[stise]

I'm sitting here with some unexpected time to kill, I've been trying to explore some night rendering with MR, its like pulling teeth without meds. Can anyone tell me how to simply illuminate a face in the dark. I was able to do this with 1.0 and made some interesting renders, now its black or daylight, thats it. I've used the skydome and it works, but I still cant get a face to be an emmiter. I notice there is now a "set illumination" and no emitters option, is this where I'm supposed to set the lighting properties?

On a bigger and fundamentally more important note, are we going to see a manual for the Sketchup plugin? and is it me or is MR getting way to complicated to be useful to anyone other then somebody with a Phd. I'm so motivated but the learning curve is killing me, please help. I'm really interested in a how I can create a simple and efficient work flow so I can use MR regularly. My goal is to use it within the limitations of the plugin, the studio is looking awfully complicated....

[fv]

simple is doing the reading of the manual supplied with maxwell. I have been where you are and finally got into reading and from there I began to understand and produce. Its not a matter of a Phd but like learning a language, kids can do that but it takes time.

Seriously, without Studio Maxwell does not mean much. I always go from SU to Studio and there I found out how to get some results. Its a pity that the objects names and textures don't import. Otherwise I get decent to amazing results. Emitters also work out, especially with multiple lights checked. Still, you need to practise with simple models and keep reading the manual and you will get it, in time. For sure. There is no simple route or info on how to quickly get things done.
Good luck.

[fv]

simple is doing the reading of the manual supplied with maxwell. I have been where you are and finally got into reading and from there I began to understand and produce. Its not a matter of a Phd but like learning a language, kids can do that but it takes time.

Seriously, without Studio Maxwell does not mean much. I always go from SU to Studio and there I found out how to get some results. Its a pity that the objects names and textures don't import. Otherwise I get decent to amazing results. Emitters also work out, especially with multiple lights checked. Still, you need to practise with simple models and keep reading the manual and you will get it, in time. For sure. There is no simple route or info on how to quickly get things done.
Good luck.

[stise]

Thanks SV, but really, the Studio is a nightmare, there is more there then I need. Its so frustrating seeing the possibilities yet being limited by: inadequate plugs, poor documentation, or a brutally steep learning curve for Studio. Real Physics should equal real intuitive. Once more I specifically purchased MR to use with Sketchup, I understand it's not expected to be as robust as Studio however after all this time I expected to at least be able to match my Beta results. I'm sorry I'm late to this conversation and forum; can someone tell me what the situation is relative to a new Sketchup plug? have people given up on the whole thing? I'd really like to hear from somebody in the company also, I'm not upset, just curious to see where we go from here.

So much to render, so little time

[messire]

Stevo,

I'm also like you, trying to match the great results of the simple to use beta with the new version... indeed sketchup users want something that is simple as their modelling software, and for the most part, want to avoid to bring the model into studio for flow efficiency, and constant upgrade of the model without having to reassign materials.
For now we are ( SU users) stuck with the material issue that i raised here:
http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/view ... hp?t=17715 and various little things that makes it a bit painful to work with SU plug in...

Until it is solved, i am not doing any renders, but concentrate on creating my material library, both in MR and SU ( so SU textures matches those of MR for future working auto mxm option...).

Wait and see i guess... even if its getting on our nerves not to have any info, deadlines, goals etc.. from NL.

Nils

[rdesign]

Stevo:

I don't think it is nearly as difficult to make emitters in SKP as you make it sound (and it's been covered elsewhere on this forum) Try this link at pushpullbar:: http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3937.

One thing I've learned about Maxwell is that if you're looking to NL for help in figuring out how to use the plug-in : don't hold your breath. The best way is to watch this forum and others like pushpullbar and learn from the many other helpful users who have probably already worked though the same problems you're having.

As Messire says - making sure that your SKP material library matches your MXED materials is the best way to simplify the SKP > MXCL workflow though the AutoMXM option.

regards,
tim

[stise]

I had a pretty firm grasp on the work flow until 1.0

another


my problem is that when I try to render a night scene the image is all black, not faces. any ideas? What environment should I be using?

[lobegnome]

hi stevo,

i read the best way to do night scene is to use physical sky without sunlight
and set the time to whatever it would be, 7pm, 8pm or 9pm.
that way you should still get a little light (twilight/dusk).

hope that helps

give it a try!

[stise]

yeah I've ben playing around with it and yes it does change the ambiant lighting but still I have no luck making an emitter. We now create emitters through the "set illumination" dialogue box correct?

basic example: small cube 2'x2' sitting on a floor, if I pick one face and go to HDRI dialogue box, I set illumination to 30000 it should illuminate correct?

[messire]

stevo: to use emiters you need to apply an emitter material using the material editor. Illumination menu is for HDRI sky and global light intensity of the sky... not for the emitters ( i think, correct me if i'm wrong)
i have created a few of them in SU so they are auto mxm'd too...problem is there is no way to see they are there (usually they look white on screen in SU) until you hit render.
Only downside of that now is the fact that using a 100w material on two objects make them divide the power by 2.... 4 light bulbs using the same texture makes them each 25W... it means you have to create variations of that material if you want to use it more than once at nominal power.....
still haven't figured out the best way to solution the workflow with emitters directly in SU yet..

N.

[stise]

I'm wondering if something is wrong with my install, does anyone have a simple model I can try to export thru the plugin. My renders with the plug work well in daylight but my emitters are not working correctly. I can not illuminate anything, any ideas?

[messire]

1.open material editor and check what .mxm ( in the alpha team folder) are lights ( thumbnails )
2. assign that material in SU to any object
3. render with automxm turned off

this replicates the previous emitter option from SU

other solution is to create a SU material with the same name as that .mxm material, and then choose automxm...
in my case it does not work now... but its the future to look for because its time saving, efficient and cool
N.

[rdesign]

Stevo:

(I remember your great Beta renderings of that brewery, they were influential in deciding to get Maxwell myself). Sorry to hear 1.1 is giving you fits.

If you turn on the multilight option on the MXS export options tab in SKP, after the rendering opens in MXCL, click on the multilight tab : crank up the ISO to around 400, slide the Shutter down to around 2 or 4, and max out the Object1 emitter (or whatever it's called) slider, you can also type in values in the boxes below the sliders. Do your lights now show up in the preview?

tim

[stise]

Fits thats not doing me justice, my head is spinning like the exorcist! Thanks for all the help guys but this is getting even more painful. Sorry rdesign, its not looking good, I cant get alight turned on for anything. Are you setting the emitter through the material editor? What is supposed to hapen? does the editor stay open while I try to send to render? When I try to send the skp to render it wont respond until I close the editor, is this correct?

messier, whebn i open the material editor where do I locate the alpha team folder, and if I could how do I assign that material in Sketchup lastly, how do i turn off automxn?


I can find my way to the bathroom in the dark but this is more like going from Boston to Sanfrancisco!

[stise]

what are the options to set in the SKP XML exporter options:

auto mxm conversion = off
channels = render only
write MXI = off
continue MXI = off
layers = all boxes checked