[ekrantz]

Hi Guys,
I have actually had maxwell for awhile now but I am embarrassed to admit I have only used it on the rare occasion. I am just now getting around to really learning it and starting to go through the tutorials on the think site.

In the meantime, I have a question about Maxwells integration into other applications. I use Cinema 4D and Modo primarily. I am wondering if using maxwell as a renderer prohibits you from using an applications native materials and lights. In other words do all materials and lights have to be created in Maxwell or can I use a combination of the native app materials, environments and lights with those created in Maxwell. I hope that makes sense.
Thanks a ton for your help
-Elizabeth

[tom]

Maxwell plugins can convert most of the host-native materials but, it's strongly suggested using MXM materials for best results. The online MXM gallery (http://resources.maxwellrender.com) now has 4000 materials offering a wide spectrum of possibilities so, you can quickly replace the native ones. Please keep in mind, due to the big differences in material creation aspects among render technologies, it is not possible to make a perfect conversion.

[ekrantz]

Thanks for the answer! What about lights and environments?

[tom]

Maxwell primarily designed to use geometries as light emitters. Maxwell Materials (MXM) having emitter layers emit light from the surfaces of the assigned objects. The surface normals define the direction of emission. For environmental illumination, Maxwell mainly offers 3 options. They are; Sky Dome (used to make a global constant color or a custom gradient illumination), Physical Sky (together with sun, GPS and atmospheric controls) and IBL (Image Based Illumination used to work with high dynamic range latitude maps)

[ekrantz]

Thanks that does clear up the options in Maxwell, however I am wondering how using application specific environments like GI, or Lights works in Maxwell. Can I set up my lighting in CInema 4D for example, and use those lights in Maxwell render?
Thanks again for all the help
-E

[tom]

No. You need to setup your illumination scenario using genuine Maxwell options.

[ekrantz]

Unfortunately not being able to use native application lighting will hinder the usefulness of the plug-in for me. For example when I am driving lighting dynamically in Cinema using Expresso. It sounds like Maxwell would be good with a still perhaps but not with animation.
Thanks for the info!
-E

[Bubbaloo]

Have you tried driving lighting dynamically with Fire?

(Actually, I'm not sure if the C4D plugin supports Fire)

[tom]

You could still post your question under the specific plugin section. >> http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=103

Here's an example of binding Xpresso:
http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/view ... highlight=