Here is an update, the emitter was a single plane at the top of the shade 3cm square. I think the effect is quite successful although i'd like to have seen a bulb as the source.

Wait doesn't this exist already ? Or is it only in the render suite version ? I am looking at the pencil (edit) button in the middle at the bottom.

That advise is gold dust i just doubled the geometry in sketch up and the benchmark doubled ! I would never in a million years have guessed that was the case. None of my experiments ever considered more geometry ! It seems the 2 softwares are operating at opposite paradigms.
I hope 3ds max come to the mac this year it will solve my workflow problems. Importing 3ds files is a nuisance in sketch up it has to convert everything.
Now i am starting to think the plugin should subdivide all the geometry before it hits maxwell this would be the best of both worlds, half an hour spent sub-dividing a scene would save days of render time.

Super advice Jason thanks a lot. That's very interesting news, about mxs referencing, because if i understand you right poly optimization helps sketch up & hinders maxwell. Hopefully Brodie and others will chime in at some point, good luck with the deadline.

Thanks for the answer Jason, i am aware that studio opens 3ds files natively albeit in 32 bit mode. However i am not so at home in studio as sketchup. I also have a problem with scale in studio only the grid helps this. Also if i want to adjust any of the geometry your sort of stuck. Thanks for the link i'll take a look. I have basically rebuilt the entire light in sketch up now and i'm getting an even lower benchmark ! Just how good an indicator is the benchmark ? Low is bad right ? I'm guessing a zero score will render infinitely ? My new file weighs half of the original .3ds conversion but it renders slower arghhhhhh..........

Romeo Light.skp

Looking good Heiru, especially the modelling although i suspect it's overkill, how does your machine behave with all those poly's, especially when you have multiple instances ?

I am in the process of laboriously preparing high poly models for maxwell. I find a website in this case Phillipe Stark sign up and download a .3ds file. Importing .3ds is a royal pain in the a** at the best of times. Sometimes geometry is corrupted, so as a work around i usually bring it in at a higher scale say metres then scale it back down inside sketch up to centimetres. This works fine in most cases. Then because the component has been scaled i need to explode and re-group all the internal and mother object. I usually run the clean up ruby at this stage as well. So far everything is working nicely although the import times, exploding and re-grouping times are really crippling ! I think this is a single processor intensive operation and could really be helped by making the sketch up app multi processor aware ?
Now i have hit a wall concerning lamps. I have been experimenting for some days on this one. The lamp i am working on is attached in it's original form, after scaling , cleaning & smoothing.
Brodie, Jason i'd love to see your approach on this one ? I am guessing the high poly shade is not really helping in this instance ? To see the bulb & the shade i have to use an sss material ? I have been modifying various versions of this light trying to get that benchmark score up, to no avail as yet !

Stark Romeo.skp

Looking good Dale ! Stefanq also good considering it's only textures, is it just 2 faces or do you have internal faces ? Thanks for the textures.

Thanks Hieru , CG produces strange effects in operators, I get quite introverted I need the radio to stay sane. I had strange scenarios in the outside world after too much battlefield (PS3)

Here you go Solo, i polished it up a little but i still see geometry in the corners, meh good enough.

Excellent work

Excellent modelling (i'm pretty sure he used pipe along path .rb)

Looks excellent Solo. Although they do repeat. You also need the mortar around the block.I guess my other thread is my submission for this challenge.

Thanks for the comments guys, Jason that sounds great, Elmer yes Art abandoned, Roger & Solo i chose to make the perfectly flat one ! Heiru i don't want them to have the same bump i'd have to replace the front and rear face with a simple plane then map bump argghhh...........

Thanks Mike, Jason your right i need to look into proxies. I love the fact that studio just eats geometry no problem. If only sketchup could handle it !

I have been experimenting with glass blocks for a recent project. Previously i had used a texture but it had never been realistic. Here it is modeled although a little high-poly. Maxwell loves detail & real life modeling. Regarding the brick component will it be lighter if i divide 8 times and mirror it about and then nest those pieces inside another component ? I have also attached the glass block component for you guys. There are 2 versions i used the heavier poly one in this scene.

Glass Brick.skp

Super again Tadema I've been to Chatsworth house a couple of times. What about Haddon Hall is it on your list ?

Congratulations Brodie !

something else to wet your appetite !

Looks great Tadema especially the line drawings. I challenge you to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight !