Maxwell Render Magazine mm00

00-2007
Screen Version
Only for free download from maxwellrender.it
Maxwell Render is Copyright 2006, NEXT LIMIT S.L. - www.maxwellrender.com
Maxwell Magazine is created from the staff and the friends of Maxwell Render dot it - www.maxwellrender.it
Maxwell Magazine - Rivista elettronica del mondo Maxwell Render
Direzione e Redazione
Pietro Spampatti - Maxwell Render dot it
www.maxwellrender.it - [email protected]
Collaboratori
Maxwell Render dot it Italian Staff
Sandykoufax
Tim Ellis
Tyrone Marshall
Copyright
Tutte le citazioni dei marchi registrati o TradeMark hanno soltato natura
giornalistica e di informazione. Tutti i diritti di riproduzione e traduzione
degli articoli pubblicati sono riservati.
Magazine
- Maxwell
SOMMARIO
LOG-IN
SUMMARY
pagina 04
• Articolo introduttivo di Pietro Spampatti
NEXT LIMIT SPACE
pagina 06
• Next Limit Open Door
NEWS AND INTERVIEWS
pagina 08
NEXT LIMIT SPACE
page 07
NEWS AND INTERVIEWS
page 10
• Interview with Victor Next Limit CEO
• Maxwell Contest Render Results
pagina 128
• The Material Editor di Tiziano
PLUG-IN AREA
page 05
• Next Limit Open Door
• Intervista a Victor CEO Next Limit
• Maxwell Contest Render Results
MAXWELL AREA
STUDIO AREA
MXM AREA
LOG-IN
• Leading Article by Pietro Spampatti
pagina 00
• LightWave Plug-in di Fire
• 3DStudio Max Plug-in di Motopiku
• Cinemaxwell Tutorial di Paperless
MAXWELL AREA
page 16
• The Telecine Suite - Contest Render Tutorial by Tim Ellis
• Making of Maxwell Interior - Contest Render Tutorial
by Jeong-ho. Kim
STUDIO AREA
MXM AREA
PLUG-IN AREA
page 00
• Cinemaxwell Interior Light Study by Tyrone Marshal
MULTILIGHT AREA
COOPERATIVE RENDER AREA
NETWORK RENDER AREA
OFF-TOPIC SPACE
REFLEX
pagina 00
MULTILIGHT AREA
COOPERATIVE RENDER AREA
NETWORK RENDER AREA
OFF-TOPIC SPACE
REFLEX
• La Macchina Fotografica di Nicola82
pagina 00
LOG-OFF
• Articolo di chiusura di Pietro Spampatti
GALLERY
page 00
• Maxwell Render dot it Gallery
pagina 00
LOG-OFF
page 00
• Log-off Article by Pietro Spampatti
Maxwell
Magazine
GALLERY
• Maxwell Render dot it Gallery
-
LOG-IN
Anno 2007 Numero 00: ai blocchi di partenza...
Maxwell Render dot it inaugura con il numero 00 la prima rivista per Maxwell Render... una
sfida e una avventura che coinvolge direttamente lo staff del portale italiano ma che vuole
rendervi protagonisti dandovi la possibilità di poter partecipare alla creazione dei prossimi
numeri scrivendo articoli o più semplicemente inviando i vostri render.
Un doveroso e sincero ringraziamento va a tutte le persone che hanno reso possibile la realizzazione dell’iniziativa e alla Next Limit che parteciperà ufficialmente alla rivista attraverso la
sezione “Next Limit Space”.
In questo numero inizieremo a conoscere meglio la Next Limit attraverso un’intervista esclusiva
a Victor, CEO NL e attraverso alcune schede/profilo di alcuni membri dello staff NL.
Tim Ellys e SandyKoufax ci svelano il modus operandi grazie al quale hanno vinto il primo Maxwell Contest Render a premi mentre l’ottimo Tiziano affronta con un corposo articolo le basi
del Maxwell Material Editor. Nella Plug-in Area Fire introduce il Plug-in per LightWave, Motopiku
quello di 3DStudio Max, mentre Paperless e Tyrone Marshal sono gli autori di due Cinemaxwell
Tutorial. In chiusura Nicola82 inizia a spiegare i fondamentali della fotografia tradizionale.
Buona lettura :-)
Pietro Spampatti
Maxwell Render dot it
LOG-IN
Year 2007 Number 00: on the start blocks...
Maxwell Render dot it inaugura con il numero 00 la prima rivista per Maxwell Render... una
sfida e una avventura che coinvolge direttamente lo staff del portale italiano ma che vuole
rendervi protagonisti dandovi la possibilità di poter partecipare alla creazione dei prossimi
numeri scrivendo articoli o più semplicemente inviando i vostri render.
Un doveroso e sincero ringraziamento va a tutte le persone che hanno reso possibile la realizzazione dell’iniziativa e alla Next Limit che parteciperà ufficialmente alla rivista attraverso la
sezione “Next Limit Space”.
In questo numero inizieremo a conoscere meglio la Next Limit attraverso un’intervista esclusiva
a Victor, CEO NL e attraverso alcune schede/profilo di alcuni membri dello staff NL.
Tim Ellys e SandyKoufax ci svelano il modus operandi grazie al quale hanno vinto il primo Maxwell Contest Render a premi mentre l’ottimo Tiziano affronta con un corposo articolo le basi
del Maxwell Material Editor. Nella Plug-in Area Fire introduce il Plug-in per LightWave, Motopiku
quello di 3DStudio Max, mentre Paperless e Tyrone Marshal sono gli autori di due Cinemaxwell
Tutorial. In chiusura Nicola82 inizia a spiegare i fondamentali della fotografia tradizionale.
Buona lettura :-)
Pietro Spampatti
Maxwell Render dot it
NEXT LIMIT SPACE
NEXT LIMIT OPEN DOOR
Next Limit Technologies was founded in 1998 by two young Spanish engineers, Victor Gonzalez
and Ignacio Vargas. They started off as two guys in a small room with an internet connection
and little money to spend. But they were enthusiastic about creating new and innovative tools
combining science and visualization for the computer graphics market.
They gathered a small team of dedicated people and over the years, that team has grown
into a large group of talented young professionals, who are all together responsible for the
foundation, growth and success of Maxwell Render and RealFlow4.
