All posts related to V2
By derekjackson
#380333
Hi all,
I've been using Maxwell for several years now (I think we had the Beta of version 1?) so it's very much a part of my workflow. We're currently on 2.7 (and will probably upgrade to 3 at some point).

I've been wondering about a couple of aspects of my workflow which might not be the most efficient, as I've pretty just much just muddled my way through learning it so it's very much self-taught.

Firstly, our ArchiCAD models quite often export with different materials applied to different surfaces of one object. My usual process is to 'Select by Material' and then 'Apply to Assigned Objects' to change a material en-masse, but this misses objects where only certain triangles have a material that needs replacing. When this happens, I need to select the object, open up the Triangle Groups palette and individually drag the intended material to replace the old one. This is fine for one object, but when I have lots, it's a very time consuming process.

Is there a more efficient way of replacing the material over all triangles of all objects in one go?

Secondly, is it possible to break up the render elements so that they can be composited in Photoshop? Specifically, it'd be really handy to have the reflection and diffuse as two separate files (ideally along with shadow and AO layers). The render option seems to allow for diffuse or reflection, (or the two combined), but not the two separately?

These are probably really obvious to everyone else, but any help appreciated!

Thanks,

Derek
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By Mihai
#380842
I think the ArchiCad plugin has had a few nice updates lately but I'm not sure if it works with V2.x of Maxwell.....
In any case you can install the V3 demo and give the plugin a try. The latest build is available here:
http://www.maxwellrender.com/betas/

So I would first fill in the demo download form, install the V3.0.1 demo, then go to that page and install the latest of both Maxwell and the AC plugin.

As you can see it has quite a few additions and fixes. I would strongly recommend to do as much of your material assignments in ArchiCad, and why not the camera setup as well. This way you avoid the triangle assignment mess. Another option would be to work only with referenced materials. This way when you change the referenced material in your scene, it changes everywhere, including anything applied to triangles.

It's not possible to render a specific "reflection" and "diffuse" pass at the same time. You will have to render them separately, although you probably won't get what you are used to regarding these renders because Maxwell doesn't separate the light into reflected or diffuse. All light is in reality reflected light and at what point do you consider something diffused or reflected? Here's another post with some discussion:
http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/view ... 35&t=41946

With a bit of time I would say you can adapt and not really miss the old way of working anymore. The same thing especially regarding an AO pass. I would strongly suggest to forget about the need for one. It's a guarantee your render will look crappy and CG. There is no need for such tricks anymore and it's just wasting time on another step.
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By Steve Jepson
#381751
I sure would like to have a plug-in for ArchiCAD 18 I can use with version 2.7.20.0 x64
I would also like to have a plug-in for ArchiCAD 18 I can use with version 3.0.1.0 x64 when I upgrade. There are more reasons to upgrade to version 3 for me when there is a plug-in for ArchiCAD 18.

I hope someone is working on that.
Will there be a Maxwell Render 6 ?

Let's be realistic. What's left of NL is only milk[…]