FREE Maxwell Render for Sketchup (free version).

Zoom123 · 11 Feb 2012, 17:03

I am referring to tutorials and info specifically for the standalone sketchup plugin. I know about your 8 video tutorials but I couldn't find much else.

Burkhard · 11 Feb 2012, 17:33

Try the VTC online Videos from Jason http://www.vtc.com

jason_maranto · 11 Feb 2012, 18:00

You won't find anything specifically besides those because:

A) It's too new still

and

B) The stand alone plugin is simply a subset of Maxwell -- nothing applies to the "stand-alone" plugin that does not also apply to the normal Maxwell plugin (and Maxwell in general)therefor it's rather pointless to do 2 (or more) sets of videos for essentially the same product.

Also I would not be waiting for tutorials that are SketchUp specific when it comes to Maxwell because it is its own thing -- it is far better to read the online information (and watch the videos) for the main render engine... this is where the good information is anyway, and it applies to all the plugin equally.

Best,
Jason.

utiler · 12 Feb 2012, 05:15

@jason_maranto said:

Alternately, you can simply use the default character type and reduce the opacity of your SketchUp material and the plugin will automatically convert it to AGS (this would be my preferred method).

Thanks Jason, that is what I do for glass in SU but I thought I would have to set reflectivity settings, etc..

brodie · 12 Feb 2012, 16:42

@zoom123 said:

My only issues with Maxwell now is the inability to test the production engine

The same engine used by the free version is that used by the paid version so you have unlimited access to the production engine. The main thing you're missing out on is Maxwell Studio which I believe you can test in the demo.

@unknownuser said:

and the inability of non-licensed users to post in the forums - which results in low forum activity in general ("Maxwell for Sketchup (Standalone)" section has just 3 topics).

I don't have much of a position on this although I agree with many of Jason's sentiments. But if I were in your shoes I'd want a dedicated forum as well that I could ask questions of. That said, Jason and I would be more than happy to get you any answers to questions that come up. Jason's tested more aspects of the program and probably done more test renders than would be imaginable. And although he has an excellent training series he continues to give a plethora of free advice. I've been using Maxwell in a production setting for several years now in association with SketchUp and also try to answer any Maxwell questions I come across here.

-Brodie

Paul Hanusiak · 13 Feb 2012, 12:58

I got them to work. I ended up just starting from a new, basic model to test it out and got them working there. I couldn't get them going on the larger model until I copied into a new model and saved under a different name so it seems to have been a glitch with my file. It's all working now.

Thanks guys. It's great to see such fast responses online.

Zoom123 · 15 Feb 2012, 10:31

@unknownuser said:

Context click the group (or component) and choose Maxwell> Separate By> Material

On the Output tab change the setting for "Use Instances" to "No".

These things do not seem to apply to the Standalone version.

I downloaded the IES example component from the Maxwell forums but I can't get the component itself to be shown lit. (but light is still coming from it). Backlight and Reflector are both set to "Yes" in the options.

jason_maranto · 15 Feb 2012, 11:50

IES lights only show the pattern of light given by a fixture (as measured in a lab, inside a sphere) -- the sphere is not an actual light source (it is simply there to reproduce the testing environment) and therefor does not emit light (I usually hide it).

This is why I usually say IES lights are best used "off-camera" where we can see the results but not the "fixture" itself... If you must see the fixture "on-camera" you can either physically model it and use regular emitter materials or you can fake it with a hybrid emitter/IES approach.

Equating an IES file with a "spot light" you might find in a typical Biased renderer is a mistake -- they are not the same things at all... an IES file is supposed to be real-world data about a real-world light fixture (whereas biased spotlights are idealized CG constructs). Of course you can falsify IES data and make it anything you wish, but it defeats the purpose of why IES files were created in the first place: http://www.iesna.org/

It is possible that those context menu options would not be in the "stand-alone" plugin since they are relevant to how the file will output into an MXS file or Maxwell Studio... and since the "stand-alone" plugin does not allow you to save as MXS file (or output to Studio) there would be little need for those options.

Since I finished the introductory videos, I only use the full Maxwell Render Suite (since I do own a copy) and the associated plugin... so I've not kept track of any new additions to the "stand-alone" plugin since then.

