How to use emitters in Maxwell Standalone for Sketchup
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Thanks for the tips Brodie. So basically to create a spotlight I need IES but as Jason wrote in his post earlier Maxwell for SU doesn't support IES, only Maxwell Render Suite does.
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Oh darn, I didn't realize that. In that case your options are fairly limited. I've tried the hyper realistic route without much luck. If you can find out how an actual spotlight is created it'll work but I couldn't find a good resource. Depending on what you're doing, you could modify my last suggestion (using 2 emitters, one hidden and one visible). You could do a hidden circular emitter just above the floor (or wall) where you wanted to see the spotlight hit so it's light will pour out just on that space. Then point your visible light in that direction. It might fool the eye.
-Brodie
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It supports IES materials, but currently cannot make them -- however you can easily download the demo of the suite and use MXED that way.
Best,
Jason. -
@jason_maranto said:
It supports IES materials, but currently cannot make them -- however you can easily download the demo of the suite and use MXED that way.
Best,
Jason.ooo, good tip Jason.
-Brodie
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Isn't the demo of the suite a limited time trial? Is there a way to have unlimited access to MXED without buying the full product?
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The demo is unlimited. As I recall the only limitation is that there's a resolution limit and I think there's a watermark. But you could used it to create materials forever. Hadn't thought of that before. That's pretty brilliant. Perhaps eventually NL will release just an MXED download or include it with Maxwell for SU.
-Brodie
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Brodie, on the download page it says that there is a 30 day limit. Is there a legitimate way around that?
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Oh, sorry about that. Either they changed it or I was just wrong. That is unfortunate.
-Brodie
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No problem Brodie. Maybe Maxwell will revise their policy on this. I understand not including IES, but the ability to create spotlights shouldn't be considered an advanced feature reserved only for the Suite. If they don't include MXED then they should at least create some other feature that would allow the creation of spotlights.
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The reality is they are always adding new features and they know that embedded IES lights were a need for the stand-alone plugin so that is likely to appear soon.
There was no need for them before the stand-alone plugin came out because anybody who had Maxwell had MXED as well and could make any material they needed at any time... this wasn't a purposeful slight to stand-alone plugin users, simply an oversight. It's still a relatively new application (a little over a month old) so there are bound to be some hiccups.
I did notice you were commenting on VRay ability with exteriors -- which Maxwell handles quite well... I am curious are we talking hypotheticals here or do you have actual projects that you need to accomplish with these tools?
Best,
Jason. -
Yes, I did notice that the Standalone app was new. If they add a few missing features then I think it will be really competitive. If they could also figure out a way for quick preliminary renders, then it would have everything I need and I would certainly buy it!
I am not a pro in 3D (neither I am planning to be - I am a Web Developer). I have one project and that is my own house which I am currently designing. I have an architect, interior designer etc, and I could also hire somebody to do the 3D for me. But I am a bit of a perfectionist and I like to evaluate many different possibilities until I find the "perfect" one. So I learned Sketchup and I used the plans to make the house in 3D. Now we moved into the phase when we have to decide about specific materials and do the lighting plans, and Sketchup by itself is not very good for this. So basically I am looking for an app that will allow me to evaluate several different possibilities for materials, lighting and other aspects of the interior design.
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Well Maxwell is the render engine for perfectionists by perfectionists -- the reason for it's reputed lack of speed (which I think is blown way out of proportion) is because they refuse to compromise in any way from their ideals... Which they say right up front on their website.
There will be no biased engine added to Maxwell, FIRE is it for previews... any speed improvements will come from upgrading to more powerful hardware and possibly some code optimization.
I respect that approach since I take a very similar one to my work -- however everyone has different priorities and it's nice that there is an option to fit just about everyone.
Best,
Jason. -
I had the same problem, but I applyed the light material on both faces, but some times it did't work, so finally I figured out that after put the material in both faces, I had to group it ( the light source, using emitter material) and the problem solved. No more black faces on emitters.
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Speed might not be such a big issue once I upgrade my computer (i7 overclocked to about 4.5GHz) but not being able to add spotlights easily is an important issue. Do you know when they are planning to change this?
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There will be an IES material character in the next build.
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@jd hill said:
There will be an IES material character in the next build.
Great news! Any estimate about when the next build will be out? Are we talking about days, weeks or months?
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I don't mean to seem evasive, but as a matter of policy, I never answer that question with any precision. I plan on putting up some pre-release bits for customers pretty soon (the plan for this is on the order of days, not weeks), but I won't make any estimate on timing for a public release.
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I don't think there's any specific plan that's been made known. If you're really interested you could email Jeremy who's the creator of the plugin and very helpful. If he has anything in the works I'm sure he'd be happy to let you know.
-Brodie
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This is excellent news. Thanks
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mmh, I still have trouble getting emitters to work. I turned the enviroment settings to none and either changed sketchup materials in the maxwell scene manager to have max watts etc. or used mxm files that suppose to have emitter lights but none of them will glow! The scene will render dark and you see the material but it will not be a light source. What am I doing wrong?
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