Maxwell Render

Hi Everyone,

I bought Maxwell in the Alpha-stage, did some pleasing testrenders on PC using Lightwave, and followed some threads on the forum when I had the time.

Now I switched to Mac.

What I use:
- iMac 24" / 2.33 GHz Intel Core2Duo / 2Gb RAM / NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT
- Modo 202 for modeling
- Lightwave 9 for scene setup and/or model checking before going to Maxwell
- Maxwell 1.1 UB version for rendering (I hope)

Problematic workflow example:
- Model something simple in Modo (not even SubD - but multiple layers)
- Export as LWO
- Check it in LW Modeler and 'triple' it.
- Import in 'mxstudio' and... NOTHING!!! "0 objects in scene"

If I try to save an 'mxs'-scene from within Lightwave I always get errors; although I tripled every polygon and checked for 1-point polygons...

I've tried exporting from Lightwave as DXF too. I only get 1 layer from the LWO, and that one is OK.

If I export from Modo as "Wavefront OBJ", I get 'some' geometry but very messy and nothing like the original.

Now that I've got this great Mac, I really want to start using Maxwell 1.1 UB and all this is really disappointing. Please Help!


Thanks a lot in advance...

I am not sure but the problem might come from LW9... I have the same setup (except on PC) modo>LW>Maxwell... and it works wonderful... try not using multiple layers, but single objects.. better for the moment...

a new LW plugin is in the oven...

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sing with me.... la la la... la la la

Thanks a lot.

I hope it's a quick oven...

microwave oven...

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sing with me.... la la la... la la la

First step is Clean up.

BasicallyUnhide all polygons, all 0,1,2 point polygons get deleted. Merge points that are in the same point in space and unify polygons, (By the way, there is a mesh clean up script on VM by Seneca)

Second, cycle through the materials and select each different material's polygons and set part names with the same name to the different surfaces, this is how maxwell will see the different surfaces.

Then selects all SDS polygons and freezes them with default freeze settings.

Then triples everything

Then exports as Maya Obj

This has reproduced consistent results for me when imported in studio. Let me know what happens.

Yazan

Thanks a lot Yazan. I'll try that workflow as soon as possible!

Hi Dream Catcher,

Is this now working for you?
If not let me know and I will have a look at it?

Regards,
Nigel.

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G5 2.5MHz 4Gig Ram OSX 4.4 Apple 23" HD Maxwell-Lightwave-modo-SketchUp

If you are interested, there is a modo script to export OBJ files ready for Maxwell. Give it a try and help us refine it as well.

This is the discussion thread in the Lux forums
http://forums.luxology.com/discussion/submit.aspx?mode=Reply&id=12931

http://www.modonize.co.uk/private/mm_Maxwell_Export.zip

Yazan

Thanks for the workflow info yazan, I go straight from modo to maxwell studio, and i tried saving to lwo from modo but always the faces are only half there, is this a modo thing or a studio thing that will be fixed in the future?

Cheers

Brett

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Brett

Always glad Dyslexics Have More Nuf

It's due to non-tripled mesh objects. For some reason when MXST imports an LWO that is made with quads, it triples the mesh but only creates half of the faces. Triple the mesh in LWO or Modo before export and delete any non-planars and 1,2 point polys.

Tim.

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Next Limit Certified Training Centre for Maxwell Render.
Maxwell Render Training & consultancy. A-Team tester.

Thanks for the info tim, i will have a look at it.

Cheers

Brett

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Brett

Always glad Dyslexics Have More Nuf