[JTB]

OK, how are all these connected?
My experience is this...
I use Revit Arch 2010 and Max design 2010... and Maxwell 2, all fully updated...

I use a scene for one of my projects... I export from RAC2010 to ACAD2010 dwg file, with common settings and use the file link manager to link the file into MAX... So far, we knew that if I enable instances, there is no way to have correct results, the rendering was messy...
Now what I have learned is that the problem is actually a combination of instances and motion blur
So, if enable "use max instances" and set motion blur to "off" everything is MESSY
Actually there is no instances there, I just have it enabled...

The problem is that Maxwell can't handle instances or proxys when motion blur is on...
So, is it possible to have it "per object" and then from obj. properties change it as we want it?


Instances without motion blur


Instances and motion blur

[Mihnea Balta]

It's not directly related to motion blur. When you turn on motion blur, instancing is ignored and all the objects are exported as real geometry, bypassing the problem with bogus instances.

Max is very weird when it comes to instances and imported geometry. It tells the plug-in that some of the objects are instances when they're not. There's nothing we can do about that, we can't tell when it's lying and when it's correct. If you use DWG import a lot, you should explicitly turn of "Use instancing" in the render options dialog. In fact, we will probably make that setting default to off, since we have proxy objects now, which are a better than Max instances.

Coming back to the subject of motion blur, I'm not sure why your objects import with motion blur enabled, but you should probably turn it off. Max allows you to control motion blur per object or per layer and it defaults to off. For some reason your objects have motion blur enabled after you import them. If you don't need it, disable it in the render options because it will produce larger meshes and slow down your renders.

[JTB]

Thank you for your instant response...I use ForestPack Pro from Itoosoft.com because usually I need a lot of trees and grass... It makes a "Forest" object and I can assign to it a custom mesh, for example a 3d tree... The easy way is to use an option from this plugin that sais "Instanciate" and I get instances...
I will try to use MW proxys as objects to see if instances are not needed...

[Mihnea Balta]

I'm afraid you can't have both DWG geometry and Max instances exported as Maxwell instances in the same scene. The best you can do is export the Max instances as real geometry, which is what happens if you uncheck "use instancing". I don't know of any other render engine which does instancing for Max instances; the other engines I've tested all behave like Maxwell does when "use instancing" is off.

[JTB]

Thank you... I will try some other options like using FBX or import instead of linking but I know that it means a lot of reassigning materials since the building model changes all the time...

[zdeno]

wouldn,t it be easier to add some "flag" to object in 3dmax ?

there should be in maxwell-properities a check box [use as proxy]
after export and during import to maxwell, engine could compare this checked meshes and would know witch one are the same

we all know , 3dmax is pure evil , so let,s outsource some work from this hostile enviroment to clear sky of maxwell engine.

[JTB]

The main reason I want to understand all the problems conserning Max, Maxwell and instances is because I will probably need a node license for one of my projects...
So, in case I wrote something wrong, here is the complete workflow...

I make a forest object... That means Forestpack creates a group of planes oriented to the camera and a special helper object which holds the properties of the group (materials, sizes, distribution, linked surface etc...)
Then I import a 3d tree for each kind of tree that exists in the group (Forest can handle many kind of trees and plants, like Vue ecosystem for example) and I make a MaxwellProxy for each 3d tree.
I assign this MaxwellProxy object to each kind of trees of the Forest....
Then I use the "instanciate" command of the Forest so every tree becomes an instance of the MaxwellProxy which is I think the correct way to use MaxwellProxy objects... Make one, and then place instances of that object...

I guess what I will have to sacrifice is the link with the DWG file coming from Revit...

[Mihnea Balta]

zdeno: I'm not sure how that would work. If I understand correctly, it would mean you can only instance one object, and it would be very hard to use (no way to tell which objects are proxies at a given time, no way to control multiple objects at once). We already have a proxy object which is much more flexible than that. Moreover, it wouldn't solve JTB's problem, since that's related to Max instances, not Maxwell instances.

JTB: doesn't it work if you do exactly what you describe, then simply uncheck "Use 3dsmax Instancing" in the render globals panel?

[zdeno]

this is hard to explain with my poor english

but if max causes problems with instances (he cheats as I understood) it is possible to use another way to tell maxwell exporter what should be treated as instances in maxwell.

the same name, the same group, the same proprities, the same matrix of vertex, the same material used.

but I am only guessing here , I am not coder.

[Mihnea Balta]

but if max causes problems with instances (he cheats as I understood) it is possible to use another way to tell maxwell exporter what should be treated as instances in maxwell.

It is possible. We've added a new proxy object in the last plug-in update for that. It can be used instead of Max instances, and Max instances can be treated as real geometry by unchecking "Use 3dsmax Instancing" in the render globals.

[zdeno]

and everything is clear now!
I have no maxwell 2 version

sorry for this offtopic