[austerlitz]

I would also have to say this is one of the easiest rendering engines I have tried. Being a relative beginner in this field (I only started doing 3d work a little over a year ago) I was amazed how easy it was to set up a scene. Sure, there were some things to figure out which meant some late nights trolling the forums, but how does that compare to doing endless tests trying to get your GI calculations and sampling densities to a decent state. I started with Final Render, learnt how to use it fairly well and still do for some things, I also dabbled a bit with Mental Ray but I have to say that within a week of using Maxwell I was completely convinced.

[iandavis]

I obviously shouldn't be commenting about maxwell when I haven't used any other aftermarket rendering engine. I have pretty much used Lightwave as my primary renderer (sometimes other things like Bryce or Vue)

It seems from what people are saying, those whom have other renderer experience that maxwell, EVEN WITH it's interface issues and lack of documentation is easier then other renderers?

Holy! I wouldn't have though a renderer to be a difficult thing to deal with, but perhaps I'm a little spoiled having a renderer (albiet not the absolute best) transparently integrated.

Thanks everyone. I do like it when I get that 'zoom' moment. You know, like in a movie, when you find out the two protagonists are actually brother and sister, and the representative of the antagonist turns out to be the father of the protagonist. Then. zoom... the focus changes.

So apparently I made a good choice. Incredible renders, AND simplicity of setup and use. Yay me!

thanks

Ian.

(Note: No sarcasm was used in the making of this post. Not responsible for unexpected rash or sudden dry heaves. May be prohibited Kansas, Montana and Canada.)

[abgrafx3d]

Maxwell is the easiest-to-use render engine I've ever seen...

I agree too - I've used Mental Ray and you don't always get what you expect. Not so with Maxwell Render - you always get what you expect - very nice renders that allow you to achieve photorealism or near photorealism very easily.