[JDHill]

Maxwell for Rhino
Version 2.7.0 Release Notes

Changes

• This build adds support for the Maxwell Grass extension
• Added new 'Extensions' pages in Scene and Database Managers.
• Texture Editor is once again independent from the Material Editor.
• The Output page now more closely matches current Studio.
• Disabling Maxwell Fire no longer clears the rendered image.
• Added new Maxwell_MakeMaterialsUnique command.
• Cut/copy/paste material components using CTRL+X/C/V.
• RefreshAllTextures now invalidates texture thumbnails.
• Import .SKY file dialog now remembers its previous path.
• MXM References are cleared when rendering in Maxwell Fire.
• The plugin now explicitly checks for cycles in MXM References.
• Added support for Hide-from-x attributes on block instances.
• Added new Reset Render Properties button in Object Properties.
• Added Load/Save Plugin Options commands in Options page.
• If an MXM-Linked material is modified, it gets an orange border.
• You can now update linked MXMs from the Materials list.
• Added new Network options (Start Node/Manager, bind to IP).
• Solved issues with an NVIDIA (perhaps Optimus-related) driver.

Fixes

• Texture preview was being scaled incorrectly in Real Scale mode.
• Material Conflict dialog was not respecting the 'repeat choice' option.
• Displacement node could be incorrectly hidden when reading MXMs.
• Maxwell_ExtractMaterials produced duplicates in some cases.
• Show Sun in Viewport feature was broken.
• Emitters were being read/written incorrectly.
• Values could sometimes be initiailized incorrectly.
• MXM & IES paths were considered invalid when empty.
• Material thumbnail text could remain unset in some cases.
• Vector displacement UI did not allow negative Scale values.
• Default colors were not loaded when running Rhino 5.0 x64.
• The plugin could crash when reading certain MXI files.
• Changes to IBL textures were causing Material Editor updates.
• Same-name layers could present a problem under Rhino 5.0.

[kami]

Hi Jeremy

Thanks for the update. The new grass tool is great! Looking for more extensions to come
I have one question concerning the texture editor. Why did you make it independent again?
I really liked the compact, integrated version. Also because it saved some mouse clicks that are now necessary again.

And I have one issue, that is irritating me from time to time: I sometimes come across materials that have textures assigned to them, but they are all not activated (switched off).
I think this might be due that the plugin was not able to find the textures at one time, due to a disconnected network drive (If you open a material with missing textures, all textures are turned off). I think, when you save the file and open it again at a later time (with the textures being available again) they remain switched off. This can cause some mess, since I sometimes only deactivate textures in materials instead of deleting them, so I would be able to activate the texture again. But with that issue I am not able to tell which textures were activated and which ones weren't. Maybe that could be changed for the next release?

Cheers,
Kami

[JDHill]

Yes, I knew breaking the texture editor back out could be controversial, and I can't say that I really like it myself. The main reason it was done is that you now need to be able to edit textures both in materials and in extensions; the alternative is giving the extension editor its own texture editor, and for various reasons, I chose this route, rather than that one. I'm not yet convinced whether it should stay this way or not.

On missing textures being disabled if they cannot be found, I thought this was previously the case, but had been addressed -- so I'll look into it and see what I can do.

[polynurb]

i like the new texture panel.. very nice because one can keep the mat editor as small(wide)as possible but still preview textures in big scale.

my vote goes for keep!

[kami]

HI Jeremy
It could as well be fixed. I've noticed this issue a while ago, but never reported it, I think. I thought I've came across it lately but this could as well have been an older file.
Concering the separate texture editor, I understand your intentions and think that it might have some adventages as well as disadventages. So I hope I'll get used to it as well.
Cheers, Christoph