Hi All,
This image is part of a project I recently finished whilst at GMJ design.
The render came straight from 3DsMax Design using Mental Ray. No post effects were required.
The scene consists only of one sky light with its colour matching the blue tint of the background photography and numerous self illuminated objects(IE glow options to illuminate the scene when using FG) with the following property settings: not visible to the camera; not casting shadows; not visible to reflection/refraction and not to receive or cast shadows.
This lighting technique is widely implemented by production companies for exterior night shots. It is quick to set up and fast to render: The final 4256x2832 image pixels took less than 1 hour to render. It was previously taking nearly 7 hours with numerous internal photometric physical lights casting diffused shadows.

This methodology is covered in detail throughout the 2nd edition of my 1st book.

http://jamiecardoso-mentalray.blogspot.com/

Any comments are welcome

Cheers,

Jamie