I'm on the latest updates of Sketchup, the SU plugin for maxwell and Maxwell itself.

I'm having trouble assigning MXMs to objects. In the past I've clicked on the icon with the folder (6th icon along), which opens MXED. I then locate the MXM I want to use, click on it and so long as the surface is still selected in SU model, that MXM gets assigned to that surface.

But now, I get the spinning ball. It freezes SU. Anyone know why this is happening?

I'm following Jason Maranto's videos on Sketchup to Maxwell workflow. His version of Sketchup has a plus symbol top right of the panel. It probably doesn't matter for what I want to do, which is to use the Scene manager in Maxwell plugin in MXM mode.

I need to get MXMs integrated into SU. The Scene Manager seems not to allow the loading up of an MXM until you select a material from the drop down. Which is a pain, because it has a name and qualities that you don't ultimately want. But I have found a more useful button on the toolbar, namely browse for MXM, which launches MXED.

So I double click on the material I want and it loads into SU, or a reference to it. It's a new Arroway gravel material. So far so good. But now I can't see the texture clearly on the surface of the face. It's just a flat colour. How can I get the texture to be visible (at least in low res) in my SU model?

I'm attaching a screenshot of the materials window. The only way I seem to be able to make a new material from the window is via "New Texture".

Am I missing something, or has SU 8 removed the plus symbol from the top of the materials window? How do you create a new blank material?

Thanks Jason, I'll try that.

When I export as an MXS to use the model in Maxwell Studio, some objects are missing. One example is this: a group of 3 trees are in the model, but only one of them appears in Studio.
Is there anything I should be checking in SU to avoid this? By the way, the 'missing' objects were visible, not hidden in SU.

I should go ahead and demo it tomorrow.

Thanks guys. Are Apple bringing out a new 12 core?

If I want to run the Maxwell standalone suite, am I right in thinking I need to but Sketchup Pro (because SU free doesn't export a file that Maxwell standalone can use)?

Thanks Chedda. I'd rather not upgrade to a 12 core just yet - you think the 8 core will be good for a while longer?

So you opted for Maxwell instead of Vray...still happy you did?

I'm thinking of buying Maxwell.

I'm a Sketchup user on a Mac. I have a MacBook Pro i5 machine and also a 2008 Mac Pro 8 Core 3.2GHz 10Gb RAM machine. I have a feeling the laptop will struggle with Maxwell render, but will the 8 Core do a good job on complex models? I use a lot of vegetation, so the edges and faces count is often over 2 million.

If I buy the Maxwell for Sketchup plugin will that be enough or will I benefit greatly from the standalone version?