FREE Maxwell Render for Sketchup (free version).

[xrok1]

Thanks foe the materials! Now to round it off some light components would be great.

[SurfingAlien]

thank you Jason,

for both the suggestion on displacement-based materials and the materials collection (I saw it on the maxwell forum as well but also noticed the reason why you had to remove the links... so thank you again for giving us - latest SU users - a second chance to get them)

I will try your suggestion asap, just to be sure I've been clear enough: I don't mean a stone wall with normal/displacement maps but "real" micro-displacement (or kind of, don't know the correct terms in MR as I'm a new user) like this one:
http://resources.maxwellrender.com/search.php#page=1&mode=1&id=4658&search=carpet&v1=0&v2=0&tipo=

finally, one last question (sorry, I have registered to the MR forum but I'm still waiting for the admin to unlock my account for posting): when I try to register my copy of Maxwell I get this error:

I had a quick look at the knowledgebase/FAQ section but the only thing I found is about admin privilege (which I own -
I'm on Mac OSX 10.6.8). any idea about it?

thank you in advance,
Alessandro

[Slimdog]

There is a library I've created/updated for the RAL color system: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAL_(color_space_system)

It contains 2014 MXM materials -- There are 11 categories:

1. Anodized Aluminum
2. Car Paint
3. Diffuse
4. Glass
5. Glossy Metallic Plastic
6. Painted Wall
7. Satin
8. Shiny Plastic
9. SSS Plastic
10. Tiles
11. Velvet

Each category contains the same 183 colors.

These MXM files should be unzipped to reside in the following folder on your system (create this folder structure if it does not already exist):
C:\Program Files\Next Limit\Maxwell 2\materials database\mxm files\RAL Libraries\* category name*

My bandwidth is limited so please only download these if you will use them.

Here is a dropbox link for the MXM files:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/41250852/RAL%20Libraries.zip

I have also created the SketchUp Material Libraries that are linked to these MXM's so you can simply apply the SketchUp materials as you would any normal SketchUp Material and it will automatically render as the matching MXM. These should be installed into your Sketchup Materials folder as per normal.

Here is the dropbox link for the SketchUp material files:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/41250852/Maxwell%20RAL%20Libraries.zip

I hope this will help the new users get going with Maxwell for SketchUp more quickly.

Best,
Jason.

Thank you so much for the great tutorial Jason. I just download the free plugin last night and have been watching your tuts. I tried rendering a couple of years ago on kerkythea with no luck. Looking forward to this.

I have a question about the MXM that you posted above(thank you for posting these material for use newbies).I have downloaded them and dropped the materials into the materials folder in sketchup.Do these materials need to be linked to the specific path to the MXM's? I am on a Mac and not sure where to put the MXM_diffuse_RAL folder?

Cheers

Steve

[jason_maranto]

I will try your suggestion asap, just to be sure I've been clear enough: I don't mean a stone wall with normal/displacement maps but "real" micro-displacement (or kind of, don't know the correct terms in MR as I'm a new user) like this one:
http://resources.maxwellrender.com/search.php#page=1&mode=1&id=4658&search=carpet&v1=0&v2=0&tipo=

Yes, those are exactly the types of displacement effects you will want to avoid unless you truly need it -- the render times will be unreal, even if you subdivide the surface.

finally, one last question (sorry, I have registered to the MR forum but I'm still waiting for the admin to unlock my account for posting): when I try to register my copy of Maxwell I get this error:

I had a quick look at the knowledgebase/FAQ section but the only thing I found is about admin privilege (which I own -
I'm on Mac OSX 10.6.8). any idea about it?

I've seen a similar error before when they were having server issues with the licensing server -- but I'm not sure if that is the issue here or some other Mac specific issue. This would definitely be a question for JD as he is the man with the answers and solutions. You might try to PM him here to get his attention, since I doubt he sees this thread often (He develops and maintains several of the plugins for Maxwell and tends to primarily look for user issues on that forum).

Best,
Jason.

[jason_maranto]

I have a question about the MXM that you posted above(thank you for posting these material for use newbies).I have downloaded them and dropped the materials into the materials folder in sketchup.Do these materials need to be linked to the specific path to the MXM's? I am on a Mac and not sure where to put the MXM_diffuse_RAL folder?

They are linked to a specific path already -- my experience has been that you can point the MXM reference to the new location and it will find all of them from that point on... however I inherently don't trust automatic fixes like that so I prefer to use the original absolute paths to minimize the chance for issues

You should be fine placing them wherever you like and re-pointing the MXM material link to any of them which should then automatically find the rest of them (hopefully that will work on Mac like it did on my PC).

I'll definately be keeping an eye out for new Maxwell renders in the near future

Best,
Jason.

