Judging from the last image you posted and the capture of your settings, I'd recommend changing your "Optics" settings. An fstop of 39.6 is fairly uncommon (most lens that aren't specialty top out around f22), and adjust your shutter speed to something more realistic. Shutter speed in your settings is set to 1/.02, which isn't something you'd ever see in the real world (again, Maxwell relies on realistic settings for its light calcs). Maybe start with 1/30 and go from there?

It doesn't look like the file is getting errors, and your sky isn't quite "black" as you say. The image is just severely underexposed. Hope that helps! Also as a quick note, for interiors, Maxwell will render significantly cleaner and faster is the interior isn't completely sealed from the outside environment. Transparent materials don't contribute, so try to have one portion of the model open to the outside, perhaps, behind the camera or somewhere out of sight.

@jjent said:

Hi - I'm a new Maxwell user, using the free version for the free Sketchup 8 platform.

I'm teaching myself how to use the program via Youtube videos, google, forums, etc and have a few questions that I can't seem to find the answers to using the above methods.

I have a pretty detailed SU model (15 MB) and want to create some interior and exterior renderings. First, can I even achieve this with such a big file and the free Maxwell version with the draft engine/dpi limit? If all of the materials are simply a generic grey or "clay" and I use sun/emitters, will it even be possible to get a decent image?

Likewise, I was reading elsewhere that trying to do an interior scene with emitters AND turning the sun on is too much for the draft engine and you won't get good results (noise, bad quality, super long render time). True?

Great answers have already been provided for 3 & 4. So I'll try to help you with 1 & 2!

Maxwell Fire does not provide high resolution renders but it is possible to get a decent, noise-free render if you use only clay finishes. It will also render fine using physical environment.

Using emitters full stop in Maxwell Fire will produce A LOT of noise. This engine is quite sub-standard when it comes to the quality of output - I would strongly recommend upgrading to the SU plugin.

Anita