first we create a box and put a sphere into it. we go to the modifier stack of the box, add a new modifier called 'normal'. click the checkbox 'flip normals' on the modifier. now the inside of the box is visible.

next, we put an omni light into the scene. we use the attenuation parameters of the light (modifier stack -> attenuation parameters -> far attenuation -> check 'use' and 'show'. put the attenuation parameter so that it covers the sphere and the box. the attenuation ensures that the light is not overshooting when we make reflections. its also a bit more natural to use the attenuation to create 'artifical' light sources like bulbs etc.

ok. this is the basic setup of the scene. now on to the texture editor. you can archive reflections in max using various methods. the easiest (and cheapest) method is to let max fake it. meaning: you use a bitmap as relection and refraction map. since we want to do it properly, we need a bit more to get it working.

we first make the material of the box. the material on the box will be the thing that you will see as reflection on the sphere.

we go into the texture editor, take the first material, go to the 'maps' option and add a diffuse color map. at the material/map browser we choose bitmap and search for the image that we want on our hd. we go back to the options of the shader and set the specular level and the glossyness to 0. next, we select the box and assign the texture. if you click 'render' right now, the file should look like 04.

now for the material of the sphere. we don't need any texture for it, we only go to the 'reflections' and 'refraction' settings, activate them and set them to 'raytrace' without changing any parameters in there. play with the 'reflection' and 'refraction' amount to see what happens. it is a good idea to set the texture editor to display a background, when doing this (the third button on the top right side).

well... thats it, i guess. be creative when using it, see what you can do. happy raytracing.

here is also the file that i have made while creating the tutorial. everything is set up, just add a picture and you can start rendering and playing around. the file is done with max 3.0, so you will not be able to open it with max 1.0/2.0/2.5.