This is your chance to meet some of those people who stood and still stand at the roots of software creation and who make sure Next Limit’s heart continues to beat fiercely.
Nome: Beatriz Lorenzo
Età: 28
Ruolo: “3D Technician”
Hobbies: “3D? I also like traveling
and going to the cinema, reading…
just regular stuff”
Descriviti in 10 parole: “I’m a cheerful
person who likes to face new challenges”
Nome: Maya Velásquez Watanabe
Età: 29
Ruolo: “I handle our Partner and Reseller Program”
Hobbies: “I love traveling, cooking,
and reading”
Descriviti in 10 parole: “I consider myself an energetic, positive and obstinate person”
Nome: Ignacio Bonafonte Arruga
Età: 28
Ruolo: “I work on the Mac side of Next
Limit’s applications, fine tuning them
and making them Mac-friendly”
Hobbies: “Reading fantasy books,
and of course Macs”
Descriviti in 10 parole: I’m a Macpassionate programmer”
Nome: Juan Cañada
Età: 29
Ruolo: “Maxwell Render Technical
Director”
Hobbies: “I like to play guitar and I
love climbing”
Descriviti in 10 parole: “I am a bidimensional non-gravity hologram”
Nome: Ángel Tena
Età: 36
Ruolo: “RealFlow Lead Developer”
Hobbies: “I love sports, bikes and my
two-years-old daughter”
Descriviti in 10 parole: “I’m very steadfast in my ambitions and slightly introverted”
Magazine
- Maxwell
NEXT LIMIT SPACE
NEXT LIMIT OPEN DOOR
Next Limit Technologies was founded in 1998 by two young Spanish engineers, Victor Gonzalez
and Ignacio Vargas. They started off as two guys in a small room with an internet connection
and little money to spend. But they were enthusiastic about creating new and innovative tools
combining science and visualization for the computer graphics market.
They gathered a small team of dedicated people and over the years, that team has grown
into a large group of talented young professionals, who are all together responsible for the
foundation, growth and success of Maxwell Render and RealFlow4.
This is your chance to meet some of those people who stood and still stand at the roots of software creation and who make sure Next Limit’s heart continues to beat fiercely.
Name: Beatriz Lorenzo
Age: 28
Job description: “3D Technician”
Hobbies: “3D? I also like traveling
and going to the cinema, reading…
just regular stuff”
Describe yourself in ten words: “I’m
a cheerful person who likes to face
new challenges”
Name: Maya Velásquez Watanabe
Age: 29
Job description: “I handle our Partner and Reseller Program”
Hobbies: “I love traveling, cooking,
and reading”
Describe yourself in ten words: “I
consider myself an energetic, positive and obstinate person”
Name: Ignacio Bonafonte Arruga
Age: 28
Job description: “I work on the Mac
side of Next Limit’s applications, fine
tuning them and making them Macfriendly”
Hobbies: “Reading fantasy books,
and of course Macs”
Describe yourself in ten words: I’m a
Mac-passionate programmer”
Name: Juan Cañada
Age: 29
Job description: “Maxwell Render Technical Director”
Hobbies: “I like to play guitar and I
love climbing”
Describe yourself in ten words: “I am
a bidimensional non-gravity hologram”
Name: Ángel Tena
Age: 36
Job description: “RealFlow Lead Developer”
Hobbies: “I love sports, bikes and my
two-years-old daughter”
Describe yourself in ten words: “I’m
very steadfast in my ambitions and
slightly introverted”
Magazine
Maxwell
-
INTERVIEWS
Intervista a...
Victor Gonzales
CEO Next Limit
PS: Salve Victor e grazie per aver rilasciato questa intervista. Sappiamo che sei sempre impegnato in prima persona nello sviluppo di maxwell render e quindi
cercheremo di essere abbastanza concisi e diretti
con le domande di questa intervista... veniamo quindi subito al dunque...
Maxwell Render ha rotto lo stallo di innovazione che
si era venuto a creare nel campo dei software di rendering proponendo una soluzione per certi versi rivoluzionaria... ci puoi raccontare brevemente la storia
di Maxwell Render? come è nata l’idea?
VG: Grazie per il vostro apprezzamento. Come sapete NL è del tutto specializzata in tecnologie di simulazione. Uno dei nostri sogni è sempre stato quello di
trovare nuove strade per innovare il settore del rendering e, per molti anni, abbiamo discusso e testato
metodi differenti per trasformare il calcolo fisico accurato in risultati fotorealistici. Maxwell Render non è
stata la prima idea saltata fuori da un brainstorming
ma da anni di conoscenza accumulata e lettura di
densi libri scientifici con in più un po’ di intuizione e
fortuna per trasformarlo in un software utilizzabile.
PS: Riguardo alla velocità dell’engine, quale reale
margine di miglioramento è previsto e quanto invece
NL fa affidamento sul prevedibile salto tecnologico e
sul miglioramento delle procedure di rendering distribuito. In altre parole l’utente finale deve prepararsi
ad acquistare macchine più potenti e/o più numerose o si può aspettare un’ottimizzazione sostanziale? E
ancora, la vera soluzione sta nel rendering cooperativo o nella potenza di calcolo su singola macchina?
VG: Credo che entrambe le strade siano giuste in
qualche modo. Oggi la potenza di calcolo delle singole macchine è la principale risorsa in termini potenza e il metodo più efficiente per minimizzare i costi
Magazine
- Maxwell
e massimizzare le prestazioni. Al momento il rendering di rete è imprescindibile per volumi [di dati, ndt]
cospicui o per ridurre il tempo di calcolo, ma questa
non è una possibilità per tutti gli utenti. Nel breve termine possiamo aspettarci che i migliori benefici arrivino dagli imminenti processori multicore (sopra i 4
cores e 1 teraflop nel futuro prossimo) e nella nuova
tecnologia delle GPU.
Senza rivelare troppi dettagli, possiamo garantire significativi passi avanti nella velocità su singola
macchina in differenti settori che sono in ricerca e
sviluppo per il migliorare le caratteristiche del render
di rete nell’imminente Maxwell Render 1.2.
PS: Conosciamo tutti le straordinarie doti di rendering
di questo software, tuttavia rispetto ad altri engine,
(anche molto + modesti in termini di capacità e resa),
rimangono ancora delle “lacune” da colmare, come
possono essere il trattamento di effetti volumetrici,
lens flare, gestione delle particelle, un controllo del
Displacement etc... In quali settori del 3D, anche non
in un immediato futuro potremo aspettarci un’evoluzione di Maxwell?
