Everything related to Maxwell Render and General Stuff that doesn't fit in other categories
By itifonhom
#400737
Hi there again guys.
I find that, in comparison to other render engines or software in general, Maxwell has really not a good presence in YouTube. There are of course some official videos out there but for the most time, without any commentary, short and dry.
I think Maxwell deserves some 15-20 quality videos, from an native English speaker, covering all the basics but also tips and tricks, complex material creation, lighting and render set ups. Maybe Nextlimit should consider giving such a possibility a thought.
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By Nasok
#400742
I think it's a great idea!

I would just go through documentation and make a video tutorial version of some of the documentation parts - to make it easier for understanding.

Also, I think that we should have a place where everyone can post a request to cover a certain topic in a tutorials - so that NextLimit folks and everyone else who would wish to make a tutorial would know what would be useful.

Cheers
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By Mark Bell
#400744
There's actually quite a lot with many listed under Vimeo and other sources, not just Youtube. I've just checked one of our Maxwell folders and there about 200 tutorials we have dating back to v2.
By itifonhom
#400763
Would love to see delicated tutorials on volumetrics, fire and smoke rendering and material settings, Maxwell Sea settings, Substance Painter material settings, PBR workflow, Maxwell Cloud operations etc.
Maybe such videos can be found around the web but they are from different people, with great differences in quality. I’d expect NextLimit to offer Maxwell ( and Realflow), some official quality video tutorials, in the way almost every other software already has.
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By Forester
#400765
Hey, this is a great idea!

If I get some time over the next few months, I'll try to contribute at least one tutorial.
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By Nasok
#400766
Forester wrote:Hey, this is a great idea!

If I get some time over the next few months, I'll try to contribute at least one tutorial.
Now that is awesome!

There are few basic tutorials that I've made about PBR and substance workflow in Maxwell - nothing too crazy.

Here's a thread of my Substance to Maxwell workflow - viewtopic.php?f=48&t=44843

With some findings and sample renders. Also links to sample geometry with textures and Maxwell materials

Here are some PBR workflow tutorials:

https://youtu.be/Iz_xo1rnLcQ - Part 1 (Building Maxwell Material)

https://youtu.be/F7bTrLY_2R4 - Part 2 (IBL and camera Settings)

https://youtu.be/JEUvcWG3rBI - Part 3 (Lights and rendering)

Altho they are a bit outdated now that we have a better Substance textures and even SBSARs integration directly in material editor - still might be a good refresher.

And here is a super quick overview of Substance Painter Material assistant in Maxwell Studio

https://youtu.be/xYHrQhZk0JE - using textures from Substance Painter in Maxwell Studio via Material Assistant


I would love to see more content on volumetric too - such an untapped topic in general.
Totally agree that it would be stellar to see more content from Nextlimit folks themselves as there is unlikely anyone who better understand how this engine works and how it is intended to be used.
However these days it looks like that they are using their resources for some other priorities and I would suggest to have a community based tutorial hub.
So we would have a thread in this forum, for example, where everyone who made a tutorial (video / written / .. audio) - would share it here and then dudes from Maxwell with add it to official channels if it is relevant and on topic.

At least we could have a unified place for all of them. So it would be easier to find them. Then once Nextlimit is ready they could dedicate some resources for official tutorials.

Cheers.
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By Forester
#400772
Wonderful!

Great suggestions about the way to go.

Like you, it would be good to have something from the Next Limit people themselves. Their documentation is first class, but as you pointed out earlier, not every new user has time to read and experiment. Some folks (myself included from time to time) need a quick walkthough in a live tutorial.

Also, thank you for writing this. My first impulse had been to do a Substance workflow tutorial, but since you have made one and have a list of others here, I'll move on to something else I feel comfortable with. Based on another conversation here, I might do something basic about HDRI use, and then tackle something in volumetrics, as you suggest.

Nasok, do you want to just go ahead and start a thread called "Tutorials" under the Maxwell General catagory? If, after a while, it turns out to have a lot of entries, then we might petition Next Limit to create a catagory for it. But, we should expect a slow start.
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By Nasok
#400776
Slow start is fine :) it's Maxwell after all :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yeah, I don't mind starting, altho I think Fer should do it, as he is the Admin here - so he could get more attention, or pin it or something.



... now on a second thought - if he is too busy, then yeah - I can do it. Just need to think how to organise it better (updating the first post - or just dump everything people have continuously) 🤔

Oh yes! HDRI tutorials, would be ace!! And volumetric - I'd watch myself :))

P.S. - I'm currently in the middle of recording another tutorial focusing on Denoiser for materials like SSS, Frosted glass and the ones with fine textures.
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By choo-chee
#400778
just found out that there's a complete section I missed, even after 15 years !
there's a response thingy with cameras that should be good with HDRI.
I'd like to see a good tutorial about that :)
really NL you guys are trying to make life hard for us because Maxwell made them easy ?!?!
By Andreas Hopf
#400779
Forester wrote:
Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:04 pm
Their documentation is first class.
Strongly disagree.

From my experience with a few hundred novice users (industrial, product, domestic goods, FMCG packaging) over the last five years, too many things in the documentation are fully left in the dark; polygon selection and grouping, for example, essential for those who use OBJs from engineering software.

There is no setting up a basic analytical product render video, so I had to make one. There is no information or tutorial on backplate rendering at all, so I had to make a video for that, too. The list of omissions is long.

It is all "almost, but not quite".
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By Mark Bell
#400782
I'd like to see something on creating light rays/God rays from Maxwell Sky/sun and any interesting atmospheric effects that add a bit more visual drama to the render.
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By Mark Bell
#400790
itifonhom wrote:
Sun Apr 25, 2021 1:12 pm
I’d expect NextLimit to offer Maxwell ( and Realflow), some official quality video tutorials, in the way almost every other software already has.
If NL do embrace this idea it might be worth them creating a tutorial for each industry sector, say architectural, interior design, industrial design, product design, Film-TV and Cinematics etc. and include a sample Maxwell file available for download plus the video tutorial allowing users to follow through how it's all done. The screen shots and accompanying text can then get added to the Altassian help pages as further reference to what all the relevant settings are as the choice of camera, lighting and film settings will be different for each scenario.

The tutorials should then demonstrate how to achieve great looking imagery for each category and what camera types and settings the experts use to achieve the renders we all aspire to.
By Andreas Hopf
#400794
Mark Bell wrote:
Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:06 am
The tutorials should then demonstrate how to achieve great looking imagery for each category and what camera types and settings the experts use to achieve the renders we all aspire to.
I've put a primer together for industrial, product, technical and FMCG packaging designers https://www.dropbox.com/s/pespzerm8rx95 ... .docx?dl=0 but kept it software agnostic to be on the safe side. Each part will have to have an explanatory image to it; if you happen have a few minutes, please have a look regarding what is missing or can be improved.

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