I gave the free versions a test run this morning and all I can say is that I really really hope that the new VRay plug-in developers are taking notes. I really like the GUI and I feel that Maxwell stuck to Chaos by coming out with this plug-in before they could release a new V-ray for SketchUp plug-in. I sometimes feel like I am using an old program from 1995 when navigating through the V4SU plug-in interface. Unless you have a few years of experience under you belt, you are really adjusting settings and values and hoping for the best.

I have said this before and I will say it again, for a $1000 rendering plug-in, V-Ray has got to be able to at least give us something that these other engines are providing in regards to features and UI. I sometimes think that the hefty pricetage pays for the trusted V-Ray name and engine code and thats about it.

This sounds like it is related to the component itself if the shadows do not render in any of these programs. Could you attached the file so we can look at it?

In order for a lamshade like this to work, you need have a couple of things setup.

1. your shade material setup in SU - no most shades in the real world have a different material on each side, so you want an inside and outside shade material.
2. Make a 2-sided (not a Skp 2 sided) Material and call it SHADE or whatever you want.
3. Make sure you setup that front shade and back shade material in that material setup for SHADE, and set the Color to a mid gray material - this controls how much of the back material you will see from the front. Place this SHADE material on to the lampshade model.
   NOTE: if you are like me and purge your file often, beware that purging will delete you front and back shade materials and then the SHADE material will no longer work.
4. Make sure you omni light is casting a bright enough light. You may have to play with the values on this. I usually have my omnis set to Square Inverse Decay, Units to Radiant Power, give it a warm color, and set the intenisity to something like 40-50.

When you render the scene, the light should be coming from the top and bottom of the shade and you should see the light hitting on the inside surface through the shade. If you want a softer shadow you need to adjust you shadow radius in your omni light setting.

I read a little more into it and it seems somewhat limited. If you want to render pro images, you will still need the full program. V-ray should take note and offer a limited VR plugin.

What's the deal with this Maxwell for SketchUp? $95 for a licensed version? http://www.maxwellrender.com/index.php/home/maxwell_for_sketchup

Here's how I would approach it.

1. model the entire lamp profile and create the object as a revolved shape.
2. the shade should be a simple single plane so you can apply a 2-sided material
   3.Go to the Chaos Group youTube page and watch the video on 2-sided material setup.
3. I would use a copper metal material with a noise displacement map to get that hand crafted effect. This may take some time to figure out.

I know that Fernando uses a sphere with a mirror material to help align HDRI images, so maybe its in there for that too. I dont like the Vray sphere because it is pretty low poly. When I need a sphere I use the 3D Shapes Tool plug-in which can be found on SketchUcation.

I get this issue all the time with displacement. Sometimes it takes hours to get the thing to start cranking along.

It's your reflection glossiness setting. I assume you loaded this floor material from a preset vismat your may have downloaded. You want to go to the material editor and for the floor material, change the glossiness setting to 1.0 for very sharp refelctions or use something like .9 for a slight blur which is more realistic. Remember that if you use a number less than 1, that you need to adjust you subdivs, the higher the better but the longer the render times. I use 18-22 for high quality stuff.

I find emmitters to cause tons of issues with splotches. I would not use them as a light source but only as a way to give a material the 'appearance' of being lit.

Does anyone ever user DMC as their secondary engine anymore? I looked at some old visopts and I see that people used to use it all the time for interiors but it seems that LC is chosen engine now.

And thats why V-Ray rocks!

Sorry for the delay on this, but here is my first shot at it.

My understanding is that these rotating/moving object scripts use layers to make objects 'move'. I don't think the current version of VfSU takes layers into consideration when rendering an animation. This is somethign hopefully that gets addressed in the new version slated to come out very soon.

I wouldnt turn the preview off. I have found issues with this. Just set it to have the preview on, that way you can see the progress.

3D Studio and SU dont always play nice together.

Thea is on my list of to-try demos. I am working with Vue right now and will try Thea shortly. I just hope a VfSU 2.0 teaser comes out soon to get me excited again.

How easy is it to go back to SU and make edits and then go back to Thea? Is it a pain?

The test ball is a standard to get a sense of how a material will render. I agree that they aren't great for arch materials, but the test ball has been a standard because it lets you see the material in a variety of situations. Maybe we create our own? I will mock one up and you guys give a try if you want also. Our goal here is to make a material testing object that is best suited for architectural materials.

Doesnt need to look the same but I am shocked no one has made one in SU.