VG: L’opportunità di aggiungere molte funzioni era
limitata al tempo in cui Maxwell Render 1.0 doveva
essere rilasciato. C’erano molte linee di ricerca e sviluppo che abbiamo dovuto terminare in modo da
finalizzare una versione che altrimenti avrebbe potuto restare in sviluppo per anni. Molte funzioni sono
in programma per rilasci futuri, nel breve e nel lungo
periodo. Non posso rivelare la lista completa delle
caratteristiche ma alcune di quelle che hai menzionato come il displacement, il supporto di sistemi
particellari e volumetrici sono inclusi. Alcune funzioni possono richiedere nuovi miglioramenti nel core e
quindi sono destinate a nuove versioni come Maxwell
Render 2.
E’ molto importante comprendere che l’accuratezza
fisica che il Maxwell Rendere team si è autoimposta
restringe la libertà di aggiungere funzioni al paniere.
Un metodo semplice per il displacement o per il rendering di particelle può essere fatto in pochi giorni
come fanno altri, ma... questa non è la nostra strategia. Costruire un renderizzatore integralmente fisico richiede tempo per mettere insieme tutti i pezzi al
posto giusto.
INTERVIEWS
VG: Questa è una buona domanda, specialmente in
questo momento in cui sembra che ognuno si diverta
a copiarci. Presumo che sia una parte del mestiere,
noi siamo contenti di essere innovativi e cerchiamo
sempre di spingerci al limite. Rimaniamo sulla strada
della dura scienza e la nostra squadra è un talentuoso gruppo di fisici, matematici e ingegneri informatici, quindi questa è la nostra prima arma. Se abbiamo
raggiunto un limite semplicemente ci spingeremo a
quello successivo.
In più stiamo lavorando sugli aspetti di marketing per
stabilire alleanze e accordi a lungo termine.
Ancora una volta, la coerenza del core di Maxwell
Render e l’interrelazione di tutti gli elementi dietro le
quinte non possono essere facilmente “catturati” anche se i concetti sono prontamente imitati da prodotti di terze parti.
PS: La NL si è mossa su 3 vie per lo sviluppo di Maxwell
Render ( mxStudio, mxPlug-in, e mxed). .. tralasciando i primi due.... che margini di miglioramento ci dobbiamo aspettare nel futuro di mxed? cosa non avete
fatto ancora?
VG: I materiali fisicamente corretti sono, senza dubbio, una delle caratteristiche chiave di Maxwell
Render. L’obbiettivo principale è stato raggiunto: la
creazione di un editor materiali multipiattaforma indipendente. L’attuale versione del MXED è presumibilmente un compromesso tra uno strumento sapientemente ingegneristico e una utility maneggevole per
la maggior parte degli utenti. In futuro puntiamo ad
una definizione più rigorosa dei materiali fisicamente
corretti, migliorando le librerie e le risorse disponibili,
senza perdere l’interattività e la facilità d’uso dell’applicazione.
PS: Comunicazione aziendale... la maggiore accusa
da parte degli utenti Maxwell Render è la scarsa o
poco chiara comunicazione aziendale... recentemente è stata rilasciata la news letter e un video che
esemplifica il livello di sviluppo del plug-in di Maya...
seguiranno altri video e una maggiore comunicazione aziendale? come intende Next Limit migliorare il
sistema della comunicazione con i propri utenti?
VG: Stiamo facendo sforzi per migliorare il processo comunicativo. Nuove persone sono state inserite
speficicamente in azienda per escogitare migliori
metodi di comunicazione, bilanciando un sano stile
di pubbliche relazioni con la necessità di tenere alcuni segreti in questa complessa gara di rendering.
I miglioramenti nella organizzazione interna di tutti i
dipartimenti iniziano gradualmente ad intravedersi
in in molti modi. Abbiamo fatto errori in passato ma
io credo fermamente che oggi siamo un team rinnovato con una grande energia per essere vincente. E
certo... arriveranno nuovi video!
PS: La licenza di Maxwell, come ben sappiamo tutti, è
basata sul numero di CPU. Alla luce dei nuovi prodotti
Intel e AMD (core duo, core duo 2, core 2 Extreme
ecc.) puoi fare chiarezza sul programma di licenza
che la Next Limit intende seguire?
VG: Questa è una discussione senza fine che porta
a molte controversie, sia che sia basata sulle CPU,
sul socket, sulla macchina o... sul rilasciarla gratuitamente. Non è la prima volta che abbiamo considerato questo punto, la nostra attuale politica è di adattare lo schema di licenza allo standard hardware più
disponibile. Questo non colpirà la attuale base clienti
e ci permetterà di adattarci alle nuove tecnologie.
Attualmente un Dual Core viene considerato come
“2 CPU” e questo probabilmente richiederà un nuovo adattamento nel futuro immediato. Ogni cambiamento prenderà corpo al momento opportuno per
ogni nuovo versione.
Maxwell
Magazine
PS: Alla luce della “rivoluzione” che Maxwell ha portato nel mondo 3d è facile aspettarsi un’accellerazione “improvvisa” e soprattutto “programmata” delle
maggiori software house concorrenti (Maxon, Autodesk, ecc.) e di plug-in di motori di rendering (tipo
Chaosgroup, ecc.), ad esempio la nuova versione
di Vray ha imitato Maxwell Render introducendo un
Phisycal Sky e i punti vista con controlli tipo macchina
fotografica Reflex...
Come la NextLimit pensa di fronteggiare e rimanere
sempre quel “passo” avanti agli altri o per essere piu’
precisi sempre “al prossimo limite” ?
-
INTERVIEWS
Interview with...
Victor Gonzales
Next Limit CEO
Hello Victor, and thanks for having agreed to release
this interview. We realize you are consistently engaged first-hand with the development of Maxwell Render and we will therefore try to be rather concise and
direct with our questions. Let’s get started...
PS: The advent of Maxwell Render actually broke the
innovation deadlock that rendering software had fallen into, by coming up with a solution that in some
respects is really revolutionary. Can you briefly tell us
the story of Maxwell Render? How did the idea come
about?
