@tig said:

Looks like you are trying to run it from within a zip file ?
The 'Extract all Files' in the top bar is a give-away - it wouldn't say that in a normal folder ?? ...

Running the .exe won't find the .dll file[s] unless you have put them all into the same folder !!
So... extract all of the zipped files/subfolders into a single folder.
Then try running the .exe and hopefully the 'missing' .dll file will then be found ?

I did extract them, but I tried again and not only does that "extract all files" not go away, I get the following prompt (1st image). Clicking "try again" is useless, and clicking skip gives the image in the second attachment.

Is the extractor not doing the job correctly, possibly? Or am I?

I downloaded SmillaEnlarger directly from the site linked above, and when trying to run it, I get the prompt from my computer I posted below.

Anyone else have this problem? Something I'm doing wrong? Thoughts? Thanks in advance...

Thanks. I thought these were both 3D models, since each page allows for a "3D View", but I guess not!

I've been considering adding some trees/bushes/etc. to my model. I looked through the Sketchup 3d warehouse, and tried out these two first:

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

(sketchup.google.com)

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

(sketchup.google.com)

When rendering in Maxwell, the both the tree and bush are rendering 2d/flat instead of 3d.

Should I be looking for a particular type of model that appears 3d in Maxwell? Is there something I can do to make the above ones (or others) appear 3d, even though they're showing 2d presently?

Thank you...

Thanks Jason! You've been a big help...

Thanks for your help, Jason. Are there any of these videos in particular that I should take a look at that best relate to this issue?

@richard said:

Mate you will get all sorts of issues turning on displacement unless you divide the surface up a lot! Plus additional render times.

I see that!

I tried displacement with around a 27mm setting, and it really didn't help me. I then tried 56mm, and I can't even get it to render. The manual states there are two different displacement modes (one with a note that it is harder to render than the other), but my computer isn't giving me a choice of displacement modes for whatever reason. Maybe that's all the free version has...

I'm going to try an in-between displacement size and see if that will render...

Great, thanks! Jason's videos are excellent, and really helped me in getting this far. I've already watched the first seven, but will look at #3 again...

Thanks. I'm trying adjusting the bump strength. It didn't seem to help with using automatic/default, and I'm waiting on a render with the SSS settings noted above and will see how that goes.

I don't see any controls that say displacement. Is displacement the min/max settings? I haven't altered those at all from default...

Thanks.

Stupid question - I haven't done anything with bump so far (and might be what I need to get this to look OK). When I click on the "bump" button, it shows a setting as a default with -100 saturation, leaving the image black and white. What am I supposed to do with bump? If this is in the manual pdf, let me know - I don't want you to type something unnecessarily...

I agree. I'm sure it's a great value. At the same time, at least coming to this world for the first time, I've been very impressed with what is provided for free. It's a great program, even if waiting for rendering to occur can sometimes be like waiting for paint to dry. That's probably at least partly due to my computer though.

I am having a problem with rendering one of my materials. The file looks like this, before any changes within Sketchup or Maxwell:

I tried a bunch of different material types for this and ended up on SSS, but I don't know that this is ideal either. Within Sketchup (before rendering) I remember making just minor adjustments to the file (maybe adding just a touch of saturation), which kept the basic look but brought out just a bit of the color within the stones (the goal for these is to still stay basically white for the stones themselves, plus the color of the fill seen between the stones). I also set the dimensions in Sketchup for the material to 2' 6" wide and 1' 9 7/16" high, which made the stones look the size I want them. In Maxwell, I have the SSS material type set to:

7% roughness
7cm thickness
402.23 density
-28.49% asymmetry
0 change to saturation
+5.75 brightness
+7.25 contrast
no inversion

From a darkness/lightness standpoint, it looks OK (the above adjustments basically have helped with that more than anything else), but I'm not easily making the stone texture visible. I once ran a render with the resolution all the way up to 800 pixels and a high stitch level, and I don't remember being able to make out the stones in any useful way until the stitch level crept up to at least 10 or 11 IIRC, and that was at a somewhat close distance to one of the objects using this material (the project is a moderate sized motel). Pull away from things (as I will have to for some shots), and I'm seeing more of a textured off white than anything, which is not the goal. Part of the design is to be able to see these as stones.

