Maxwell Render V.1 Manual.Pdf

as easy as taking a photo THE LIGHT SIMULATOR Version 1.0 THE LIGHT SIMULATOR Version 1.0 Maxwell Render – User’s Guide CONTENTS _______________________________________________________________ LICENSE AGREEMENT 3 WHAT IS MAXWELL 4 MAXWELL FEATURES 5 MAXWELL SOFTWARE PACKAGE 8 INSTALLATION AND LICENSING 8 Windows 8 Linux 8 MacOSX 8 USAGE 9 MAXWELL STUDIO (MXST) 10 INTRODUCTION 10 PANELS 12 IMPORTING GEOMETRY 13 USING PRESET GEOMETRY 13 USING GRAPHICAL VIEWPORTS 13 Navigation 13 2D/3D Viewports 14 Selection 15 Move/Rotate/Scale 16 Advanced editing 17 Display modes 18 Display preferences 19 OBJECTS 20 Groups 20 MATERIALS: INTRODUCTION 23 MATERIAL BROWSER 24 MATERIALS: NEW MATERIALS 25 Create a new material 25 Assign material to single objects 25 Assign material to selected objects 26 Assign material to groups of objects 26 Assign material to faces 26 Assign material to triangle groups 26 MATERIALS: EDITING 27 Material layers 28 Adding/ removing layers 28 Basic layer properties 29 BSDF properties 29 Clipmaps using transmittance mapping 34 BSDF examples 34 Coating properties 35 Subsurface properties 36 Emitter properties 36 Next Limit Technologies 1 Maxwell Render – User’s Guide Emitting materials 39 Blending layers 39 Material preview 39 CAMERAS 41 Creating a camera 41 Camera focus 43 SKY OPTIONS 45 RENDERING 48 MAPS AND TEXTURES 53 Creating a map projector 53 Projectors parameters 54 Applying textures 55 Texture picker 56 Color picker 57 MAXWELL MATERIAL EDITOR STANDALONE (MXED) 58 MAXWELL RENDER ENGINE (MXCL) 59 MAXWELL VIEWER 62 Menu functions 62 Toolbar 62 Console/Scene Data Panel 63 Render options panel 63 Preview / MXI panel 65 Multilight panel 67 Network panel 69 NETWORK RENDERING 69 TUTORIALS 72 Tutorial 1: The plane 72 Tutorial 2: Basic Studio Environment 75 Tutorial 3: How to make plastic-look materials 79 Tutorial 4: AGS (Architectural Glass Solution) Materials 83 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 86 File 86 Navigation 86 Selection 86 Edit 86 Window 87 Display 87 Render 87 IOR FILES 88 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 89 Next Limit Technologies 2 Maxwell Render – User’s Guide LICENSE AGREEMENT _______________________________________________________________ Maxwell Render™ (Copyright/License/Warranty) This software and documentation is Copyright 2006, NEXT LIMIT S.L. referred below as author. MAXWELL LICENSE AGREEMENT Full ownership of this software, and all rights pertaining to the for-profit distribution of this software, are retained by NEXT LIMIT S.L. This software can not be bundled with any commercial package without express written permission from the authors. This license is not a sale of the software or any copy. You may not disassemble, decompose, reverse engineer, or alter the software or any of the files contained in the software package. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS-IS' AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. Next Limit Technologies 3 Maxwell Render – User’s Guide WHAT IS MAXWELL _______________________________________________________________ Maxwell is a new render engine based on the physics of real light. Its algorithms and equations reproduce the behavior of light in a very accurate way. All of the elements in Maxwell, such as light emitters, material shaders, cameras etc., are entirely based on physically accurate models. Maxwell’s method of calculation always converges to the correct solution without introducing artifacts due to the fact that it is an unbiased render. Unbiased means that no tricks or interpolations are used to calculate the lighting solution in every pixel. It can fully capture all light interactions between all elements in a scene. All lighting calculations are performed using spectral information and high dynamic range data. Maxwell operates as a stand-alone command line application that targets many different environments like high-end rendering, architectural, production, and scientific. Maxwell has been built for Windows, Linux and MacOSX platforms. This version includes plugin connections to 3dsMax, Viz, Maya, Lightwave, Rhino, Solidworks, ArchiCAD, Cinema 4D, formZ and Sketchup. Additionally, other file formats are supported such as OBJ, STL, LWO, NFF, XC2, DXF, 3DS, XML AND FBX. Maxwell includes features such as material editor, material browser, texture mapping, light and camera editors, sky options, etc. (all based in physically accurate models). The 1.0 version provides both GUI and command line functionality. Next Limit Technologies 4 Maxwell Render – User’s Guide MAXWELL FEATURES _______________________________________________________________ Based On Real Physics One of the principal characteristics of Maxwell is that the rendering technology is strictly based upon the real governing physical equations of light transport. Maxwell is capable of producing incredibly realistic illumination results without having to resort to the illumination tricks used by other render engines. Consequently the results produced by Maxwell are highly accurate renditions of the real world. Spectral Calculations for Light and Object Properties It is very common, even standard nowadays, that most render engines perform calculations in a specific color space (typically RGB). However, this is physically incorrect and therefore Maxwell avoids this approach and considers real world behavior instead. In harmony with reality, Maxwell considers light as an electromagnetic wave defined by a frequency spectrum. Maxwell considers a spectrum which ranges from the Infrared to the Ultraviolet. Once Maxwell has completed the rendering procedure, each pixel in the output image contains different amounts of spectral energy. This energy was sourced from the lights in the scene and arrives at the conceptual film/sensor of the virtual camera or at the retina of the viewer. Maxwell stores this information in a new format called MXI (high dynamic range format). The pixel color which is generally the final desired result is an interpretation and sensation of the different frequencies which arrive at the film/sensor or the retina. Maxwell simulates this process and ultimately transforms the spectral measures into known color formats such as XYZ, RGB etc. Full Global Illumination Maxwell calculates all possible interactions between light and the objects within a scene. These interactions range from the usual indirect diffuse illumination now handled by most render engines to much more complex lighting scenarios such as indirect glossy caustics caused by volumetric objects which are participating media. The global illumination interacts with surfaces and also layers beneath the surface to produce translucency and subsurface scattering effects. It also interacts with the space between objects when a participating medium exists (causing absorption and scattering) and all combinations of this behavior are possible. Materials Based On Real Optical Properties Maxwell materials are modeled in a physically correct manner. They are defined from their BSDF curves (Bidirectional Scattering Distribution Function) adding the ability to superpose different layers of physical materials in the same object like other BSDF or SSS (sub surface scattering) effects. Thin coatings are also available for very subtle and realistic effects. The possibility to use direct IOR data files measured in laboratory allows rendering real life materials easily. Unbiased Rendering Maxwell is an unbiased render. Unbiased means that, with sufficient render time, the rendered solution will always converge to the correct result without the introduction of artifacts. Other rendering engines based upon widely known techniques such as photon mapping, radiosity, light maps, irradiance maps or other interpolation methods always produce biased renders. Consequently, they cannot guarantee convergence to the correct solution no matter how much time is expended on the rendering process. Multiprocessor Maxwell can exploit all of the processors available on your system and can make the work simultaneously on the same render to provide faster renders. For example, on a multiprocessing platform with 8 processors a user can expect up to an eightfold increase in render performance/speed. Next Limit Technologies 5 Maxwell Render – User’s Guide Real 3D Motion Blur Maxwell doesn’t produce motion blur as a post-process or using various tricks. Instead Maxwell considers the moving objects to have random positions along their trajectories during the camera shutter speed time. This creates a natural and realistic motion blur. It also can compute the full global illumination effects for the moving object i.e. a moving glass object producing caustics will produce blurred caustics and even volumetric blurred caustics if a participating medium exists. Simulation of Realistic and Complex Caustics Any scene containing complex caustics can be simulated. These include reflection and refraction caustics produced by indirect or direct lighting, caustics produced by dielectric materials, plastics or glossy metals. No restrictions at all are imposed on the nature or the number of caustics in a scene. Realistic Camera Model Cameras in Maxwell operate

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