VG: Thank you for your kind comments. As you know,
Next Limit is completely specialized in simulation technology. One of our dreams was to find new ways to
innovate in the rendering area and, for many years,
we were discussing and testing different methods to
turn accurate physical calculations into photorealistic results. Maxwell Render didn’t come as a first-off
idea in a brainstorming session but after years of accumulated knowledge and reading of dense science books plus a bit of intuition and luck to turn it into
workable software.
PS: As far as engine speed is concerned, what real
improvement margin has NL foreseen here and how
much do you at NL instead confide in foreseeable
technological forward-leaps and in distributed rendering procedures? In other words, does the end user
need to be prepared to purchase more powerful
and/or a larger number of machines or can some substantial optimization be expected? Again, does the
real solution lie in cooperative rendering or in individual machine processing power?
10 - Maxwell
VG: I think both ways are right in some sense. Individual machine power is the main power resource today and the most efficient method to minimize cost
and maximize performance. At the moment network
rendering is a must for high volume or to reduce computing time, but this is not an option for every user. In
the short term we can expect the best benefits coming from the upcoming multicore processors (up to
4 cores and 1 teraflop in a near future) and the new
GPU technology.
Without giving away too many details, we can guarantee serious improvements in speed in a single machine based on different research and development
areas while we improve the network rendering feature for the upcoming Maxwell Render 1.2.
PS: We are all acquainted with the extraordinary rendering qualities provided by this software. However,
when compared to other engines (even when considerably inferior in terms of capacity and performance), there still are some loopholes that need to be
addressed, such as volumetric effect management,
lens flare, particle distribution, displacement control,
etc...
In which areas of 3D realism can we expect Maxwell
Render to evolve in for the foreseeable, not necessarily immediate future?
VG: The chances to add many features were limited
at the time, when Maxwell Render 1.0 had to be finished. There were many R&D lines that we had to
stop in order to finalize a version that could otherwise
have been under development for years. Many features have been scheduled for future releases in the
short and long term. I cannot reveal the complete
feature list but some of the features that you mention
like displacement, particle support, and volumetric,
are included. Some features may require new improvements in the core, so they will be set to major releases like Maxwell Render 2.
It is very important to realize that the physical accuracy self-imposed by the Maxwell Render team restricts the freedom to add features to the basket. An
easy displacement method or particle rendering can
be done in days like others do, but...that is not our
strategy. Building an integral physical render requires
time to put all pieces in the right place.
Magazine
INTERVIEWS
PS: For Maxwell Render development, NL has devised 3-component features (mxStudio, mxPlug-in, and
mxED). Not considering the first two.... what foreseeable improvement margins can we expect for the future of mxED? What is there that you still have not accomplished?
VG: Physical materials are, without doubt, one of the
key features of Maxwell Render. The main goal has
been achieved: the creation of a cross-platform independent material editor. The current mxED version
is supposedly a compromise between an engineering-wise tool and a handy utility for most users. In the
future we are aiming for a more rigorous definition of
physical materials, improving the libraries and available resources, without losing the interactivity and
ease of use of the application.
PS: Corporate communication. The major accusation
by Maxwell Render users concerns scarce and often
unclear corporate feedbacks. Recently, a newsletter
and a video of the Maya plug-in development were
released. Will other videos be released and will company feedback to users be improved? How does Next
Limit actually intend to address the improvement of
its user communications system tools?
VG: We are making efforts to improve the communication workflow. New people have joined the company specifically to devise better methods of communication, balancing a healthy PR style with the
necessity of keeping some secrets in this complex
rendering race. The improvements in internal organization in all the departments are gradually starting
to show through in many ways. We made mistakes in
the past but I firmly think that today we are a renewed
team with a great energy to keep the lead. And yes...
new videos are coming! PS: The Maxwell licenses – as we are all well aware of
– are CPU number based. In view of the new Intel and
AMD products (Intel Core2 DUO, Intel Core2 Quadro,
AMD Quad, etc.) can you shed some light on the license program that Next Limit intends to pursue?
VG: This is a never-ending discussion which leads to
a lot of controversy, whether based on CPU, socket,
machine or...giving it for free. It is not the first time that
we have considered this point. Our current policy is to
adapt the license scheme to the most standard hardware format available. This will not harm the existing
customer base and will allow us to adapt to the new
technology. Currently a Dual Core counts as “2 CPU”
and this will probably require a new adaptation in the
near future. Any changes will take place at the appropriate time of new releases.
Maxwell
Magazine
PS: In view of the “revolution” enacted by Maxwell
Render in the world of 3D, one can easily expect a
“sudden” and above all “constructed” acceleration
both by the major competitor software houses (Maxon, Autodesk, etc.) and rendering engine plug-ins
(i.e. Chaosgroup, etc.). One example is the new version release by Vray, imitating Maxwell Render via the
introduction of a “Physical Sky” plus Reflex camera
type control view points...
How does Next Limit expect to keep abreast, to be
always one step ahead and increasingly accurate
“to the next limit”, compared to competitors?
VG: That’s a good question, especially these days
when everybody seems to have fun copying us. I assume that’s part of the business, we are happy to be
innovators and we are always trying to push the limits.
We stick to the trail of hard science and our team is a
talented group of physicists, mathematicians and software engineers, so this is our first weapon. If we have
reached the limit we’ll just push for the next one.
Additionally, we are working on the marketing side of
things to establish long-term alliances and partnerships.
Again, the coherence of the Maxwell Render core and
the interrelation of all the elements behind the scenes
cannot be easily “captured” even if the concepts are
suddenly mimicked by third-party products.
- 11
NEWS
MAXWELL CONTEST RENDER
Il primo Maxwell Render Contest organizzato da Maxwell Render dot it in collaborazione con Next Limit ha come soggetto
la riproduzione nei minimi particolari di una scena di interno
arredata con almeno cinque oggetti d’arredo partendo da
un foto reale.
La scena di riferimento e la rispettiva foto e’ a libera scelta
del partecipante: parametro principale di giudizio sara’ sia la
corrispondenza del render con la fotografia sia la complessita‘
della scena ripodotta e la quantita’ degli oggetti presenti.
Materiale da consegnare:
• Fotografia di riferimento della scena in formato jpg 800x600 +
Render originale di Maxwell in formato jpg 800x600 + eventuale render con postproduzione in formato jpg 800x600.
