[JTB]

I see Maxwell Logo in many images that you post here. Is this because you are using a demo or eval version?
Where can I find one?
I am very interested in buying maxwell but I can't decide without a Demo.
I would appreciate any info on getting Maxwell demo software.
TIA
Dimitris

[JTB]

After 1h I see that 30 persons have seen this post but still no answer. Nobody knows if there is a demo? It's just a YES or NO guys...

[ludi]

NO,
we love maxwell and we like to brand our renderings with the maxwell render logo.

[noseman]

There is no demo or trial available.

If you want to try, you have to buy.

[bakbek]

That's a weak point for sure... but i guess after October we will se a demo, i think.

[Jun In Gi]

have been started with alpha, but now beta,

enjoy!

[rivoli]

Nobody knows if there is a demo? It's just a YES or NO guys...

no, there's no demo available yet. from what i gathered those watermarked images you may happen to see around here, are rendered using a NFR version which is given directly by nl to their resellers as evaluation copy.

[iandavis]

personally if I had access to a demo.. in Maxwell's current state.. I would NOT have bought it. Simply because right now it's NOT very user friendly.

However, I would have done myself a huge disservice. Though I spent at least 10 hours figuring out this that and the other thing. it was steep learning curve I don't regret the purchase for a moment.

So, take a look at all the renders on this forum, they are genuine and produced with maxwellrender in most cases only Maxwell. One purchases a rendering engine based on it's output. What would you gain from a demo version? Well nothing really. Either you are prepared to jump in with both feet, or wait until it is released as a final... at which point NL will most likely have a demo version. A complete stand-alone with a finished interface and shaders will be very compelling as a demo product...

at the moment we are dealing with a rendering engine sans interface... hobbled together Application plugins, missing features and numerous bugs. But. LOOK AT THE RENDERS! Sorry, but in the end... that's all that really matters.

cheers

[Mihai]

iandavis, sorry but 'steep learning curve'? If anything, Maxwell is by far the easiest and most predictable render engine I have ever used.

If you want steep learning curve I can give you several 50 page pdf's about Mental ray, and those aren't even to learn to use it, only to learn how to optimize the antialiasing, the bsp trees, the area shadows, the fg, the gi, the caustics, the displacements, the texture filtering, the motionblur....

Really, lets put things into context. Even if you compare this unfinished version of Maxwell with other renderers that have been out there for 5-6 years now, it handles itself pretty good

[bakbek]

it sure does!!!

[iandavis]

Mihai,

sorry, but it does have a steep learning curve.

I think I have developed a pretty good feeling for software being a developer since 1994. However. Having said all that, maxwell would not be any problem at all if it:

a) had a complete and sensible Manual
b) was FINISHED.

In my first sentence I qualified 'IN MAXWELL'S CURRENT STATE.'

There are many people on this forum who agree. The resources and information required to make sense of how Maxwell works is scattered like breadcrumbs throughout the manual and the forums. Each application works differently and each plugin is at a different level of completion.

Tell me THAT is a really easy thing to get a handle on. I found it a challenge, and like I said, I've been doing this stuff professionally for a long time. Imagine the frustration for a beginner, which may I add was the orginator of this thread. So, I stand by my recommendation.

I have heard many people say "oh, building your own PC is easy!" but for a mac user or someone who is not technically minded (not that all mac users are not also gearheads, I'm a mac user and build my own PCs, but generally speaking) building a PC is unthinkable, kinda like making a Tibetan sand mandela.

Though perhaps the best way to say it is, at the moment, maxwell has a steeper learning curve then IT NEEDS TO HAVE. I was unpleasantly surprised at how confusing and seemingly random the texturing and execution is in Lightwave. I cant really comment on how it behaves in Max.

Ian.

[4 HeRo]

Maxwell + Hit Render = Very pretty pictures

[ludi]

The time I save instead of light/Radiosity faking and general setups etc., I can invest more in modeling and detailing.

[iandavis]

sorry everyone... just forget about my previous posts.

the actual use of the software is quite easy... what I was talking about is jumping on board NOW has it's price. There isn't a clear and easy way to learn how to translate what you want to the image.

I'm Lightwave-centric, so I can only comment about that experience, but I found it quite a trial to figure out which channel to put reflection maps, and what they do... I mean Herve spent a whole bunch of time doing tests so we all could figure out exactly how that worked.

The MXI thing was a bit of a trial... I spend a while being frustrated until I realized you needed to have a 100% black bitmap in the lume channel as well as the MXI loaded in the maxwell emitter panel.

So, yes, when this thing is standalone I think it will be a model of simplicity and efficiency, but the way it sits now I must say it's a bit of a trial to figure out.

Ian.

[andrebaros]

Maxwell is easy because of this forum. I've been reading it for months without time to do any tests, and now that I've finally jumped in every time I hit "render" I'm amazed. It's because I read about all the quirks in material setup, etc. here first. I wanted to do some tests to give back to the community and everything I could think of (that I care about testing) was already tested here by someone else.