cant render materials plz help

[ElectricdreamS]

hi am new to 3d studio max. using versioin 3. i cant render any of the reflection materials. cant even load them from material browser into the material editor. everytime i choose one from the list it only shows as a grey material. someone plz help me!

 

[leonec]

Reflection materials require something to reflect so you need a background image or other objects in the scene...do you have these things?

 

[ElectricdreamS]

I have tried adding a background image but not being able to do so. If you dont mind plz write a tiny tutorial for me to achieve what i want to. Show me how to add an image to the background and how to get this reflection thig done. I appreciate your help. cheers!

 

[ElectricdreamS]

now i have been able to apply a background from the library. but cant apply those ones like lake and gold. even in the library browser they show up in the previw in the box. on choosing these ones i only get a plan color in material editor.help!

 

[leonec]

you need to press F1 and do a search for "backgrounds" and learn about this feature...this is really basic stuff that is in tutorials included with 3ds max documentation.