• Scena in formato mxs
• Render in formato mxi multilight
• Tutti i materiali della scena in formato mxm
Premi:
1° classificato: 1 iPod nano 2 Gb + Maxwell Package + Maxwell
Shirt and Cap
2° classificato: 1 iPod shuffle 1 Gb + Maxwell Package + Maxwell Shirt and Cap
3° classificato: Maxwell Package + Maxwell Shirt and Cap
4° - 10° classificato: Maxwell Cap
The first Maxwell Render Contest, held by Maxwell Render dot
it in coop with Next Limit has, as main goal, an highly detailed
interior scene with at least five furniture objects (starting from
a real picture).
The choice of scene and reference is freely left to participants:
the main judging parameters will be the photo matching, the
scene complexity and the number of present objects.
Requirements:
• Scene image (800x600 pixel jpg format) + Original Maxwell
Render image (800x600 pixel jpg) + Optional Render image
with postproduction (800x600 pixel jpg)
• MXS scene
• Multilight render (.MXI)
• All of scene materials in .MXM format (included texture and
.IOR files)
• Authorization for using the scene as advertising (for brochures, free scenes download, etc.): the submitted work might be
used by maxwellrender.it and Next Limit Technologies for promotional purposes
Prizes:
First prize: 1 iPod nano 2 Gb + Maxwell Package + Maxwell Shirt
and Cap
Second prize: 1 iPod shuffle 1 Gb + Maxwell Package + Maxwell Shirt and Cap
Third prize: Maxwell Package + Maxwell Shirt and Cap
4° - 10° prize: Maxwell Cap
Image Reference
NEWS
2006
Maxwell Render
Final Image Postprocessed
1# Tim Ellis
2# Sandykoufax
3# SunlightRocker
NEWS
MAXWELL CONTEST RENDER
Scherza Gaetano
Dominik Urban
Frank Farget
14 - Maxwell
Henny Charlie
Magazine
NEWS
2006
Patrick Panda
- 15
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
The TELECINE SUITE
Scene creation tutorial
Tim Ellis 2006
Tools used in this tutorial
• Digital camera
• Tape measure
• Blender 3D 2.42
• Photoshop 7
• 3D Studio Max 7
• Maxwell Render V1.1
Due to the large number of objects in the scene, I won’t be explaining how to model everything.
This tutorial will refer back to anything already covered, to save repeating the same methods again and again.
For example, the material creation and assignment, is only explained once, but is referred to throughout the tutorial. Text will refer to the image immediately below it.
Photograph of the suite:
16 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Resources preparation
After taking the photo above, I approximated the camera position in the room, to aid camera match reference
later.
Next I measured all the objects in the room and the room’s dimensions. For ease of modeling in Blender, I measured everything in mm, cm & m.
As I needed to recreate the materials, I took close up photographs of the door, carpet, camera sheets and both
of the chair fabrics.
I also took non-flash photographs of each computer screen and the waveform monitors, to use as MXI emitters
later.
All of the other materials will be created using BSDF layers, in Maxwell Studio.
First part of the tutorial: Modeling with Blender.
Preparation
First we need to set up Blender so we can model to scale accurately, so when we export the scene, the scale
will be correct in Maxwell Studio.
Start Blender 3D. We will use the default scene as our base file, so first select and delete the default cube.
Next press F2 to ‘Save the file as’ and name the file appropriately.
Now we need to split the viewports to make things easier.
Hold the mouse over the thin bar between the bottom header of the 3D viewport and the top header of the
buttons window.
The up down cursor will show if you’re in the right spot. Press the middle mouse button and select ‘Split area’.
Move the mouse to the middle of the 3D viewport and press the left mouse button. You will now have two 3D
viewports.
- 17
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Click the view button in the right hand 3D window and select view properties. The view properties dialogue will
open.
18 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
We need to change the grid spacing in the view properties to 0.5.
This will make each grid square equal to 50cm and any cubes we add will measure 1m x1m x1m, when exported
as a .OBJ file.
Note:- You might need to install Python 2.4 for the .OBJ export script to work, but the standard Blender install
should be okay.
Repeat the same for the left hand viewport and press CTRL+W & confirm ‘Save over’.
Now we will set up our base scale cube.
With your mouse cursor over the left viewport, press Number pad 3 to change the view to left.
Now move your cursor back to the right viewport, which should already be in top view. (Num-pad 7).
Press the space bar and Add>Mesh>Cube.
Check the ‘Limit selection to visible’ is turned off for both viewports.
Note:- This option will only appear in shaded view modes. Press Z with the mouse cursor over a viewport to cycle
through the display modes.
Press G to grab the verts and holding CTRL move the mouse so the bottom left verts of the cube are at 0,0 (X,Y)
and left mouse click to confirm.
Now move the mouse cursor back to the left viewport and press G again. Hold CTRL and move the mouse so the
bottom left verts of the cube, are at 0,0 (Y,Z).
Holding CTRL whilst transforming, will allow you to move only in whole units, whilst holding SHIFT, will allow you
- 19
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
precise movement.
Your cube should be in the same position as shown below. The 3D cursor is at 0,0,0 (X,Y,Z).
Lastly press N to open the Transform dialogue, which we shall use to set measurements accurately.
I’ll refer to this cube as the ‘Base Scale Cube” during the Blender section of this tutorial.
Save the file with CTRL+W.
20 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Modeling the room
Lets start with the room walls, ceiling and floor. The room measures 5.49m x 3.78m x 2.22m.
Exit vertex edit mode for the cube by pressing the TAB key. Now press SHIFT+D to duplicate the cube.
Right click to cancel the transformation and re-press TAB to enter edit mode for the new cube.
Duplicating the cube each time we want to make a new object, means we don’t need to set up a new one
each time, to maintain accurate measurements.
Press A to deselect all verts and in the right viewport, press B to open the select tool. Left click and drag to select
the top verts.
Hold SHIFT and left click the Median Y numeric in the transform properties dialogue. Enter 5.49 and press enter.
Press A to deselct all verts, press B to select the right hand verts as before.
Hold SHIFT and left click the Median X numeric in the transform properties dialogue. Enter 3.78 and press enter.
In the left hand viewport, press A to deselect all verts and again use B to select the top verts as before.
Hold SHIFT and left click the Median Z numeric in the transform properties dialogue. Enter 2.22 and press enter.
