Joep van der Steen is formally trained as a civil engineer. He has worked in computer animation and visualization for the past 15 years, devoting recent years to sales and training for 3ds Max and Viz within the Benelux countries. As an extension of his training activities Joep hosts an internet support portal (www.3dstudio.nl) with related tutorials and models, and annually teaches a high school level course on the fundamentals of 3ds Max. Joep mastered mental ray rendering by repeatedly throwing himself into its cold deep waters without water wings. Ted Boardman has been author or co-author of 14 books on 3ds Max which have been sold worldwide in many languages. He is an award-winning 3ds Max trainer specializing in fundamental training techniques and has worked with 3ds Max since its inception.