[jamomcq]

Greetings: Next to Maxwell Render/Sketchup Plugin, so we're going through the tutorial given in the online manual. We've constructed the simple cubes as suggested, but the scene manager does not allow us to select any materials, it remains grayed out. What might be the issue? And although our sustem sound is working, the online Sketchup tutorials play without sound.
What are we doing incorreclty? Machine intel i-7. windows 7 64 bit, 8 gigs ram.

[JDHill]

"the scene manager does not allow us to select any materials, it remains grayed out."

Could you let me know exactly what you are doing to select a material? First, ensure that there are even any materials in the scene (it is possible to have a SketchUp model with no materials). Provided that there are materials in the scene, you have several ways of selecting them:

• by selecting a material from SketchUp's "In Model" material list.
• by using SketchUp's material eye-dropper tool.
• by using the plugin's Material Picker Tool.
• by selecting a material from the drop-down in Scene Manager > Materials.

Please try these different methods, and let me know where the problem arises. Also, please let me know which version of SketchUp you are using (I assume you are using the version 2.6.10 plugin).

[jamomcq]

Thank you for the prompt response. We're using Sketchup 8 w/ MR 2.6.10. Two cubes have been created, and assigned a Sketchup material (Stone_Brushed_Kaki). The material applies normally to the cubes, and appears in scene manager. However, selecting the material from the drop-down menu in Scene Manager, we're unable to bring up any additional material choices. The documentation suggest that one should be able to access some basic MXM (?) texture files that should have instaled with the plug-in.
Are we understanding this correctly?
Thank you.

[JDHill]

However, selecting the material from the drop-down menu in Scene Manager, we're unable to bring up any additional material choices.

I am not clear on what this means. When you select the material, do you see something similar to this?



Note that for a brand new material (meaning, one that the plugin has not seen before) the material preview image will be a generic image which reads "NO PREVIEW". You can generate a material preview by clicking the little Refresh buttons at the lower-right corner of the preview image. From here, there are two ways to go: build an Embedded material, or link to an MXM file (i.e. a Maxwell Material file) on your disk. To build an Embedded material, you would use the buttons in this area:



Here, you can set the material's overall "Character", meaning, glass, plastic, etc. Using the other four buttons, you can change the material's color and textures. If, on the other hand, you want to link to an MXM file, click the MXM button at the window's top right:



This will show the material's MXM Mode interface, where you can browse your disk to find an MXM file to link:



Please let me know if this helps, and if not, let me know more about the situation. The images above are taken from the online help, which you can find here.

[jamomcq]

Thank you, that did help.