[Seggy]

Another newbie question.

I think having access to all the materials in the gallery is great. But what concerns me is this.

Maxwell is a physically accurate renderer. But it is possible to create very bad and unrealistic materials. I work in product design and have been using some of the sample materials to test with, and have to say I have had some very bad results. Some good, but many materials I download end up being quite 'cartoony' with no basis in reality.

So from my point of view, having a photo real renderer is great. But it is too easy for me to make very bad materials at the moment, I would pay to buy a set of 'phyically' accurate materials that are 100% based on real world behaviors. These could act as a master set of materials that could be learned from and adjusted for my work.

Does this exist? Anyone?

I know at one point a company was looking at making a machine to measure sample materials and generate real word shaders that were 100% accurate.

I love Maxwell, but a the moment it is too easy to make materials not based in reality. I am aiming at perfect replication of reality. This is my goal. In a more scientific way maybe.

Thanks again in advance.

[Bubbaloo]

A good place to start is with the material wizards. They give a good foundation for creating great materials. Verta's movies on the Think! website are also a good start.

My best advice for you is to learn the ins and outs of the Maxwell material system so you can create your own materials with speed and accuracy. Search the mxm gallery for the best materials, download them and pick them apart to see how they were made. The Maxwell material system is very flexible, and with that flexibility comes complexity. The canvas, paints, and brushes have been laid out for you, but they are only tools.

Don't put too much emphasis on Maxwell being completely physically accurate. That way of thinking can become a crutch for you, thinking that Maxwell will do all of the work for you. Maxwell's lighting will only react to the materials according to the inputs you have made in the mat editor, but with carefully made inputs, Maxwell is capable of physically accurate rendered output.