[w i l l]

Is it possible to download the old plugin for Rhino 4?

[JDHill]

I'm not sure what you mean. The current x86 plugin works with Rhino 4.0, and Rhino 5.0 x86. The reason the x64 plugin only works with Rhino 5.0 x64, is because there was never an x64 build of Rhino 4.0.

[w i l l]

Well I get an error saying...

'Error loading Maxwell for Rhino'

'This plug-in is designed to run on the latest Rhino 4.0 Service Release'

[JDHill]

Ah, that just means you need to update Rhino. There were some changes and additions made to the Rhino SDK in SR5 that the plugin requires, so that's the minimum SR we run on.

[w i l l]

Ah, that just means you need to update Rhino. There were some changes and additions made to the Rhino SDK in SR5 that the plugin requires, so that's the minimum SR we run on.

I can't update Rhino because it's their Rhino an not mine and they wont update it. So I either need to get an old plugin or use the Rhino 5 trial... I assume I can do that?

I installed the trial and did 'Export mxs file' or 'Export to studio' but not sure where the file is exporting to. I see this popup....

'Exports the Scene to an MXS file located at the path specified in Scene Manager > Output Settings > Scene Path, and opens it in Maxwell Studio (MXST). Optionally, you may choose whether to export all, or just a selected set of objects.'

... but in Rhino if I click Maxwell > plugin windows > scene manager nothing pops up for me to set the path.

Any idea where it's saving the mxs?

[JDHill]

The Rhino 5 trial will load plugins for as long as it allows you to save, which is 25 times. Not sure if that includes Auto-Save, so I might recommend disabling that immediately. By default, MXS files are saved in the same folder as the current 3DM, or else in C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Maxwell\output, if the current 3DM has not yet been saved. You can check whether the MXS is being written, or you could just try to write another -- if the MXS that would be written already exists, the plugin would pop up a window to confirm whether you want to overwrite it. Absence of that confirmation would imply that the MXS is not being written.

From your description of the situation, I can't tell what is happening. You have a toolbar with the plugin's buttons, and you have the Maxwell menu, so you have set Maxwell as current in Render > Current Renderer menu. Those things can't happen if the plugin is not installed.

1. Do you see any errors printed in the Rhino command line?
2. Do you see a window open if you click Maxwell > Plugin Windows > Log Viewer?
   1. If so, do you see any errors printed in the Log Viewer window?
3. Which version of the plugin are you using?
4. If you click Help > About Rhinoceros, what is the Rhino 5 version and build date?

To preempt question 4, I'm guessing you're not using the current plugin, and if so, I'd first use Programs and Features to uninstall any versions of Maxwell for Rhino, then download both the x86 and x64 installers again, and install them both, provided that the OS is 64-bit, and that Rhino 5 has installed both x86 and x64 architectures.

As for your friend not updating their Rhino 4 installation to SR9, you should tell them they are crazy. Because they are either crazy, or pirating and afraid to update. Major issues are addressed in Rhino SRs -- it may not be apparent, since they are both Rhino 4, but Rhino 4 SR0 was released in 2007, and SR9 in 2011. That's an awful lot of development to ignore.

[w i l l]

Ah yes thanks I've found it in... C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Maxwell\output.

So in the Maxwell dropdown > export MXS file.... I can only do that 25 times? Shouldn't that be unlimited as it's a Maxwell plugin. Or if I kept Rhino open forever it wouldn't need to reload the plugin 25 times?

[JDHill]

That assumption should be correct -- you should be able to export as many MXS files as you want -- the save limitation applies to saving with Rhino itself. I'm not sure what happens during the actual session where you go over the 25-save limit.

[w i l l]

That assumption should be correct -- you should be able to export as many MXS files as you want -- the save limitation applies to saving with Rhino itself. I'm not sure what happens during the actual session where you go over the 25-save limit.

I wont be saving Rhino files... I don't need to do any modelling and I don't want to render using the plugin... I just want to save the mxs to open in Studio. Hopefully I should be able to do that, otherwise it would be good if someone could give me a plugin that works with Rhino 3 so that they can export themselves. Not sure what the problem is... might be dodgy software, I'm in the UK though now not in France, so not as though I can work in their studio.

[JDHill]

Rhino 3, or was that a typo? Either way, Rhino 3 or pre-SR5 Rhino 4 could only have plugins which would be functionally useless with Maxwell in its current state. Hopefully, the trial-version trick works for you.