Any suggestions re material type to better render the above? Settings/adjustments to help at least get things "in the ballpark"? Something that I should be doing but I haven't (or vice versa)? Anything else?

Thanks again in advance. This forum has been quite helpful with my few questions so far...

I understand...for my purposes, doing this just as a one-off for my own project, I can't invest in a paid version if a very good render plug-in (for my needs) exists. My concern is making the best choice among those.

Great, thanks Jason.

Given the above, do you recommend something else instead of Maxwell?

I've posted previously on the forum re my motel project that's I've been modeling with Sketchup 8 (free version). The motel is completed, but I now need to render. Note this 'build' is my very first project, though I'm very pleased with the results, except for it looking too jagged as I go further away from the image (when getting a wide view of things), hence the need for rendering.

From what I can tell so far, Maxwell (as a plugin to use within Sketchup) seems to be an excellent solution for my needs, with a few concerns:

I've read "out there" that some rendering programs have issues in dealing with components. Due to the nature of my design, I needed to use components throughout as it is quite detailed, and it would have been a nightmare to redo things each time from scratch (for instance, my railings on the balconies). Does Maxwell have any drawbacks with rendering Sketchup models with components - hurting their 'look', etc.? That's very important here.

I consider the motel finished, aside from polishing it so that I can make it look "photorealistic" and take away any sort of the jagged appearance that comes out when pulling back (distance wise) on the image (as noted above). I'm not looking to do anymore construction/building within the rendering program. All my colors, etc. are as I want them, though I wouldn't mind adding some subtle cement/concrete texture to the sections that need it (though they are already "painted" in the color I want these to be), and possibly proper "finish" to any paints as they would exist in real life. Neither of these are of utmost importance, but working with my existing colors, photo images (I've used cropped sections of pictures, such as stones, etc. to "paint" parts of the model) is.

I've read that Maxwell only works in metric. I've built up the motel in feet/inches, as that's how my mind has been trained to work. Considering the above paragraphs, is this even an issue given that I don't need to further "build" anything in rendering?

I'm sure that as a novice I'm asking stuff that may be a given, but before I go ahead an learn to use Maxwell, I wanted to be sure that I'll make a good choice. If not, does anyone here recommend another (free!) plugin?

Thanks in advance...
Martin

OK, thanks again Gai. I'll see how things pan out once I'm finished building. I really need to make it look smooth/finished/etc.

Thank you. I'll take a look to see if I can make such changes.

I imagine (from the little I've been able to gather) that adding a rendering plug-in could help clean up the image? Would I need to export to another program after that? I was quickly reading a bit on the free version of Maxwell Render earlier today, though I came across something about it only working in meters, and I've been 'building' my project in feet/inches. Would I need to export to another program after that? My concern is being able to still move the image around the way I can in Sketchup so I can take 'pictures' from various points/angles/etc.

As you can tell, this is the first thing I've ever done in Sketchup, or any other similar program. The results have been nice, except for this problem.

Hello,

I'm working on a project in Sketchup 8 (free/non-pro version). I'm having a problem with jagged edges as well. Things look OK when zoomed in on, but the further I pull away, the rougher looking things get.

When I go into System Preferences withing Sketchup and click on OpenGL, the settings shown are only:

My understanding is that to help correct this, I need some sort of setting with (most likely 4x) anti-aliasing, but such an option is not showing.

What needs to be done to display such an option? I'm using Vista on an 4-5 year old HP laptop if that matters.

I regret that I cannot show an example of the image - it's something that (once completed) I'll be copyrighting or trademarking for a business project I'll be launching. However, I'm getting close to finishing it, but can't put the image "out there" in the state it's in as when showing all of it at once, it looks too rough/unpolished.

Thanks in advance!