[marseille13]

I'm very happy with the plugin and I think following features wishes could make the plugin better

log file: show how long a render take
autosave rendering file: possibility to configure if the plugin should save the rendering when finished. I often make renderings during night. And sometimes it happened that in the morning there was no sketchup open because windows installed some patches in the night....
preferred file format: possibility to configure in which format (i.e. png) the result should be save and why not also the file path
batch mode: I have several scenes in my models, it would be a great improvement to have a batch mode so the renderings run for example during the night... this with autosaving... perfect

[JDHill]

Thank you for the input, I'll see what I can do. On saving the output image automatically, I think it would be better also to do it on a schedule, rather than only when the render is finished.

[fv]

I think if you run the network render you can already render in batchmode on your own system as the assigned node for example.
But to render scenes automatically in batch mode would be great. Saving on schedule is indeed the only way. Otherwise you might end up with nothing after a power cut.

I would like to be able to save the rendered image files on schedule to dropbox. That way I can see at home the render progress at the office. I think in SU we can only assign an output folder were the mxi, mxs etc is saved as well. So I go to Studio to assign dropbox. I wish it could be done from SU.
Francois

[JDHill]

I am assuming that marseille13 is using the Standalone plugin, and therefore does not have network rendering capability. Regarding saving to dropbox, do I understand it correctly, that while you could accomplish what you want, by pointing the plugin's output folder to your dropbox folder, you don't want to do that, since it would upload the MXS, MXI, texture files, etc?

[fv]

Yes, I would like to set the path for saving the image file only. Those files, jpg's are very small and easily load onto dropbox and I can see those instantly even on my mobile phone. From Studio that works fine but I did not see how to do that from the plugin.

Francois

[JDHill]

You aren't missing anything, there's currently no way to do it in the plugin -- the outputs are always directed to a single output folder.

[marseille13]

a great help would be the possibility in the environment tab to select one hdri image and apply this to background/ reflection/ refraction/ illumination now you have to choose the file for each category.
is it possible to set the output format to png as default?

[JDHill]

Regarding the HDRI paths, it is optional to set a path in all four channels -- by default, the Reflection/Refraction/Illumination channels are set to "Background" mode (this is determined by the drop-down list next to the path), in which they inherit the path, and other values, set in the Background channel. Please let me know if you are referring to something other than this. Regarding using PNG for the default output image extension, I am checking into that.

[marseille13]

Regarding the HDRI paths, it is optional to set a path in all four channels -- by default, the Reflection/Refraction/Illumination channels are set to "Background" mode (this is determined by the drop-down list next to the path), in which they inherit the path, and other values, set in the Background channel. Please let me know if you are referring to something other than this. Regarding using PNG for the default output image extension, I am checking into that.

hmmm... maybe I misunderstood how it works and now a light go on...
when I select a hdri file in the background channel then I don't need to switch Reflection/ Refraction/ Illumination from background to hdri and set the hdri file, because in the background I already selected a hdri... it will only make sense if I explicitly want to use another hdri file for reflection/ refraction/ illumination.
now I get it!

what about the option to "lock" the camera while rendering?
rendering take time and while rendering sometime I want to continue modelling in sketchup. But if I change the camera perspective then the camera setup in fire will be updated and the render will start again. With the "lock" option, fire will do the render job and I could continue my work in sketchup.

for now maxwell is a cpu based renderer. do you plan to make a gpu based renderer? why not? because it's not what your customers want or because it doesn't make sense by your render approach?

[JDHill]

Regarding the lock feature, this already exists -- it is the second button (next to the Go/Stop button) in the Maxwell FIRE window. On CPU/GPU, that is not really a question for me to answer; you may want to contact the sales or tech desk through your account at https://portal.nextlimit.com.