- 21
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Your cube should now look like this:
We need to flip the face normals as everything in the scene will be contained inside this cube. Select all verts by
pressing A twice.
Press W to open the mesh tools menu and select ‘Flip normals’.
In the left viewport, press A to deselect all verts and use B to reselect the top verts & face of the cube.
Press X and select ‘Only Faces’ from the erase menu. Press TAB to exit vertex edit mode and CTRL+W to save the
file.
This is the basis for creating all the cube type objects in the scene, to the correct dimensions.
22 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
The ceiling
Press Z to swap to wireframe view mode and right click the Base Scale Cube, to select it. SHIFT+D to duplicate the
cube and right click to cancel the transformation.
Enter vertex edit mode (TAB) and set the dimensions of the cube in the same way as before, but to 0.5m x 0.5m
x 0.02m (X,Y,Z). This will be our base ceiling tile.
Exit vertex edit mode and press G in the left viewport. Constrain the transformation to the Z axis, by pressing Z.
Move the tile so it’s top edge lines up with the wall’s top edge.
In the right hand viewport, SHIFT+D to duplicate the ceiling tile. Press X to constrain movement to the X axis and
hold CTRL while draging the mouse.
Position the new tile next to the old one, 0.6000 along the X axis, to leave an adequate gap for the batons that
support the tiles.
Note:- The header bar at the bottom of the viewports, will show any transformation values made. X,Y,Z format.
- 23
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Repeat across the whole ceiling in the X direction. Once completed use B in the left viewport and select all the
tiles.
Return to the right viewport and SHIFT+D to duplicate, then press Y to constrain movement to the Y axis. I’ve moved them by 0.5262.
24 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Repeat to cover the whole ceiling.
Reselect the first tile and duplicate it again with SHIFT+D. Position the new tile so it’s center is between the first two
tiles. Left click to confirm the transformation.
- 25
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Using S to scale, constrain the scaling to the X axis first by pressing X. Scale the tile so it’s just wider than the gap
we left, between the tiles.
Repeat the scaling for the Y axis, making the tile long enough to cover the whole ceiling. Use G to transform the
object so it is correctly positioned.
I’ve dropped it slightly in the Z axis, to give the impression of the baton supporting the tiles.
26 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Duplicate the baton using SHIFT+D and transform (G) in the X axis. Repeat for all the gaps in the tiles.
Reselect the first baton with the right mouse button and duplicate it again.
Press R to rotate and hold CTRL whilst dragging the mouse, so the baton is rotated 90’.
- 27
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Transform this baton and duplicate it, to cover the tile gaps we left.
Use the B select tool to select all the batons and all the tiles.
Note:- While using the B select tool, press B twice to open the circuler selection tool.
You will need to press B again for multiple de/selections when using the rectangular selection tool.
28 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Press CTRL+J to join all the objects together, so we have one object for the whole ceiling.
Press F9 to open the Edit buttons for the mesh. Left click the name box.
- 29
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Change the name to ‘batons & tiles’ and click the ‘Set smooth’, button to smooth the mesh.
Note:- I will refer back to this method throughout the tutorial, as ‘rename the object’ and ‘set the mesh
smooth’.
Now we will assign a material to the object. Press F5 to open the shading buttons and press the ‘Add new’ button.
30 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Left click the material name box and change to ‘batons & tiles’.
Note:- I will refer back to this method throughout the tutorial as ‘assign a new material’.
Note: As Blender materials will not import into Maxwell Studio, there is no need to set up the materials, except for
changing the name.
When we export the model from Blender, the method we will use, will retain the material and object names to
facilitate the material assignments in Studio.
In some cases for pre-viz in Blender we will change the colour swatch box, to match the material colour in the
photo for that object.
- 31
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Ceiling lights
We’ll start with the recessed strip lights in the ceiling.
Enter vertex edit mode for the batons & tiles object, by pressing TAB.
Press A to deselect all verts and place your mouse cursor over the 4th tile along the X and Y axis.
Now press L to select that tile. If you don’t get the right tile straight away, deselect with A and try again.
Now press P and confirm Separate Selected. Press TAB to exit vetex edit mode for the batons and right click the
tile we have just separated.
We are going to use this tile as the base for the ceiling strip lights. Press TAB to enter vertex edit mode for the tile
and press A to deselect all verts.
In the left hand viewport, select the bottom verts using the B tool. Press X and choose ‘Only Faces’ from the erase
menu.
32 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Press A twice to deselect & then select all the verts. Press W and choose ‘Flip normals’.
Use the B select tool and drag with the middle mouse button pressed, to deselect the bottom verts.
Press G and transform the top verts along the Z axis, to give the light fitting some depth. I held CTRL and moved
the verts 0.100 along the Z axis.
Now we need to snap the 3D cursor, which Blender uses for creation of new objects, to these selected verts.
Do so by pressing SHIFT+S and choosing ‘Cursor to selection’, from the snap menu.
- 33
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Now press the Spacebar and add a Tube, change the number of verts to 6 and confirm.
Press S to scale the tube. As before hold CTRL and scale down to 0.1000. Left click to confirm and press S again.
This time hold CTRL and scale to 0.5000.
In the top viewport, scale the tube along the X axis, so it fits into the fixture.
Use G to transform the position to the center of the fitting, as in the left view of the image below.
34 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Next duplicate the tube using SHIFT+D. Whilst transforming, hold CTRL and move the new tube 1.000 along the Y
axis. Repeat so we have five tubes, which will be used as the fluorescent emitters later.
We can now separate the emitters from the main light fitting and assign a new material for them.
Hold your mouse over each of the tubes and press L to select alike verts. Press P and confirm ‘Separate selected’.
Exit edit mode for the light fitting (TAB) and select the tubes.
Assign a new material called ‘lite-strips-1’. Press F9 to open the Edit buttons, rename the object ‘light-strips1’ and
set the mesh smooth.
- 35
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Reselect the light fitting and create and assign a new material called ‘lite-reflector’. Then re-enter vertex edit
mode.
We’ll use a tube again to create the reflector sections. Press Spacebar>Add>Tube change number of verts to 7.
Scale the tube by 0.1000 and then rotate it by 6.75’ to make the bottom edge parallel to the Y axis.
Hold SHIFT whilst transforming, to move in tiny increments.
Select the bottom four verts and delete them. Re-select all verts in the tube and transform the tube along the Z
axis, so it is inside the fitting.
