My first "not bad" render in Maxwell Render if you're interested

Discussion in 'SolidWorks' started by John Layne, Sep 16, 2005.

  1. John Layne

    John Layne Guest

    John Layne, Sep 16, 2005
    #1
  2. John Layne

    John Layne Guest

    Not sure, I'll ask the question on Maxwell's own forum.

    John Layne
    www.solidengineering.co.nz
     
    John Layne, Sep 16, 2005
    #2
  3. John Layne

    John Layne Guest

    I checked the forum it seems there is no demo version, you have to do
    what I did and fork out $500 for the pre release offer.
     
    John Layne, Sep 16, 2005
    #3
  4. John Layne

    parel Guest

    badass. Was it relatively simple to setup?
     
    parel, Sep 16, 2005
    #4
  5. John Layne

    John Layne Guest

    Relatively easy:

    2 emitters, 2 diffuse reflectors behind emitters and a diffuse backdrop.
    The hard part in Maxwell is figuring out settings for materials.

    They are promising a material editor in the release version.

    John Layne
     
    John Layne, Sep 16, 2005
    #5
  6. John Layne

    John Layne Guest

    Relatively easy:

    2 emitters, 2 diffuse reflectors behind emitters and a diffuse backdrop.
    The hard part in Maxwell is figuring out settings for materials.

    They are promising a material editor in the release version.

    John Layne
     
    John Layne, Sep 16, 2005
    #6
  7. John Layne

    jjs Guest

    Fishing Rod Clamp?


    Nice work John - an expert already and its only 2 weeks!!

    To get the roughnes did you just use the U and V numbers or did you do
    any Bump mapping - something I have not yet tried.

    Have you tried the 'flash' photo technique yet.

    Set up an emmitter just above the camera ( like a flashgun) and use
    this as a major source of light - It gives quite a realistic 'flash'
    effect.

    Jonathan
     
    jjs, Sep 16, 2005
    #7
  8. John Layne

    Cam J Guest

    Mmm, I'm impressed John. Is the knurl modelled into the knobs?
     
    Cam J, Sep 16, 2005
    #8
  9. John Layne

    Zander Guest

    Does Maxwell run as an addin, or does it pull geometry from sw into a
    standalone program?
     
    Zander, Sep 16, 2005
    #9
  10. John Layne

    jjs Guest

    Currently it is a plugin and it creates a maxwell file that can be
    either rendered immediately or else it can be saved and restarted on
    any computer that has maxwell on it - using the command line which is
    nice and quaint !!

    There will be standalone soon, but I think there will be still plugins
    to get the geometry out to the stand alone.

    Jonathan
     
    jjs, Sep 16, 2005
    #10
  11. John Layne

    Zander Guest

    Hmmm, I guess my question is, as a plugin, if I change my model do I
    then need to completely re-setup the rendering? Since the 'maxwell
    file' will be new I'm assuming it will be blank in terms of materials,
    lights etc? A nice thing about photoworks is I can change the model
    but the scene, materials, decals persist.

    Zander
     
    Zander, Sep 16, 2005
    #11
  12. John Layne

    John Layne Guest

    No you don't need to re-setup the rendering materials scene etc, the
    scene stays the same materials stay attached. It's not as seamless as
    PhotoWorks regarding being able to see which material are attached but
    the Maxwell Render SolidWorks Plug-in is still in Alpha and Maxwell
    Render itself is still Beta

    I also have PhotoWorks but even in this early stage I find Maxwell more
    intuitive because it works like a camera, f-stops, shutter speed, ISO
    settings. Therefore, I seem to spend less time tweaking settings than I
    did with PhotoWorks.

    John Layne
    www.solidengineering.co.nz
     
    John Layne, Sep 16, 2005
    #12
  13. John Layne

    John Layne Guest


    It's a clamp for holding nasal gastric, Bolus, feeding equipment,
    designed to clamp to tables and pushchairs

    Roughness was assigned using U and V. The texture maps need to have high
    contrast - black to white - none I have found in SolidWorks have worked
    well for me. I will get around to editing some in Photoshop to improve
    contrast level.

    I have seen others use the flash effect. It can achieve the "Snap shot"
    look which adds to the images "reality". I'll give it ago and put the
    clamp on a table perhaps.

    John Layne
    www.solidengineering.co.nz
     
    John Layne, Sep 16, 2005
    #13
  14. John Layne

    John Layne Guest

    The knurl is modelled, it may be possible to achieve the same effect by
    just applying a texture bump map in the Maxwell Plug-in. I hadn't read
    the manual at that stage!

    The Textures also require a high contrast - so I would need to edit some
    of the SolidWorks textures for them to work. I'll give it a go and
    render two side by side.

    John Layne
    www.solidengineering.co.nz
     
    John Layne, Sep 16, 2005
    #14
  15. John Layne

    John Layne Guest

    Nice Render Paul!

    I do have PhotoWorks, but would loose a lot more hair trying to achieve
    what you have just produced!

    I'll render the blue bits in glass just for the hell of it, when I get a
    free minute. I haven't done anything with Maxwell that involves caustics
    yet, so it would be fun to compare against what you can achieve in
    PhotoWorks.

    John Layne
    www.solidengineering.co.nz
     
    John Layne, Sep 21, 2005
    #15
  16. John Layne

    TOP Guest

    I'm wondering if both of you used the same lighting techniques. The
    patina on the thumbwheels seems a bit more realistic on the Maxwell
    rendering. I have to believe some of that is due to lighting. The floor
    surface has a bit of visible gradation on the PW rendering. The Maxell
    image had about 31,000 colors in it while the PW image had about 41,000
    colors, so the gradation in the floor shading is a bit surprising.
     
    TOP, Sep 21, 2005
    #16
  17. John Layne

    John Layne Guest

    I added U and V Roughness to all the Metal components, as originally
    they became to perfect, as if they were mirrors.

    Lighting - 2 lights one either side one on left 1000watt one on right
    2000watts, both have diffuse reflectors behind each light.
    Lens - 135mm
    f-stop - f11 (for depth of field)
    Shutter - 15sec (I think)
    ISO - 100
     
    John Layne, Sep 21, 2005
    #17
  18. John Layne

    TOP Guest

    Interesting user interface. Reminds me of my Canon and Pentax. Awfully
    slow shutter for all that light.
     
    TOP, Sep 22, 2005
    #18
  19. John Layne

    jjs Guest

    I think John means 1/15s - you input the shutter speed in 1/*** -
    its just the 1/ is not written before the 'entry' box. A quirk that I
    think is being addressed in the final release.

    The aperture and shutter speed is built into Maxwell so that when it
    is fully released ( currently beta) and used with appropriate software
    where the subject moves, then one can use the shutter speed to control
    motion blur.


    It is a very intuitive interface if you have done any manual
    photography., which is what makes it very appealing - the very quick
    setup times.


    TTFN



    Jonathan
     
    jjs, Sep 22, 2005
    #19
  20. Even though the PW user interface sucks, I actually like Paul's rendering
    better, because it looks dirtier. All of the renderings I see look
    unbelievably clean, totally untouched by human hands, protected in some kind
    of clean room where nothing ever tarnishes or rusts. I want real parts, with
    a bit of grease, some dirt, a few scratches.


    Jerry Steiger
    Tripod Data Systems
     
    Jerry Steiger, Sep 23, 2005
    #20
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