödicke and Wolfgang Krüger and the economists Günter Ansorge, Frank Schnöckel and Hans Peter Plettner as a company with limited liability & private limited partnership (GmbH & Co. KG) in April 1986 in Berlin, Germany. The Mental Ray software project started in 1986. The first versions of the rendering software were influenced, tested and used for production by Mental Images' then operating large commercial computer animation division, led by the visual effects supervisors John Andrew Berton (1986-1989), 2000 Academy Award winner John Nelson (1987-1989), and 1996 and 2000 Academy Award nominee Stefen Fangmeier (1988-1990). In 2003 Mental Images completed an investment round led b
ViewPoint Ventures
and another large international private equity investor. Since Dec 2007 Mental Images GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nvidia corporation with headquarters in

, subsidiaries in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

(Mental Images Inc.) and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

(Mental Images Pty. Ltd.) as well as an office in Stockholm. After acquisition by Nvidia the company has been renamed Nvidia Advanced Rendering Center (Nvidia ARC GmbH).

Products

Mental Images is the developer of the rendering software Mental Ray, iray, mental mill, RealityServer, and DiCE.

Filmography

* ''Mental Images'' (1987) (a short film of the same name) * '' Asterix in America'' (1994) (3D computer animation "Storm Sequence" and digital effects, software development) * ''

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the bel ...

'' (2002) (images computed with Mental Ray)

References

External links

*
Technical Oscars: The 75th Scientific & Technical Awards 2002 / 2003
* * mental images office at th
Kant Dreieck
tower * 1986 establishments in Germany 2007 mergers and acquisitions 3D graphics software 3D imaging Computer-aided design software Nvidia Software companies established in 1986 Software companies of Germany {{Ict-company-stub