[Torviz]

I received the following email on April 4th,

No Future Maxwell | Solidworks Updates
We are sorry to announce that the Maxwell | Solidworks integration will be discontinued due to decreasing demand for the plugin. We would like to thank you for making use of the software and hope that you will keep rendering with Maxwell in one way or another.

Please note that, while we are not planning further development for Maxwell | Solidworks, version 4.2.1 for Maxwell 4.2.0.3 of the software should work fine with all 2013 - 2018 Solidworks versions. You can keep using it with all compatible versions for as long as you like!

This makes me unhappy after all the support and money I've given to Next Limit since beta 1.

I think the decreasing demand for the plugin was induced by the way your licensing work now: having to pay separately for the plugins. I'm guessing that some users did not upgrade to the newer versions of Maxwell Render because of the rising costs and the new licensing model.

I did some pretty nice work with SolidWorks and Maxwell Render over the years. I'll continue using it while it still works. BUT there are other options out there that are starting to make sense to me now.

I hope Next Limit can reconsider.

Best regards

Daniel Labrecque,
one of your first users since the beginning.

[Nasok]

Thar is actually pretty sad to hear ... apart from Architecture industry - I know so many Product / Industrial Designers who use Solidworks and Maxwell together ....

Personally I thought that it was the strongest connection ... I even found out about Maxwell Render from a Solidworks user ..

It is truly a shame to hear that it's no longer in development.

[Nasok]

Hey guys ? any update on this one ?
Recently had a chat with the president of one product design / packaging studio - and they are using Maxwell with Solidworks to produce some of the best in class designs for world class brands.

Would be a shame to discontinue the plugin support for that software.

[feynman]

Would be a shame to discontinue the plugin support for that software.

With the rapid "solidworksitisation" of packaging, product, experience and industrial design, having no plug-in for SolidWorks is like cutting off thousands of users of tier 1 and tier 2 brands - a strategic suicide.

[seghier]

why Nextlimit don't share the plugin code maybe some people can continue development ?

[Nasok]

I think Nextlimit will not share it's code because that is their IP, and well .. why should they.

I had a lot of conversations last days about solidworks and why it is a core software in not just product design but also in engineering sector, and pretty much every time people just say - well Solidowrks is industry standard.
Despite that I personally prefer the way Rhino or Fusion 360 works - I have to admit that Feynman is absolutely correct - Solidworks is a key software in product / industrial design and engineering.

[seghier]

They can also add feature to import Solidworks file in studio.
Keyshot have this feature and can import many formats (catia,inventor,maya,creo,rhino,solidedge,solidworks,.....)

[feynman]

SolidWorks, while a pain for product design, is essential. The only viable solution, now that Maxwell Render Studio has reached its end, is to transition to godawful Keyshot for Alias, Creo, NX and SolidWorks users. It will be painful to live with Keyshot's multifarious limitations, but it is the only option, Arion as the only renderer offering standalone also not being a solution. Many colleagues of mine cannot understand why Next Limit abandoned the huge product design and engineering design market so carelessly.

[seghier]

I think they need more developers and many plugin developers left .
And i feel sometimes that Maxwell will ended one day

[feynman]

For us it has to end over the summer holiday period. 50 seats will have to transition to Keyshot : ( and I will advise colleagues in product design to do so as well, as it will be the only practical option.