Adehus

Since I bought my 8 core beast, I've been trying to use Maxwell some. I've finally used it for a paying project. That's the good news. However...

I upgraded FormZ today, and it erased my 1.1 plugin. So I had to upgrade to 1.5, since the 1.1 plugin doesn't appear to be offered anymore. No problem, just download the 1.5 plugin and app, right? Well... the 1.5 plugin is extreeeemely slow to export, and 1.5 studio won't let me change the resolution of my image (stuck at 320x240). To top it off, mxs is kernel panic city... changing f stop crashes it every time. And did I mention that 1.5 doesn't seem to recognize 1.1 lighting materials?

So, in sum, I can't match the work that was done previously, in terms of resolution, lighting or f stop setting. Does it really have to suck this bad???

u.biq

Andrew, you know i'm not laughing at you. It's just that threads about MWL are such an entertainement.

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Adehus

Hey, ya gotta laugh, it's about all you can do about it!

Anyhow, the resolution thing's resolved (studio links it to views, and prefers to use 'active view' over the actual view being used...) and light mxms now work, though the intensities are markedly different.

kjverine

I have to agree with you guys on how 1.5 was just a complete let down. I'll explain my reasoning for saying this. When i saw on next limits website about maxwell, I was blown away with the image quality. At that particular time I was just entering the world of CG. It was like taking the red pill like in "The Matrix movie". I was introduced to a whole new world and the images done with the beta versions of maxwell made me hungry for more info on how to use this renderer.Trying my hardest to graps that the materials really make or break your render was and still is a hurdle that i'm trying to overcome. Months later i saw images posted in the forums from version RSO-1.0 . I was just impressed with how users were taking photo realism to another level with the program. Those guys inspired me to jump on this bandwagon and seeing that it was jus version 1.0...........imagine what version 2,3,4,or 5 will be in a few years. Well I'm now getting the hang of maxwell and has put together scenes where as people were giving me the same response I was giving to users in the maxwell forums. My work is not as good as those user that i get inspiration from but I was able to make money off of those projects. Now I have architects asking me to do renders for them on a consistent basis. With the release of 1.5 I sat back and observed the users whom I look up to and hear how they complain and complain and complain about the new release. I was actually sitting at my desk wondering if I should install 1.5 the week it was released. But, seeing and hearing user complaints was enough to keep me working in 1.1. Now let just sit back and think............If I had just discovered maxwell render about a month ago and saw on next limits website about all the cool new features and the list of many supported platforms. I would have gotten the same feeling I got when i first found out about maxwell. But, if i was to then enter the forum and saw the amount of complaints user post on an hourly basis. I would have made a quick detour away from this program. But because I love maxwell sooo much i will stick with it and see where this company is headed and wait for the real release of "Version 1.5"

u.biq

Hi Benjamin,

you have *exactly* nailed down what i'm sure is happening to 99.9% of people (i've been amongst them )

The MWL Galery is like, mmm, the Matrix. It tastes all bloody good...but it is fake, in the sense that 9/10 images comes from a time and from artists now gone.

It doesn't work anymore for "veterans" , but it does still for newcomers

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markus groeteke

well, that is really strange, because i'm using the FZ plugin with maxwell 1.5 all the time. as for changing the resolution, probably you have a blocked camera. simply unlock the camera then (checkbox 'block' in studio camera properties)...

as for the output speed, i personally did only experience a very fast FZ output, even with huge projects. so maybe are you exporting geometry with lots of surface styles? maybe try to purge your surface styles before exporting from FZ, then you will not export useless materials, this speeds up export a lot.

as for the kernel panics, i never got even one on any of my macs with maxwell, no idea what it could be, sorry.

what are exactly the problems with light materials (do you mean materials containing emitters) not loaded from 1.1 projects? can you make an example?

markus

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Kurt

wow - the Maxwell Render Fanclub!

hmm... lucky me - this time I'm not amongst the 99.0%!

Adehus

Markus-

I appreciate your help, but I just can't justify spending any more time trying to get things working anymore. Even with my new machine, I can't get interior renderings completed in a reasonable time (primarily because they're almost exclusively retail environments lit with artificial light).

This project I was working on was a rare one- a simple display on a plain backdrop. Should be a piece of cake with MWR. It was, too, till the upgrade.

So it goes...

u.biq

Lucky you
As i can't post on the forum anymore, i take the opportunity to say that you do a great job on the mats.

I'm not that bad... LOL

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Maxer

Adehus, I'm sorry you ran into so many problems with 1.5, if it makes you feel any better I had the same experience. I installed it the day it came out so you can imagine how disappointed I was when I found out network rendering didn't work, my sky was a weird shade of pink at all times of the day, and when I tried to open old Maxwell scenes it would crash. I'm truly fascinated by NL's complete incompetence when it comes to every aspect of producing software and maintaining customer relations. Just so you know, anyone using Maxwell right now can be classified as a beta tester.

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