[stise]

Hello all, I just setup Maxwell and and I'm having a problemo.. when I export the 3D file out to render its a black image within the viewer, I tried a couple of files and I'm having no luck; should I try the the older Skp2mxs plugin? has anybody had any issues?

specs:

AMD64 3200
Nvidia Geforce FX 5900 Ultra 256 MB
Memory 1GIG
ASUS MB
DX9

[muttlieb]

Did you Set/Edit Environment via the plugin? All you have to do is accept the default values and hit ok. If you don't do that you'll get a black screen.

[stise]

Got it working, yes I went in and checked the defaults, cranked up the light intensity in MX to 200 and in Sketchup 100% light 50% Shadow. My current thing I need to fix is the Material Texture settings, my stock materials in Sketchup are not showing and the transparent stuff is black, any ideas of how to sort out the material/texture export?

[muttlieb]

I would check out Sheik's tutorial he posted over at the SketchUp forum. Here is a link to it: http://www.sketchup.com/forum/read.php? ... eply_63704

[dizzlewizzle]

yeah sheik's tutorial should solve all those probs

[stise]

Fantastic stuff! yes the tutorial cleared up most of my problems however I have a question or two not covered in the tutorial; Firstly how do I change the picture size? Secondly, when I render a scene and it exports out to Max I have to crank up the film ISO to 600-700, the little preview looks bright and close to what I want however the larger render window is always darker, and as the render is being processed the little preview window goes darker as the rendering is being processed, any ideas?

I should note that the rendering I am doing is an interior with multiple light sources setup in Sketchup with no "environmental" sun.

One more thing, to get a cleaner rendering without the noise, is it just a matter of the rendering time? I assume the picture size is independent of the time settings, is this correct?

[muttlieb]

1. To change the picture size go to Set Camera Parameters (via the plugin) and then set screen res x & y as you wish.

2. Basically, the longer you let the render run, the lighter it will get, and the closer you will get to the preview window. Since you're only using emmiters, it will take quite a while for the render to lighten up (and clean up).

3. To get a cleaner rendering with less noise, let it 'cook' longer. The amount of noise present hinges on several factors, emmitters, reflective surfaces, etc, but as a rule of thumb the longer the rendering time the cleaner the image.

Of course, all of this may be obsolete info when we get our hands on the rc tomorrow

[dizzlewizzle]

stevo-
i've found that just as in true photography, interior shots require a lower f-stop in order to let more light enter the camera. Try dropping the f-stop to around 2 in the camera parameters

[stise]

Thanks dizzle, I will try that on my next overnite burn. How are people posting there pics on the forum, I was thinking of settting up a Flicker account, anybody have a better idea? Has anyone else received the links to RC, yet? I have the Dat they sent, what do I do with it, copy it to the MR route folder?

[stise]

I thought I'd share my first interior rendering with all of you. As dizzle indicated, next time I wil open the F-stop and render for considerably longer then 2 hours. Im still working on the bumping and all, but this has been a great way to explore the lighting options, who said rendering programs are not for designing, ha!

[muttlieb]

Nice work Stevo!