FREE Maxwell Render for Sketchup (free version).

jason_maranto

So the latest plug-in for SU that comes with the 2.6 Suite has Fire inside of SU?

Yes, and it also will allow exporting of scenes to MXS file format, Maxwell Studio, Maxwell Core Render App (production render engine, render channels, and multilight), and Maxwell Network Render (assuming you have render nodes to use)... each of those options are fully 64-bit capable (assuming you are on a 64-bit OS) because unlike FIRE they are fully outside of SketchUp's process.

Also because the Maxwell Render Suite supports Python Bindings for MXS files you can also do animations (assuming you can Python script) and various other useful functions.

Best,
Jason.

valerostudio

Any chance that they are going to run a sale promo soon as they have done in the past?

jason_maranto

Right now they are doing a promo for 5 free render nodes -- meaning you can render on 6 machines (networked together) at the same time.

For the future, I couldn't say but I don't doubt at some point they will... but it may be some time.

Best,
Jason.

jason_maranto

They are also running a contest/drawing for a free license right now:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/maxwell-render-the-light-simulator/help-us-to-reach-4000-materials/10150304759818740

They do things like this periodically for contests elsewhere too.

Best,
Jason.

Rich O Brien

I installed this today and got a Get SilverLight window. I clicked it and was told I have the latest SilverLight.

My question is what have I done to my PC that is preventing SilverLight from starting.

jason_maranto

Does the plugin not run properly within SketchUp now?

In the Silverlight configuration dialog (Start>All Programs>Microsoft Silverlight) the only thing I see special is the last tab (Application Storage)should have Enable Application Storage turned on and the plugin should be listed.

Best,
Jason.

Rich O Brien

No, I just get the Get SilverLight box.

I know it's a system fault I just can't track it down.

jason_maranto

Are you running the latest version of IE? It could be there is a patch, I remember a few along the way...

Sorry I'm not more help here -- Silverlight is something I've not bothered to look at deeply since I'm a devotee of SVG from way back... I see Silverlight as the latest pretender to the throne

Best,
Jason.

jason_maranto

Here's another contest and another chance to win a free license:

(www.maxwellrender.com)

Best,
Jason.

valerostudio

Actually here is a contest here http://www.maxwellrender.com/index.php/home/maxwell_for_sketchup/competition

jason_maranto

@unknownuser said:

No, I just get the Get SilverLight box.

I know it's a system fault I just can't track it down.

Hey Rich,

Did you ever get the Silverlight issue resolved?

Best,
Jason.

jeff hammond

hey Jason.. maybe you can help me out with this problem..

i'm setting up a render and this test is showing the facets of the curved surfaces.. it's not a huge deal at 800px but i'm worried about how it would look if i buy the plugin and make larger images..

am i missing a setting somewhere? or any advice on preventing it?
thanks

click pic -> bigger

Rich O Brien

Not yet, but I've nCleaner installed on my machine and I think it's causing the problem.

jason_maranto

@unknownuser said:

i'm setting up a render and this test is showing the facets of the curved surfaces.. it's not a huge deal at 800px but i'm worried about how it would look if i buy the plugin and make larger images..

am i missing a setting somewhere? or any advice on preventing it?
thanks

I see other areas where that is not happening so I would begin by assuming that the edges there have been hidden but not smoothed within SketchUp -- Select all the entities then context click and choose from the menu "Soften/Smooth Edges"... in the dialog make sure "smooth normals" is checked and that the angle is sufficient to smooth the edges in question.

In addition, in the future I would use more segments per curve for anything going through Maxwell -- Maxwell loves high-poly detail and the more segments the smoother things will be. This is particularly true for anything that will get a dielectric (water/glass) or SSS material... in fact when doing glass vases and whatnot I will use circles with a minimum of 180 sides (but often 360 sides) because "normal smoothing" is just a low-poly visual trick that does not work for smoothing profiles, refraction, and caustics.

