[adl]

Studio rocks and we need it to define complex materials for example,
then i think that a lot of improvements and complex behaviours in the future will be possible only inside studio...

ADL

[Micha]

What did we need now and first? I need a refined Beta. I want to start to use Maxwell for professional work. Since a long time we are waiting for a final and now we get an Alpha version again.
If the engine is ready and can be used for 80% per plugin, than I like to talk about an additional studio.

[cyberjuls]

Why people are thinking that NL is a four people firm? Stop me if i'm wrong but such planning for the studio must be planned long before now, they must have already allowed some credits to it as well as for the plugins. I mean i can't imagine people in NL looking at the forum every minutes and asking people to change what they are working on. I'm sure there is someone in charge for the plugin and one for the studio and both will continue their work to gives us both.

Me think.

[Micha]

Do you think it are more than four? My experience was, simple bug fixes of the rhino plugins was need weeks, because only one developer is writing on four plugins in the same time. A simple additional feature like the bump support of dielectrics is never done, because nobody had time to do it.

[maurizio]

My opinion is that if one day the pluggins will support complex material editing in the host application (with full preview)I realy don't need the studio, if the pluggins will never support complex material editing we will need the studio....but...what if I've the need to make an animation with complex morphing effects? Will I be able to do that in studio? I dubt about it.
Yes, I can save the material I've made in Studio and apply it in my application but, in this case, can i animate the tiling (so to say) of the texture I've used in the saved material?

sorry for my horrible english

[Mihai]

....but...what if I've the need to make an animation with complex morphing effects? Will I be able to do that in studio? I dubt about it.

Since every frame in an animation will be exported as a separate mxs file, you will simply assign materials via your plugin in your 3D app, you will not need to go through the Studio for that.

Yes, I can save the material I've made in Studio and apply it in my application but, in this case, can i animate the tiling (so to say) of the texture I've used in the saved material?

It is probable that features such as texture tiling, you will be able to change that also via your plugin, so again no need to go through the Studio for that. NL already mentioned plugins will have the ability to not only assign complex maxwell materials, but also change basic settings such as textures.

[maurizio]

Mihai, if what you're sayng it's true....I'll be very,very happy!

And...in this case NL can think of sell MR in 2 versions....
the render engine+pluggin or render engine+pluggin+studio for peolpe who like ti

[f.tony.torres]

Yes, there are people out here that need a standalone engine. Yes, we are willing to spend the money on a realistic engine. There are lots of modeling apps out there, and frankly, modeling is just a fragment of what some people do. We don't have time to sit down and learn an expensive 3D app. We want to produce good quality renders.

If next limit is wrong in the standalone approach, then why is there Artlantis? Or the soon-to-be Vray standalone? Its because there is a market for these products. Learning to create complex materials will always have to be done, whether you're using the plugin or not. Anyone can already see that Maxwell Studio is just your basic setup. There's really no extra learnig curve if you're already familiar with basic navigation within a 3D app.

This 3D world is not exclusionary. It's not just made of Maya, Max, and XSI, etc. This is what I like about programs like Sketchup or Revit. When programs become easy and intuitive, then you don't need to be a technician to create good quality stuff. We can now spend our time on better efforts, like design. Expensive 3D apps will go the way of the slide rule, except for niche markets. Techs can be outsourced; its creativity that is key. Look at why Zbrush, Sketchup, and Revit do so well: the other "Big" programs try and do too much. Maxwell should do well too.

Just my 2 cents ...

[Rochr]

If next limit is wrong in the standalone approach, then why is there Artlantis? Or the soon-to-be Vray standalone? Its because there is a market for these products.

You´re probably right. But at least those companies have the decency to announce what program they will sell BEFORE they actually sell it.

When i bought Maxwell, the decription of the product were a plugin renderer for the program you´re working with. That´s what i (and apparently the large majority of the buyers) need, that´s why i bought it and there were no mentioning of a "studio".

Now, all i see is - what it seems - a total cancellation of a slow, buggy and now non-working plugin, in my case for Cinema4D, and instead of fixing this, NL put all the effort in the RC Studio. To bad it´s not the product they´ve sold in the first place, and most definitely not what i bought.
And if that´s not enough, now they´re announcing that some of the features will only be available in the Studio.

So IF we´re lucky enough to actually get a plugin, it´s now on its way to be a stripped one, with god knows how many of the originally promised features missing. Way to go guys!

