EEVEE will use ray-tracing to fix some big limitations, but there are no plans to make EEVEE a full-blown ray-tracer. Note that hardware ray-tracing is not a target for the 3.0 release but one of the motivations for the overhaul.

To mirror an object:

1. Make any object selection.
2. Do one of the following: On the main toolbar, click Mirror. From the Tools menu, choose Mirror.
3. Set the mirror parameters in the dialog and click OK. The active viewport changes to show the effect of each parameter as you set it.

A reflective surface reflects the surrounding maps like a mirror. A refractive surface creates the illusion that the surrounding maps are seen through the surface. For mirror-like flat surfaces that you want to reflect the environment accurately, use Flat Mirror material.

You can use three kinds of Reflection maps: basic, automatic, and flat-mirror. A basic Reflection map creates the illusion of chrome, glass, or metal by applying a map to the geometry so that the image looks like a reflection on the surface.

Accurate reflections can be accomplished e.g. by a ray trace renderer by following a ray from the eye to the mirror and then calculating where it bounces from, and continuing the process until no surface is found, or a non-reflective surface is found.

3ds Max opens the Material/Map Browser. Choose Maps Standard Reflect/Refract, and then click OK. Alternatively, you can use the Slate Material Editor to wire a Reflect/Refract map node to the Reflection component. On the parent materials’ Maps rollout, adjust the Amount to control how reflective the material is.

Use the DAE format instead. Open Compact Material Editor. 2. With the picker tool, click on the material that you wish to change (on the object) : it will be selected in the material editor. 3. Open the material’s “Maps” menu. 4. Tick the reflection box and adjust it to obtain the wanted reflection.

To use a bitmap as a Reflection map: Click the map button labeled Reflection. 3ds Max opens the Material/Map Browser. Choose Maps Standard Bitmap, and then click OK. Alternatively, you can use the Slate Material Editor to wire a Bitmap node to the Reflection component. 3ds Max opens a file dialog.

An automatic Reflection map does not use mapping coordinates, but instead looks outward from the center of the object and maps what it “sees” onto the surface. Another way to generate reflections automatically is to assign a Raytrace map to be the reflection map.