When I was working on this model I used the BezierSpline Plugin which allows you to set as many segments as you need after you've defined the curve. BTW that model will render fine within this Maxwell plugin and it is very high poly so no need to worry about that (SketchUp may complain but that is a separate issue).

Best,
Jason.

jason_maranto

@unknownuser said:

Not yet, but I've nCleaner installed on my machine and I think it's causing the problem.

Gotcha, I kind of figured it was something like that -- I did want to point out that they have a Silverlight 5 RC you could try as well here http://www.silverlight.net/ (look at the top).

Best,
Jason.

jeff hammond

@jason_maranto said:

I see other areas where that is not happening so I would begin by assuming that the edges there have been hidden but not smoothed within SketchUp -- Select all the entities then context click and choose from the menu "Soften/Smooth Edges"... in the dialog make sure "smooth normals" is checked and that the angle is sufficient to smooth the edges in question.

nah.. i never hide edges..

@unknownuser said:

In addition, in the future I would use more segments per curve for anything going through Maxwell -- Maxwell loves high-poly detail and the more segments the smoother things will be. This is particularly true for anything that will get a dielectric (water/glass) or SSS material... in fact when doing glass vases and whatnot I will use circles with a minimum of 180 sides (but often 360 sides) because "normal smoothing" is just a low-poly visual trick that does not work for smoothing profiles, refraction, and caustics.

that's another nah.. i'm not going to make the curves with more segments.. a couple of reasons..
— the vertices coincide with the framing layout (i build this things irl).. in this case, the segments of the problem area in the back of the image are 8" o.c. while the foreground tight curve is at 5" o.c... there's no way i'm going to make a separate drawing with super high polys just for a render
— Texturing would be a bish!.. in order to get that texture on the curved surface to line up properly, i have to sample/paint the individual segments.. it's already a pain in the neck with the low-poly (well, standard poly) version..
—it renders fine in indigo

kind of a letdown

andybot

@jason_maranto said:

In addition, in the future I would use more segments per curve for anything going through Maxwell -- Maxwell loves high-poly detail and the more segments the smoother things will be. This is particularly true for anything that will get a dielectric (water/glass) or SSS material... in fact when doing glass vases and whatnot I will use circles with a minimum of 180 sides (but often 360 sides) because "normal smoothing" is just a low-poly visual trick that does not work for smoothing profiles, refraction, and caustics.

So I've been following this thread with some mild interest, as I'm always looking for good rendering solutions. Do you mean to say that Maxwell ignores the facet smoothing that's done in SU? My experience in Vray for SU is that things improved immensely once that was incorporated into the plugin (1.05 didn't have it, current versions do, it's a noticeable difference, as you can see if Jeff's posted image)

jason_maranto

No, Maxwell fully supports normal smoothing, however normal smoothing is just a trick -- if you look at the profile of the object you will always the see the low-poly nature of the geometry... there is no way to do anything about that. If you want a smooth profile you will have to create smooth curves.

In addition true dielectric materials will reveal the normal smoothing trickery for what it is because of the way in which caustics (and refraction) depend on actual geometry... there is no substitute for actual geometry when dealing with those issues.

With every regular type of material normal smoothing is more than enough to "fool" the eye -- so long as you do not look too closely at the profile of the curve.

Best,
Jason.

jason_maranto

@unknownuser said:

nah.. i never hide edges..

Some plugins may do that automatically, if you want to PM me the file I can take a look for you and see whats up.

Best,
Jason.

andybot

@jason_maranto said:

No, Maxwell fully supports normal smoothing, however normal smoothing is just a trick -- if you look at the profile of the object you will always the see the low-poly nature of the geometry... there is no way to do anything about that. If you want a smooth profile you will have to create smooth curves.

With every regular type of material normal smoothing is more than enough to "fool" the eye -- so long as you do not look too closely at the profile of the curve.

Best,
Jason.

Yes, I'm well aware of the profile issue. So it is possible to have the SU smoothing apply to a regular material face - for example a reflective surface and get a smooth result? It looks like in Jeff's image that the curve face shows the facets.