Best,
Jason.

Zoom123 · 15 Feb 2012, 13:05

Thanks.

Are there any tutorials on how to create hybrid emitter/IES luminaries or other best practices in creating luminaries that will be on-camera?

Is it ok to physically model lamps with Maxwell, or could it result in very slow rendering?

jason_maranto · 15 Feb 2012, 13:18

I've seen some good posts on the Maxwell forum about IES files in hybrid arrangements and you might want to do a search there to see what other people who work more in that field do... I'm not Arch Viz (more sci-fi/fantasy) so I tend to not worry about those types of things very often. There are many other Maxwell users on this forum who are more qualified than me to comment on this and I hope one of them chimes in here...

As far as physically modelling light fixtures it can be done, and with amazingly realistic results, but it often does come at the costs of higher rendering time. In particular there are two areas that can increase rendering time and both are related to caustics:

Overly smooth reflections -- this is simple to fix, just make the reflector material rougher... and generally this is more true to life, I've noticed people often tend to overestimate how "smooth" a surface really is.
Caustics seen through dielectric(glass)/SSS materials -- this is particularly bad if the emitter is completely encased... unfortunately this is a known issue with Unbiased rendering in general and if anybody manages to solve it using truly unbiased techniques it will be big news.

Best,
Jason.

Zoom123 · 15 Feb 2012, 14:04

Thanks. Apart from the "Tutorials / FAQ" section should I be looking anywhere else? I found some info but is not exactly what I was looking for, I will search more.

jason_maranto · 15 Feb 2012, 14:11

The WIP/Gallery sections tend to have the most information after the regular Maxwell Render V2 subforum... Tutorials/FAQ section will not have much of value as it's mostly older stuff.

Best,
Jason.

utiler · 16 Feb 2012, 03:17

OK, I'm getting a little better at this but have some Q's.

n settings you can set the number of threads MW uses... In one of the tutorial videos say that you can hit the 'dot' and say reset and it will work out how many is sufficient.

What happens if mine says 0? Does it mean I have no cores at all in my system???

Here's a job I'm doing at the moment. 3 storey specialist Medical suites. I've chosen to export them at 1024pix as they are for a website so I didn't think they needed to me any bigger. Sample level 14 with a little opacity applied to trees and peeps.

Zoom123 · 16 Feb 2012, 07:38

@unknownuser said:

What happens if mine says 0? Does it mean I have no cores at all in my system?

The default is 0 and it means that it uses all cores/threads available. If you are using Windows you can open the Task Manager > Performance and there CPU usage should be close to 100% for all threads.

utiler · 16 Feb 2012, 08:03

Thanks Zoom, but why is there an option if it just defaults to your system's performance?

jason_maranto · 16 Feb 2012, 10:01

Because you can set it for less than the maximum to allow other programs to use those remaining resources more efficiently... setting it for 0 is adaptive and that is where I leave it most of the time.

BTW, you are getting some strong vignetting in your render due to the small focal length of the camera -- In the future, if you do not want the vignetting there you can easily remove it by enabling the de-vignetting option (under Simulens) and moving the slider to to 100%.

Best,
Jason.

utiler · 16 Feb 2012, 13:46

Thanks for your advice, Jason. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

irwanwr · 16 Feb 2012, 18:27

@utiler said:

Here's a job I'm doing at the moment. 3 storey specialist Medical suites.

Andrew, that model was rendered with "FREE" Maxwell Render for SketchUp!?

utiler · 17 Feb 2012, 01:10

No Irwan, I bought the license but still the output res is only 1024pix...

I'm really enjoying how easy it is to drive!!

Zoom123 · 17 Feb 2012, 08:13

Hello, I am still a bit confused on the differences between the Draft and the Production engine. In their website they say "Maxwell Render is unbiased: for any given scene, both the draft and production engine will eventually produce the identical image" but from some of the responses here I got the impression that for more complex lighting you need the Production engine. So now I don't know what to expect from the Production engine. Would it produce an even better result or would it produce the same result but faster?

Or maybe that "eventually" is only theoretical, and for complex scenes the draft engine could take many days to produce a result that the Production engine can do within a few hours? (i.e. you will practically never wait for the Draft engine to finish)