[jjs]

- I loaded it onto sw2007 and put some SW textures on all the parts so that John Layne could have an mxs file that he can use.

Jonathan i could be way off here, but i do not put materials on in SW i wait till i get into Studio and then go to "window" - "projection list" - then i can select the item and confugure the projection map on the object. is this proper?

thanks jeff

Has the method changed in the latest plugin? It used to be that Maxwell need a UV map ( I think is the correct term) in order to place textures like bump maps and reflectivity maps etc . onto a model surface. Maxwell studio can't do this itself, if there is no map already present. The textures applied in SW pass over this map in the MXS file and then maxwell changes the texture to the one you select in Maxwell Studio.

I use the checkerboard texture in SW so as to see it clearly in Maxwell ( in studio make the view "textured" and not "shaded" , then you see the texture applied by Maxwell and can use the scale in the projector parameters to change size. I usually use Cubic projection as I can't seem to get the others like Flat to worlk that well.

The whole assigning of textures in Maxwell is a bit hard to get used to but hopefully will improve if SW improves the way it handles them and Maxwell can get at the code. Juan is the expert and may give us an update on the new plugin that he promised.


Jonathan

[jjs]

I'm open for comments on the image. Don't worry about being nice, I have thick skin.

I actually thought you guys would have had a field day with this.

OK Rob - you've twisted my arm - I'll render something this weekend



Moire patterns on the staples
What did you apply to the silver mechanism - a glavised material as it has a blotchy look to it

Too much focus accross the scene - try out the DOF on the SW camera to improve the "Photo" real part. I'll be using DOF on mine.

Base material looks very satin - which is no problem but a satin would have folds in it so would need to perhaps change to a white paper so it can simulate a photogrphers paper roll background. Does PW have a paper in it libray, I think it does.


Jonathan

[Eric Lagman]

Has the method changed in the latest plugin? It used to be that Maxwell need a UV map ( I think is the correct term) in order to place textures like bump maps and reflectivity maps etc . onto a model surface. Maxwell studio can't do this itself, if there is no map already present. The textures applied in SW pass over this map in the MXS file and then maxwell changes the texture to the one you select in Maxwell Studio.

I use the checkerboard texture in SW so as to see it clearly in Maxwell ( in studio make the view "textured" and not "shaded" , then you see the texture applied by Maxwell and can use the scale in the projector parameters to change size. I usually use Cubic projection as I can't seem to get the others like Flat to worlk that well.

The whole assigning of textures in Maxwell is a bit hard to get used to but hopefully will improve if SW improves the way it handles them and Maxwell can get at the code. Juan is the expert and may give us an update on the new plugin that he promised.

You dont need to put any materials on the object to apply textures in studio. The objects will come in invisible for some reason. Just make a quick default material in studio and slap it on all the geometry so you can see it. You can then map textures on in studio using mapping tools etc.

[jjs]

Eric - is this the new plugin?

Well that will save some time.


Newsflash - ignore everything I say

superbad is right about the fill in flash - it is very usefull on very sunny days to get rid of the shadows coused by peoples neaderthal eyebrows, but in a stadium ... no point as a flash just only works for 10m approx.

Jonathan

[Eric Lagman]

Eric - is this the new plugin?

Well that will save some time.


Newsflash - ignore everything I say

superbad is right about the fill in flash - it is very usefull on very sunny days to get rid of the shadows coused by peoples neaderthal eyebrows, but in a stadium ... no point as a flash just only works for 10m approx.

Jonathan

It has worked this way ever since I have been importing models into studio I believe. The last two plugins for sure it has been this way.

[jjs]

Warning to you all - senility starts at 41. Thats my only excuse for not keeping up with things. Its not as if Maxwell is changing every week

God knows where I got the idea of having to apply the textures in SW.

Jonathan

[John Layne]

Warning to you all - senility starts at 41.

Thank goodness I have 3 months left before senility takes over what's left of my brain.

[jjs]

John - let me know if the mxs file is not as you want. I had textured the model in SW , but now it seems that is redundant. So if you want a fresh, virgin, untouched one let me know

Jonathan

[b-kandor]

Warning to you all - senility starts at 41.

Thank goodness I have 3 months left before senility takes over what's left of my brain.

I have 24 days left or was it 23? I can't remember......anymore!

[roch_fr]

hello guys,
can somebody provide me a .MXS file version ? I'm working with SW2006 and I can't open the file.

Thank you

Roch
maxwellrender.fr

[John Layne]

John - let me know if the mxs file is not as you want. I had textured the model in SW , but now it seems that is redundant. So if you want a fresh, virgin, untouched one let me know

Jonathan

Cheers Jonathan,

At this stage I probably wont be creating a rendering for the competition. There are people here who will do a better job than I. At the moment I'm too busy catching up on paying work.

I really look forward to seeing the results.

[Eric Lagman]

The results are in. http://www.robrodriguez.com/ Not very many entries. Us Maxwell boys got beat out by a vray render full of artefacts. I guess the downfall of my submission was the large amount of noise still present after 21 hrs of rendering. If its a battle between GI splotches or noise I guess noise looses Mine also needed more contrast after looking back at it. It was way too dark and gloomy looking. Oh well. Maybe next time if there is one.

[roch_fr]

too late for participating. Render is done, I post it here



Roch
www.maxwellrender.fr

[rockguy]

I just wanted to thank everyone here for entering the contest. I have the information for each render posted with the images for those of you that want to compare notes.

I'm going to try and start learning Maxwell

By the way, I notice Juan is going to be giving a session at SolidWorks World. This is going to be great! I'll definately be there.

[jjs]

Rob - Thanks for posting my late entry - picked best of a bad bunch from me?

To explain for the others - I did a multilight rendering and posted off 4 results to Rob. I think the multi light adds to the grain, but it was easy to select a lighting scheme later.

I think I did myself no favours with the possibly excessive DOF, but then I would maintain that if photorealism is required , then most of the renderings were far too sharp over the depth of the picture, as a even a quality lens and very very small aperture would struggle on objets so small.

However what stands out is the very quick setup time for Maxwell - and I have to say I just used the Maxwell matrial library to liberally spray my model with what took my fancy - plus I have a library of emitters in my SW library. I particularly like the "fingerprint on Chrome" - pity I did not spend maore time match up the scale of the fingerprints and getting them in focus

In the next year I will look out for the effect all these quad core etc etc new processors have. As we early birds probaly have our spare Maxwell license still sitting around unused


Jonathan