Mental Images

Mental Images GmbH (stylized as mental images) was a German <a href="/facts/Computer-generated_imagery/ThJ2gh1X">computer-generated imagery</a> (CGI) software company based in <a href="/facts/Berlin/pMTIRNXK">Berlin</a>, <a href="/facts/Germany/paluuWBX">Germany</a>. In 2007, <a href="/facts/Nvidia/8QfCgqbu">Nvidia</a> acquired the company and rebranded it as the Nvidia Advanced Rendering Center (ARC). The company continues to provide similar products and technology, offering <a href="/facts/Artistic_rendering/r8qIQogo">rendering</a> and <a href="/facts/3D_computer_graphics/zlWW6eaF">3D modeling</a> technology for <a href="/facts/Entertainment/XXRnLM62">entertainment</a>, <a href="/facts/Computer-aided_design/5gSXrmmN">computer-aided design</a>, <a href="/facts/Scientific_visualization/p0yPc1X5">scientific visualization</a> and <a href="/facts/Architecture/FccThs8G">architecture</a>.
The company was founded in April 1986 in Berlin, Germany, by the physicists and computer scientists Rolf Herken, <a href="/facts/Hans-Christian_Hege/MBu5qNQu">Hans-Christian Hege</a>, Robert Hödicke and Wolfgang Krüger as well as the economists Günter Ansorge, Frank Schnöckel and Hans Peter Plettner. It was established as a company with limited liability & private limited partnership (GmbH & Co. KG). The Mental Ray software project was initiated in 1986. The first versions of the rendering software were influenced, tested and utilized by the then-sizable commercial computer animation division of Mental Images, which was led by the following visual effects supervisors: The 1991 and 1993 Academy Award winner <a href="/facts/John_Berton/6QdXDVrw">John Andrew Berton</a> (1986–1989), the 2000 and 2017 Academy Award winner <a href="/facts/John_Nelson_(visual_effects_artist)/ycXvyexo">John Nelson</a> (1987–1989), and the 1996 and 2000 Academy Award nominee <a href="/facts/Stefen_Fangmeier/hSk4lSwI">Stefen Fangmeier</a> (1988–1990).
In 2003, Mental Images completed an investment round led by ViewPoint Ventures and another large international private equity investor. Since December 2007, Mental Images GmbH has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nvidia Corporation. The company is headquartered in <a href="/facts/Berlin/pMTIRNXK">Berlin</a> with subsidiaries in <a href="/facts/San_Francisco/cb9l7hbC">San Francisco</a> (Mental Images Inc.) and <a href="/facts/Melbourne/EHY9YxI0">Melbourne</a> (Mental Images Pty. Ltd.) as well as an office in <a href="/facts/Stockholm/sD74W4Pm">Stockholm</a>. Following its acquisition by Nvidia, the company was renamed Nvidia Advanced Rendering Center (Nvidia ARC GmbH).

Mental Images open-in-new

Mental Images