[JDHill]

Maxwell for Rhino
Version 2.6.10 Release Notes

This is a minor compatibility update for Maxwell Render 2.6.10.

Changes:

• Compiled for Maxwell Render 2.6.10.
• Added IES intensity control to emitter user-interface.
• Updated Image Based Lighting UI to match newer Maxwell Studio style.
• Added Export to Network commands with node/manager auto-detect.
• Added new Randomize All function for Material ID colors.
• Added new Maxwell_RandomizeObjectIDs Command.
• Referenced MXM files are now included in Pack & Go, but paths are not changed.
• Undocked dock bar windows now retain size between sessions (but not position).

Fixes:

• Skydome params were not properly read from files.

[kami]

Hi Jeremy

Thanks for the new release! I like the new features, and am looking forward to trying them out, especially the direct export to network render.
As usual, I wanted to let you know whenever I stumble upon something.

- Is it possible that the "show sun in viewport" does not work anymore? At the moment it always creates a directional light at zero pointing vertically down.

- When you use an emitter with "Power" selected it does ignore the value you type in (except for lumen). I think it has been like this for a while and was hoping this was going to be fixed since it forces you to use multilight every time you need a value like cd/m2.

Thats all for now.
cheers, Christoph

[JDHill]

Thanks, I confirm both. The first is new (looks like the SDK has decided to start returning a bogus vector), and the second I've known about for awhile, but have not yet solved.

[edit: I've found the cause of the sun direction problem]
[edit again: I've found & fixed the second issue too, now]

[kami]

Thanks that's great

---

Could I ask for one little wish: when I want to load or save a .sky file, I end up in the folder "C:\Program Files\Next Limit\Maxwell 2\skies".
This would make sense for people which use sky files for similar mood settings for different projects and tend to keep those sky files on their local machine instead of a server.
I'm using this feature mostly to switch between different sun positions for different views in one project and I keep them on a server in the project folder. Since I'm using it quite often it always is a lot of clicks until I end up in the right directory. Would it make sense to point it to the directory of the current rhino file or at least to the last used directory?
Thanks, kami

[JDHill]

No problem, the initial directory for that dialog will be persistent from session to session in the next build, falling back to the MAXWELL_ROOT/skies directory if a .sky file has never been loaded/saved, or if the previously-used directory no longer exists.

[bjorn.syse]

Hi,

Don't know if this is 2.6.10 related, but I'm noticing weird things with my Material Editor when trying to Preview. Errors.. but it might be scene related. But first, Is the "Has bad paths?" flag always set to yes? If I create a new rhino scene, and create a new maxwell material - the Has bad Paths defaults to Yes.

[bjorn.syse]

Also, opening a new instance of Rhino, creating a new material, Changing it's name and then pressing TAB key when done typing the new name makes Rhino freeze for me.

[JDHill]

I am not seeing the "Has bad paths" issue you are referring to; do you mean that if you just open the material editor and create a new material, the material shows itself as having bad paths? If so, are any paths listed if you click the "Has bad paths" hyperlink? If so, to which files to they refer?

Regarding issues with the TAB key, which version of Rhino are you dealing with? Could you read through this interchange and let me know what does/doesn't sound familiar?

[bjorn.syse]

Interesting,

Well, yes. It says it has bad paths, but no paths are ever listed.

I'm on Rhino 5 x64, 1 or 2 releases back in time. I don't have any problems tabbing from fields in the scene manager in general, even though I never run it docked.

In the material editor though, tabbing after certain fields freezes Rhino. I don't know If I'm supposed to be able to tab between let's say the fields in the BSDF. From Roughness to bump onto anisotropy for example, but I can't. It doesn't freeze if I try, but I can't tab in between them but end up at the IOR field all the time.

If I'm on the top node and type a new name in the box where the default name 'Material' is written, and then press tab - Rhino freezes.

Here's what a brand new created material look the first time I double click it open:

[bjorn.syse]

Also, I run into these a lot, but I don't know how to reproduce it. I should mention I work in files with linked blocks from external files and the last time it happened I was working in a material which came in through one of the linked .3dm/blocks - but then I duplicated it. It doesn't have any textures and I cleared the link to the .mxm it was referring to. Still this happen when I try to preview render it:







It does happen on newly created materials also (non-duplicated).

[JDHill]

Sorry, I forgot to reply to this. I have not worked out exactly what is happening there, but I do see that in your material editor screenshot, the MXM Link box is checked, even though there is no MXM path specified. I assume this is the cause for both issues: a) the Has Bad Paths showing Yes, and b) the engine giving you a 'missing MXM reference' message. I am just not sure how your new materials are getting into that state, though.

[bjorn.syse]

This is this a weird problem for me.

Recently, I just did the following:

1. Exported an MXS and launched it through Maxwell render to render it.
2. Stopped the render, changed a flag to also render a normal pass.
3. Pressed render again, and choose to restart the render rather than resume.

got this error:

WARNING: - The material Dull steel contains a MXM reference enabled but the path is not valid.
ERROR: - Data preprocess failed. Render cannot continue
[05/March/2012 16:17:31] Ending render process..

ERROR: - Render Failed

For the record, the material Dull steel does not have any textures associated to it.

Perhaps this is not a Rhino issue at all?

[JDHill]

Well, I figured out how your empty material is becoming a 'linked' one -- this is actually correct, since (I assume) you have Options > Material Defaults > MXM Mode set to Linked. This should not, however, be capable of producing the error you outline above, and in fact, using the clues you provided, I am able to reproduce the behavior independent of the plugin:

1. Open Studio.
2. File > Library > [...] > cube > Import.
3. Set material 'Default' to reference 'default97.mxm'.
4. Assign 'Default' to the cube.
5. Click the Render button.
6. In Maxwell Render, stop the render.
7. Click Render again, choose Resume or Start.
8. Your error is reproduced.

Therefore, I think that your 'empty' linked materials are not a factor at all, and that it is rather actually-linked materials in your scene that are producing the issue. Please confirm that the above steps produce the same behavior for you.

[bjorn.syse]

Hi again,

Yes I could reproduce it the same way.

- björn

[bjorn.syse]

So right now, resuming renders that have linked mxm isn't possible, am I right?