[jason_maranto]

One thing I kinda glossed over a bit in the videos is the embedded character type materials have full support for a Diffuse map as well as Normal, Bump or Displacement mapping (for any character type).

The parameters that are available are the same as what is in any MXM so in that respect you can recreate(and thereby edit) alot of those MXM materials by just using the maps.

Materials is a really complex topic and one I could(and have already) fill several hours of video tutorials talking about... so I just sidestepped the issue in these introductory videos because the time I had would not allow for going any deeper.

Here's a cool trick: The embedded material types will fully support clip mapping (opacity masking) if you use a PNG image with transparency... kinda obvious, but still very cool.

Best,
Jason.

[JD Hill]

finally, one last question (sorry, I have registered to the MR forum but I'm still waiting for the admin to unlock my account for posting): when I try to register my copy of Maxwell I get this error:

I had a quick look at the knowledgebase/FAQ section but the only thing I found is about admin privilege (which I own -
I'm on Mac OSX 10.6.8). any idea about it?

thank you in advance,
Alessandro

Hi Alessandro,

I would like to help, but the licensing application is not mine, so I am not aware of the meaning of this error message and cannot find out until after the weekend. It is my understanding that you should have received an email, and that this may contain information enabling you to log in to your account at the NL customer portal. From there, you can send a message directly to tech support, so that they can get working to resolve this first thing Monday morning (Madrid time). I would expect that your forum account will also be upgraded sometime Monday.

Just as a shot in the dark, you could try running the licensing application directly; you should find it located @ [plugins]/maxwell/lic/LicenseValidator.app. I suggest this on the strength that, judging from the error message, the application may be having trouble getting permission to write its license file, and that running it directly might help with that.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

Cheers,
JD

[SurfingAlien]

Just as a shot in the dark, you could try running the licensing application directly; you should find it located @ [plugins]/maxwell/lic/LicenseValidator.app. I suggest this on the strength that, judging from the error message, the application may be having trouble getting permission to write its license file, and that running it directly might help with that.

dear JD,
you nailed it... running the license validator directly did the trick!

thank you,
Alessandro

[valerostudio]

In Maxwell for Sketchup you have emitter materials applied to geometry and this can be in the form of a standard Emitter character or a HDR Image character... There is also the option to use IES files if you have access to MXM's with IES data.

I cant seem to find any MXMs that have IES files in them on the website.

[jason_maranto]

The problem with IES materials is there are so many possible IES files you can choose from that it would be hard to even begin to build a collection that would be moderately comprehensive.

That said, here is a small sample set of Erco IES MXM files -- these are made from the sample IES files that come shipped with the Maxwell Render Suite... they really have no purpose other than to show how Maxwell handles IES files.

Obviously the more ideal solution is to have the embedded emitter character type support IES file linking so you can use whatever IES file from whichever lighting manufacturer you need to work with for your particular project... hopefully this will be feasible to do.

Make sure to apply these to a small sphere or your results may not look right.

Edit: I guess you'd need the IES files too
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/41250852/ies.zip

These ies files will need to reside at C:\Program Files\Next Limit\Maxwell 2\ies\*collection name* therefor I'm not sure the MXM's will work on a mac.

Best,
Jason.

[xrok1]

Does the "sample set" go in the same folder? C:\Program Files\Next Limit\Maxwell 2\ies\*collection name* or in SU materials folder?

[jason_maranto]

No, the MXM's can be put anywhere -- generally I'd put them in the same materials folder as the MXM RAL libraries if you have those already.

BTW, for those of you who are dire need of a custom IES (or anything else)MXM library right now for your projects I highly recommend you install the Maxwell Render Suite demo -- I know it expires, but it should allow you more than enough time with MXED to create a sizable library of custom MXM materials of your own within the demo period.

Best,
Jason.

[xrok1]

Thanks!

[utiler]

Hi guys, this has come along just at the right time... I use Su Podium for some time now and am frustrated to no end!!!!!

One question; the paid version says its resolution limit is 1920 HD.... pardon my ignorance but is that reasonable? Please explain....

[jason_maranto]

I suppose that depends on your viewpoint -- the unlimited version Maxwell costs $995... but has much more to it than unlimited resolution.

I think this new plugin is best thought of as an intermediate option -- I would see the tiers as:

Maxwell for SketchUp (free) -- beginners and users who want good quality rendering for free for hobby projects.

Maxwell for SketchUp ($95) -- advanced SketchUp users who want more rendering "bang-for-the-buck" but are not primarily rendering specialists.

Maxwell Render Suite ($995) -- professional render artists who make more than 50% of their income from rendering and need advanced post processing power and/or 3D artists who use more than one package for their modelling.

Best,
Jason.