36 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Next duplicate the tubes as we did for the emitter tubes. transform by 1.000 alaong the Y axis as before.
Select all the tubes using the L key, with your mouse over each tube.
Scale along the X axis in the top viewport, again so that the tubes are still inside the fitting.
We need these tubes to relfect light on the sides facing the emitter faces, so press W and ‘Flip Normals’.
Then rename the object as ‘light-fitting1’ and set the faces to smooth shading as before, in the Edit buttons.
Use B select tool and the middle mouse button to deselect the top row of verts.
Duplicate the remainder in the Top viewport and rotate them by 90’.
Scale along each axis so the tubes fit inside the fitting, then transform them along the Z axis, so they don’t intersect the emitters
- 37
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Exit vertex edit mode for the fitting and hold SHIFT and select the emitter tubes.
SHIFT+D to duplicate the light and transform it three tiles along the Y axis and one tile along the X axis.
Select the Batons & tiles mesh and enter vertex edit mode. Use the L key with the mouse over the tile which needs
to be removed for the light fitting.
Then delete these verts using X.
38 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Now select the ceiling tile to the right of the first light fitting we created.
Snap the cursor to the verts in this tile and exit vertex edit mode with TAB.
Round lights
We will create the round lights by extruding a circle.
In the top viewport, press Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Circle. Change the number of verts to 16 and confirm.
- 39
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Using the left viewport, transform the verts along the Z axis, so they are positioned just inside the bottom face of
the tile.
Next using the top viewport, scale the verts to 0.1000.
Place the mouse cursor over the left viewport, press E and confirm ‘Extrude Only Edges’.
Press Z to constrain movement to the Z axis and move by -0.0200.
Extrude again and right click to cancel the transformation. Press S and scale by 0.9700.
Press G and transform by -0.0007 in the Z axis. This will give a nice beveled edge.
40 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Extrude and scale again by 0.600. Extrude again, then scale by 0.9700 and transform by 0.0007 along the Z axis.
Make a final extrusion 0.100 along the Z axis. Select all verts with A and CTRL+N to re-calculate the face normals.
This is the outer casing.
In the left viewport press and hold CTRL+ALT, position the mouse cursor so it’s over the edge of the innermost
faces and right click.
- 41
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
This should select the edge loop that runs round the inside. Duplicate it and right click to cancel the transformation.
Press W and ‘Select swap’, then press H to hide the selected verts. Next use the B tool to select the bottom row
of verts.
Extrude these verts and scale by 0.9700, then transform along the Z axis by -0.0007. Extrude and scale again by
0.5000.
Use the same method we used for the outer casing, to extrude the inner section of the inner casing.
42 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Use the B select tool in the top vewport, to select the inner verts. Scale them along the X axis by 1.500 and by
0.700 along the Y axis.
Select all verts and recalculate the face normals. Press ALT+H to unhide the other verts. Rename the object as
round-lite and set the mesh smooth.
Exit vertex edit mode for the mesh, create and assign a material called ‘round-lite’ and rename the mesh.
The last things we need to do before duplicating the mesh, are to add an emitter plane and set up the lamp
rotation.
In the top viewport, press Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Plane. Scale so it fits inside the opening we’ve left in the inner
light casing.
Press W and ‘Flip Normals’ so that the light will be emitted in the correct direction.
- 43
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Exit vertex edit mode and transform the plane along the Z axis, so it’s positioned inside the inner casing.
Assign it a new material and name the object.
Next re-select the light casing and open the Edit buttons (F9). Add a Subsurf modifer, reduce the render levels to
1 and turn on Optimal Draw.
44 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Enter vertex edit mode for the casing. In top viewport select the inner casing verts. (Deselect all with A, then hold
mouse over inner verts & press L.)
Rotate these verts by -90’. Switch to the left viewport and rotate by 10’ and exit edit mode.
Select the emitter plane and rotate this 10’ in the left viewport, to match the casing rotation.
- 45
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
In top view, select both the casing and the emitter plane and duplicate them.
Transform them to match the positions in the following image. You can rotate each lamp so the light beam will
point where you want it to go.
46 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Black and white strip lights.
We will create these lights from a cube. We’ll start with the white strip light.
In the top viewport, left click outside the room, to move the 3D cursor. Select the base scale cube we created
first and duplicate it.
Snap the object to the 3D cursor using SHIFT+S. Enter vertex edit mode for the cube.
Use the methods we used earlier to create the room and apply them here, to make the cube 6cm x 6cm x
125cm. Pressing N will reopen the transform dialogue, for the viewport your mouse is above.
- 47
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Select all verts using A, press W, select ‘Bevel’ and confirm 1 recursion.
Adjust the bevel with the mouse and confirm with a left click.
In the left viewport, press A to deselect all verts and use the B select tool to select the bottom left verts.
48 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Press E to extrude this face and confirm ‘Extrude Region’. Hold CTRL and extrude to 0.0500, left click to confirm.
Extrude again but this time to 0.010. Deselect using A and use B to select the bottom right verts.
- 49
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Extrude this face to 0.0700
We need to bevel the edges of the new section. In top view press K to open the Knife tools.
Choose ‘Loop cut’ and confirm the faces to cut. (The purple line shows which faces will be cut.)
Hold CTRL whilst moving the cut position and cut at 0.0000.
50 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Repeat the process to add a new edge loop at each end of the new section.
I’ve cut the two new loops at 0.98000 & -0.98000. (Highlighted yellow in the image below.)
Select all verts, press CTRL+N to recalulate the face normals outside and set the mesh smooth.
Snap the 3D cursor to the selected verts with SHIFT+S.
Rename the object ‘strip-lite1’, assign a new material and exit vertex edit mode for the object.
In the left viewport, press Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Tube and change the number of verts to 6.
Scale and transform the tube so it fits the light casing.
Next we will cap the ends of the tube. Press A to deselect all verts and use the B tool to select the verts at one
end of the tube.
Extrude these verts but cancel the transformation by right clicking. Then press ALT+M and confirm merge at center. Confirm the number of verts removed.
- 51
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Repeat for the other end of the tube. Select all verts, recalculate the normals and set the mesh smooth.
Rename the object and assign a new material, ‘strip-lite1-emitter’. Exit vertex edit mode.
Note:- Do not be concerned about using triangular faces, as all the mesh objects will be triangulated when we
export the mesh to Maxwell Studio.
