You want to learn how to do those things? A general way would be to learn about shaders (materials for max) and how they work. The easy way would be to get a book (or use maya help) and start reading and experimenting. Learn what each option does.
Quick answer to your mirror thing, in any given shader / material with a reflective option, set it to 1.0 for full reflection.
<a href="https://forums.simplymaya.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16675">May/June 2005 Challenge Entry</a>