If NL want to change the deal, stop working on the plugins, and put ALL the money in the RC Studio, that´s fine. But in that case, NL should also be ready to hand out refunds to all the customers that they´ve ripped off, by not releasing the intended product.

My two cents. I hope i´m wrong about NL´s intentions, but right now i honestly doubt it.

[maurizio]

what I mean is: why I've to pay a software I don't need?
if there will be a TOTAL integration of MR in Max, Cinema, Maya and so on, why I've to switch from my app to another and then to my app again if I can do all in my preferrd app?

and with an internal total integrated plugin maybe there could be a better integration with all the host application functions, look at Vray,Brazil;Frender and Mental Ray those renders can handle anything I do with max standard tools and other plugs as RPC that is so important in archictural renders....and ad this moment MR is archictural oriented....

and this are My 2 cents

EDIT:
and about the soon to be Vray stand alone it will not have support for 3d "host" native pluggins for example do you think that Vray stand alone plugin for maya wil support things like paint effect? or fluids?
I realy dubt on it

[Mihai]

Rochr, from Maxwell's website, this has been about the same text since last year:

Maxwell operates as a stand-alone command line application that targets many different enviroments like high-end rendering, architectural, production, and scientific.

Maxwell includes features such as material editor, light editor or tone-mapping (all based in physically accurate models). The 1.0 RC version provides both GUI and command line functionality.

The Release Candidate (RC) version of Maxwell has been released for Windows 32. Linux and Mac OS X platforms will be available soon. This version includes plugin connections to 3dsMax, Viz, Maya, Lightwave, Rhino, Solidworks,......................

So from the beginning this was mentioned, stop acting like you've been cheated. The difference between Maxwell and other renderers is that others only have a command line interface while Maxwell also provides a GUI. Now, your problem is they spend time on the GUI while they should spend time on the plugins instead. The problem is not the GUI itself. But, they decided they need to do both. Why they took that decision, I don't think it's just "because", but that they have their reasons.

Many people cry where is my GUI?? (anybody remember the noise buffos made about this?) Others, where are my plugins?

Maybe after another 142 posts regarding this, people will finally grow tired of voicing their precious repetitive opinions and actually start learning how to best use Maxwell.

[DELETED]

DELETED

[Rochr]

Maybe after another 142 posts regarding this, people will finally grow tired of voicing their precious repetitive opinions and actually start learning how to best use Maxwell.

Oh trust me, i´ld be very happy to do so, if i actually HAD a working plugin.

I see that the maxwell webpage have been updated lately and also changed some of the text from the last one.
But as you can see if you go to the Mawell features page, it also sais:

Maxwell Render sells as a standalone product available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Maxwell Render includes a set of plugins for the most common 3D applications.

The plugins are freely interchangeable for every Maxwell license. The Maxwell license allows the use of 4 CPU simultaneously (4 single or 2 duals or 1 quad).

The plugins that we have already released are: 3dsMax, Viz, Maya, Lightwave, Rhino, Cinema 4D, Solidworks, ArchiCAD, formZ and SketchUp.

This was pretty much the information of the product on the previous page, and at the point i bought it. So where´s the working plugins for Cinema4D?
Have you seen any lately? I sure haven´t. All i see is a 5 month old plugin that wont work with any RC version, giving a useless program as far as i´m concerned.

So yes, until i see otherwise and have a product that works, i consider myself to be cheated.
No one is saying that NL shouldn´t release the studio, but their top prioritiy should be to make working plugins for ALL the applications, and THEN work on the studio. Then i would be happy to praise them as well.

We wouldn´t have this discussion at all if people could actually use what they´ve payed for.

[Rochr]

Even though it´s the slowest renderer on earth, at least the beta worked. That´s more than i can say about the latest crap.

[Mihai]

You're right Rochr, and I hope you get a better C4D plugin very soon, what I'm disagreeing with is people arguing NL should do this, with people who think NL should do that, and that NL has lied about their plans. That is utterly pointless. It is EXACTLY what others where saying when we were still waiting for the GUI, now it is just so ridiculous. The people who wanted a GUI felt cheated when they hadn't received it yet, now when the GUI is here, the people who don't need it feel cheated....lol.....what can you do but laugh at this....

Since no matter which plugin we use, we still have to use Studio to do our materials and also preview them there (it's a lot more convenient) I guess stability for Studio is right now a priority yes, since everything depends on it (by "it" I don't really mean the GUI, but the core and the preview system, which obviously have to be tied to some sort of GUI). Or would you rather they would have done complete preview systems packaged inside each of those individual plugins for 15+ different applications?