[jason_maranto]

BTW, do not underestimate the value of being able to post to the Maxwell forum (part of the $95 package), there are several benefits:

1. JD often implements feature requests.
2. Plugin bug reports are often resolved quickly.
3. Experienced users help with feedback, tricks, and tips.
4. Sometimes we get open BETA's of the new plugin long before it's released.

I find it a tremendously useful asset, and almost worth the $95 alone to have direct access to the plugin developer.

Best,
Jason.

[mark151]

I'm gonna do a newbie question:
Can anyone tell me how to set a colored glass in Maxwell Render Plugin (Free version)?

I've got in SU a window done with red set with 50% opacity, but if i select Glass attributes in Maxwell plugin material settings it becomes dark (black) in the rendered view...

[jason_maranto]

I'm gonna do a newbie question:
Can anyone tell me how to set a colored glass in Maxwell Render Plugin (Free version)?

I've got in SU a window done with red set with 50% opacity, but if i select Glass attributes in Maxwell plugin material settings it becomes dark (black) in the rendered view...

Glass (and all dielectric materials like water and SSS) require a SketchUp solid object (with the real world thickness of the pane of glass) to work properly -- to see if the object you are applying the material to is a solid use the entity info palette.

Another thing to keep in mind is glass (and all dielectric materials including water and SSS) will create refraction and caustics and these refraction and caustic effects while being very pretty do take longer to render, and depending on the lighting situation sometimes much longer.

As such for windows (particularly if you are only using a single polygon) it is faster if you use the AGS character or if you want a bit more fine tuning control simply use a low opacity Sketchup material (5-85% opacity) set to the default automatic character type (in Maxwell) to a low roughness (0-20%).

Best,
Jason.

[valerostudio]

Does the latest Suite plugin for SketchUp have Fire inside of SU also? Or do you need to own both the Suite and the free plugin as a way to internally setup materials and lighting?

[jason_maranto]

Does the latest Suite plugin for SketchUp have Fire inside of SU also? Or do you need to own both the Suite and the free plugin as a way to internally setup materials and lighting?

Yes the Maxwell Render Suite version of the SketchUp plugin has everything the "stand-alone" versions do(and alot more user options besides)... basically if you know how to use either of the stand-alone versions you will be able to move up to the full Suite at any time without any problems whatsoever.

The idea is the stand-alone plugins are really developed and updated at the same time as the Maxwell Render Suite version because at the core of them they are really the same thing.

Best,
Jason.

[valerostudio]

So the latest plug-in for SU that comes with the 2.6 Suite has Fire inside of SU?

[jason_maranto]

So the latest plug-in for SU that comes with the 2.6 Suite has Fire inside of SU?

Yes, and it also will allow exporting of scenes to MXS file format, Maxwell Studio, Maxwell Core Render App (production render engine, render channels, and multilight), and Maxwell Network Render (assuming you have render nodes to use)... each of those options are fully 64-bit capable (assuming you are on a 64-bit OS) because unlike FIRE they are fully outside of SketchUp's process.

Also because the Maxwell Render Suite supports Python Bindings for MXS files you can also do animations (assuming you can Python script) and various other useful functions.

Best,
Jason.

[valerostudio]

Any chance that they are going to run a sale promo soon as they have done in the past?

[jason_maranto]

Right now they are doing a promo for 5 free render nodes -- meaning you can render on 6 machines (networked together) at the same time.

For the future, I couldn't say but I don't doubt at some point they will... but it may be some time.

Best,
Jason.

[jason_maranto]

They are also running a contest/drawing for a free license right now:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/maxwell-render-the-light-simulator/help-us-to-reach-4000-materials/10150304759818740

They do things like this periodically for contests elsewhere too.

Best,
Jason.

[Rich O Brien]

I installed this today and got a Get SilverLight window. I clicked it and was told I have the latest SilverLight.

My question is what have I done to my PC that is preventing SilverLight from starting.

[jason_maranto]

Does the plugin not run properly within SketchUp now?

In the Silverlight configuration dialog (Start>All Programs>Microsoft Silverlight) the only thing I see special is the last tab (Application Storage)should have Enable Application Storage turned on and the plugin should be listed.

Best,
Jason.

[Rich O Brien]

No, I just get the Get SilverLight box.

I know it's a system fault I just can't track it down.

[jason_maranto]

Are you running the latest version of IE? It could be there is a patch, I remember a few along the way...

Sorry I'm not more help here -- Silverlight is something I've not bothered to look at deeply since I'm a devotee of SVG from way back... I see Silverlight as the latest pretender to the throne

Best,
Jason.

[jason_maranto]

Here's another contest and another chance to win a free license:

http://www.maxwellrender.com/index.php/home/maxwell_for_sketchup/competition

Best,
Jason.