Looking for Maxwell Render users

jenny_fermor

Hi Everyone
The Maxwell Render and Onshape teams are looking for Maxwell users (and anyone interested in using it) to test a new Maxwell Render-Onshape connection which is currently in development. It's a very exciting new project, and we'd be looking for tester feedback for just a few short weeks over the summer. There will be freebies available to all participants!
For more information and to sign up please PM here or contact me directly at jenny.fermor@nextlimit.com
We look forward to hearing from you!

3dcad

Sounds good!

joe_dunne

Just a tease of what you can expect.  This was an early test.   Direct rendering of Onshape model. 



If you are interested, make sure to follow up with Jenny to get in early.

jenny.fermor@nextlimit.com

pete_yodis

Great render @joe_dunne I've always been impressed with the level of realism coming out of Maxwell Render.  It'll be fun to see where this goes...

3dcad

Very nice job @joe_dunne - can't wait to give MR a try.
Furniture is not easy piece for rendering since they tend to be too perfect or too realistic. Interior images needs to be realistic with a hint of cosy touch. Product images can't be realistic since people expect them to look like they were actually photographed, so they need more light in dark places to replicate camera flash. Also colors are always difficult to make look like actual colored woodgrain or semi/high gloss surface when there is nothing around to have the natural reflections.

andrew_troup

3dcad said:

<snip> Also colors are always difficult to make look like actual colored woodgrain or semi/high gloss surface when there is nothing around to have the natural reflections.

I thought this was why models are conventionally imported into a "scene", with windows and extraneous primitive shapes "off camera", to provide source objects for highlights and reflections?

3dcad

@andrew_troup Yes HDRI works for interior images, but when you need product without background to webshop then it's difficult to find balance..

jenny_fermor

3dcad said:

Very nice job @joe_dunne - can't wait to give MR a try.
Furniture is not easy piece for rendering since they tend to be too perfect or too realistic. Interior images needs to be realistic with a hint of cosy touch. Product images can't be realistic since people expect them to look like they were actually photographed, so they need more light in dark places to replicate camera flash. Also colors are always difficult to make look like actual colored woodgrain or semi/high gloss surface when there is nothing around to have the natural reflections.

@3dcad Do you mean this kind of shot?

In Maxwell you can quickly create a decent wood material using the materials wizard (opaque type) and adding a texture (in our download area there is a free file of arroway textures). You can then tweak the roughness/shininess parameters to achieve the look you want (adding the texture to the roughness as well will help give a realistic look to the wood polish). For lighting you can add 3/4 emitters and then move them around (using the interactive preview) until you get the reflections exactly where you want them. Our support team would be happy to help you optimise scenes/materials if you can't quite get the look you want. You can write to me or directly to the support team at maxwelldesk@nextlimit.com. Also, take a look at Toni Fresnedo's website, his renders are awesome: http://www.tonifresnedo.com/

3dcad

Very nice, can't wait to give it a try.. Main problem with keyshot is lack of correct material (melamine faced chipboards with different surface structures)..

3dexter

I think it's early to talk about rendering in Onshape, and today we are not able to perform the simple task of changing the color of a face in style!

Skippy

I would be interested in testing and giving feedback from a makers point of view if there was going to be a free tier for maxwell render like there is for sketchup. 

jenny_fermor

Hi @Skippy,
We are indeed planning to offer a free version for Onshape users. We will need to complete the beta testing phase first before we can confirm the final products on offer, but that is the plan.

Narayan_K

It is very nice to have Maxwell Render-Onshape.It is good if we have option to save the model in  rendered mode.

Presently i am not able see the last view mode(view style).Actually i wanted to keep a model in "shaded without edge"mode so i kept it in that mode and closed my document. After opening that document, i m not able to see that "shaded without edge"mode.It is again in shaded mode(with edge) .

Skippy

jenny_fermor said:

Hi @Skippy,
We are indeed planning to offer a free version for Onshape users. We will need to complete the beta testing phase first before we can confirm the final products on offer, but that is the plan.

Thats good to know, thank you

tom_64

I listened to Joe Dunne's presentation about the OnShape/Maxwell Render option currently being offered and I would like to try it. How can I sign up?

jonathan_stedman

Missed the presentation today.  Will it be put online sometime?

Jon

nav

Hi @jonathan_stedman here is a link to the Maxwell Render & Onshape Webinar https://youtu.be/N1Mt6mZO2yM

kevin_quigley

Interesting. Not watched the seminar but is Maxwell running locally or in the cloud? I ask, as a Maxwell user, as it is a very demanding application on the local computer (even on a 32 core 32GB workstation) and it seems the ideal soultion for a cloud server farm.

@3DCad...wait till you see Keyshot v6..

nav

Hi @kevin_quigley currently Maxwell runs locally and plans to add a plugin to connect to Onshape to open online files, Not sure if they are planning to move to the cloud.

kevin_quigley

So presumably if you are already a Maxwell user you will get this anyway...like they do for other CAD apps

nav

Apparently yes kevin.

jenny_fermor

Hi everyone,

In answer to your queries about Maxwell:

• The Onshape/Maxwell connection will be released as part of Maxwell 3.2 - and so yes, if you are already a Maxwell V3 license holder then it comes free. For all those who don't own the full Maxwell package, we will be offering a free license specifically for use with Onshape. There are some details about this in the webinar, and we'll be making full public announcements over the coming weeks.
• V3.2 is scheduled to go into public beta within the next 2 weeks.
  
• Right now Maxwell is running locally as a desktop application, but we are planning to release a fuller integration with Onshape (running in cloud) in the near future. The advantage of running locally is that is won't interfere with your work in Onshape (when rendering) so the workflow is great. And you can of course add more rendernode power locally via the full Maxwell package which comes with free node licenses.

I hope this helps!

jenny_fermor

tom_64 said:

I listened to Joe Dunne's presentation about the OnShape/Maxwell Render option currently being offered and I would like to try it. How can I sign up?

Hi Tom
Great! If you can send the following details over to maxwelldesk@nextlimit.com, we'll get you a full eval license over right away:

• Full Name
• Company name
• Email address
• City/Country
• 3D/CAD platforms currently used (besides Onshape)
• Operating System

We look forward to hearing from you

3dcad

@jenny_fermor I have sent above information to you 2015-06-26 and a reminder 2015-07-14
Haven't got any response, can you check this?

Sando

Hi,
I am a user of maxwell for rhino. Is this plugin still available for maxwell?

joe_dunne

Sando,  

The Maxwell integration is no longer available. Although you can import STL from Onshape into Maxwell Studio.

OneRender and RealityServer 2 applications, available as Integrated Cloud Apps. Both are really good. As a Maxwell user you may like to look at RealityServer, since it offers the progressive style rendering.  

Also Keyshot has a great Onshape integration as well if you are looking for Desktop application.

Joe