Understand V3 Maxwell for SketchUp before You Regret

Maxwell is one of the more appropriate and popular plug-INS available for SketchUp. A lengthy discussion of Maxwell for SketchUp should begin with the premise that it creates to render SketchUp.

It is undeniable that Maxwell for SketchUp is credible despite some experts stating that it is too expensive and only the rich can afford it. A lot of people consider Maxwell Render Technology to be the pinnacle of 3D rendering technology and SketchUp.

There is a free version as well as a paid license available. Maximize Maxwell's simplicity when evaluating it for SketchUp. It's only a matter of installing it for the user. The Maxwell render engine is built-in into SketchUp. You needn't worry about importing any outside applications or programs as a user. Because the interface handles everything for you, you will not have to export the scene.

Key Reasons of Using this Plugin

A simple user interface accompanies Maxwell for SketchUp. There have been some optimizations where appropriate, resulting in an interface that designs to be a very straightforward yet complete one, for Maxwell Render within SketchUp. A quick start will be available after you read this overview.

Features of Maxwell Menu & Tool-Bar

The Maxwell plug-in converts SketchUp's Plug-ins menu into a Maxwell menu, along with a Maxwell toolbar.

Here are the commands in the toolbar of the plug-in, from left to right:

Rendering & Export

Render: An MXS file is exported and Maxwell Render is used to rendering the scene.

Export MXS: Models are exported as MXS files.

Network Render: Using the Maxwell Network Rendering system, the scene exports to an MXS file.

Export to Studio: The scene will export to an MXS file and opened in Maxwell Studio. If Maxwell does not have a Studio license, the button will grey out.

Maxwell Fire: Activates or deactivates Maxwell Fire.

The Scene Manager Window

In Maxwell Scene Manager, you can access all scene parameters that relates to Maxwell. Materials, Camera, Environment, and Output are the four categories found in the Scene Manager, each with its tab. There is another tab allows you to configure the plugin.

The Maxwell Context Menu

There is an item named Maxwell available in SketchUp's context menu. It is here that you can decide how the faces in the entity will be split, and whether or not to override the UVs in SketchUp. The entity can also export or render separately.

Assets of Maxwell

Preview

The Maxwell MXS files contain the material preview scenes used by the Maxwell plug-in material editor.

MXM Files

In addition to the pre-made .MXM files, the textures locate in a subdirectory called textures. Plug-in materials may use Maxwell MXM files by using the MXM Mode.

IES

Maxwell Render Suite ships with .IES files in this folder. Maxwell emitter materials can create using IES files by selecting the IES File material Character.

IOR

Files included with Maxwell Render in the .IOR format. By selecting the Complex IOR material character, IOR files can create Maxwell materials.

Simulens Map

This pack consists of various maps for Maxwell's Simulens feature.

Skies

Scene Manager's Environment page contains various Maxwell .sky files that can import.

Wrapping it Up

You can render with Maxwell Render, use Network System components, use Mixed as a standalone material editor, and use Multi-light Standalone without restriction.

This edition does not include Maxwell Studio, which is sold separately. Maxwell Render for SketchUp does not require two versions, as it was in Version 3.

To learn more, watch the following video tutorial.

Video Source: The Orangery ArchViz