Why was the Renaissance considered the beginning of the modern era? Are there any attitudes or ideas from the Reformation that you can see may have been influenced by the Renaissance?

The Renaissance was the beginning of the modern era in that it brought about the beginning of rational secular thought.  The invention of the printing press made books more affordable and more people had access to knowledge.  People began to read their Bibles for themselves and question what the Catholic Church had been claiming for centuries--this reliance on Scripture reading and personal salvation would be the backbone of the Protestant Reformation.  
The Renaissance was also modern in that people studied math and science more.  Man looked to make sense of his world and the printing press gave more people access to ancient thinkers such as Euclid and Plato.  With the rise of literacy more people wanted books in the languages they normally spoke (instead of the Church's Classical Latin) so this is the beginning of the modern French and Germanic languages becoming popular in literature.  With literature also came national identity--this would lead to the nation state.  Also, the Military Revolution happened during the Renaissance.  Small kingdoms fell, while the larger ones grew into nation-states in need of large bureaucracies.  The larger ones were able to harness the manpower and money to expand the armies in terms of numbers and technology.  Also, military science became a field of study--this outgrowth of learning is similar to what was happening in other fields during the Renaissance such as in the sciences and religion.