Select the emitter tube and the casing. transform to match the position in the image below, using G and R.
Next we’ll model the black strip light.
Duplicate the base scale cube and snap it to the 3D cursor, as we did for the white strip light.
In the same way as before, make the cube 6cm x 6cm x 125cm.
Once completed we will subdivide the cube. Select all verts and press W.
Choose ‘Subdivide Multi’, confirm Number of cuts = 2.
52 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
In the left viewport, deselect all verts with A, use the B tool and select the two inner edge loops along the Y
axis.
Scale these along the Y axis to 2.2000. (S, Y, hold CTRL)
Repeat for the two inner edge loops along the Z axis.
Scale these to 2.6000 constrained to the Z axis. (S, Z, hold CTRL)
- 53
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Deselect all and use the B tool to select the bottom
left verts.
Extrude the faces to 0.1200, then scale them constrained to the Y axis, by 0.500.
Repeat for the bottom right verts.
In the top viewport, deselect all verts and use the B tool, to select the inner edge loops.
Scale these constrained to the X axis to 2.9600. (S, X, Hold ALT)
54 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Next we need to add another edge loop. Press
K to open the knife tool menu and select ‘Loop
Cut’.
Make the cut inbetween the far right pair of edge loops at -0.9000.
Repeat for the other
end of the mesh.
We need two more edge loops next, but this time we’ll use a slightly different method.
Select all verts by pressing A twice. In the left viewport, press K to open the
knife menu and choose ‘Knife Exact’.
- 55
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Left click the knife near the top of the extruded section and move the mouse across to the right.
Try and make the line as horizontal as possible and left
click on the right hand side of the mesh.
The thin horizontal yellow line in the image below,
is the visual representation of where the cut will be
made.
Then press Enter to confirm the cut.
In the top viewport, select the end verts on the right of the mesh. Then press
the . key on the number pad, to zero the viewport to the selection.
Hold the middle mouse button (depress the scroll wheel if no MMB.) and
move the mouse so you will be able to select the inner verts as shown below.
If you’ve selected the correct four verts, the face will turn light purple.
56 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Extrude this face by 0.0200 along the Y axis.
Deselect the top verts with B and middle mouse button. Press G, then Y to move the bottom verts along
the Y axis by 0.0172.
Repeat this for the other three matching mesh sections.
- 57
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Select all verts and recalculate the face normals, then set the mesh smooth. Snap the 3D cursor to the selected
verts and exit vertex edit mode.
Rename the object ‘black-striplite’ and assign a new material.
Select and duplicate the emitter tube we made for the white strip light.
Snap it to the 3D cursor and change the right hand viewport back to top view, by pressing number pad 7.
(SHIFT+D, RMB, SHIFT+S)
Transform the emitter tube to fit the casing, using G and R.
Rename this emitter tube ‘strip-lite2-emitter’. In the material buttons (F4), press the number 2 to the right of the
material name, to make it a single user material.
Rename it to match the object name.
58 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Next select both the casing and the emitter tube and transform them to match the image below
- 59
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
The curtain.
This is potentially the hardest object to model, in the whole scene.
However the method I used is very simple and won’t involve time consuming cloth simulations.
In the top viewport, left click outside the left hand wall of the room, to position the 3D cursor.
Press Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Plane. Delete the two verts on the right hand side.
You might find it useful to turn off the 3D transform manipulator, as it
can obscure the mesh sections we’re working on.
Just click the little hand icon in the viewport header to toggle the
manipulator.
Note:- If you’ve been using the manipulator to move, rotate & scale, use the G, R & S keys instead
60 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
epeat until the mesh is approximately as long as the
room.
I’ve also scaled my mesh along the Y axis, to bring
the folds a bit closer together.
Maxwell
- 61
Magazine
Carry on working along the Y axis. You can select all
the verts, duplicate them and move them along the
Y axis to save some time.
Just remember to create an edge between the originals and the duplicated verts, to continue the mesh.
MAXWELL AREA
With all the verts selected, extrude them along the X
axis by 0.0100.
With the mouse cursor over the top viewport, press
number pad 1 to switch to front view.
Select all verts and extrude along the Z axis by
0.0500.
Scale these extruded verts constrained to the X axis
by 0.900 and move them along the X axis, so the left
hand edge is vertical.
Extrude these verts again, constraining the transform
to the Z axis by -0.0018
Scale again, constrained to the X axis and then realign the left hand edge to the vertical.
Extrude again along the Z axis by -0.0200.
Extrude again along the Z axis by -0.0018, then scale along the X axis and re-align the left hand edge.
62 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Repeat the extrusion, with an X axis scale of 1.1000
and re-align the left hand edge.
Maxwell
- 63
Magazine
Extrude again along the Z axis, this time by -1.0000.
Scale by 1.500 along the X axis and re-align the left
hand edge, as before.
MAXWELL AREA
Select all verts and recalculate the face normals. Rename the object and assign a new material.
Exit vertex edit mode and set the mesh smooth.
Press number pad 3 to switch to side view. We can see that the curtain’s folds are quite regular, so we will increase
the irregularities next.
Re-enter vertex edit mode for the curtain object.
Deselect all verts with the A key. In the left hand viewport, press Spacebar>Select>Random.
Change Percentage to 5 and confirm.
64 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Use the scale and move transforms, to position these selected verts. Repeat as required.
Cut a new Edge loop 0.90000 above the bottom row of verts, to help the sub-surf calculation.
Add a subsurf modifer in the Edit buttons, turn on Optimal Draw and reduce the Render Levels to 1.
- 65
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Next we need to bend the curtain to match the
room.
Exit vertex edit mode for the curtain.
Switch back to top view and with the mouse pointer
over the viewport, press Spacebar>Add>Curve>Bezi
er Curve.
66 - Maxwell
Rotate the curve by 90’
and scale constrained to
the X axis. Hold CTRL and
scale to 0.0000
Press A to deselect all and
reselect the bottom control point.
Transform this along the Y
axis, so it reaches the end
of the curtain mesh.
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Open the Edit buttons for the curve (F9) and switch on the 3D button.
Select all the control points in the viewport and press W. Choose ‘Switch direction’.
Exit edit mode for the Curve and enter vertex edit mode for the curtain.
Select all verts and align the top corner to the 3D cursor
- 67
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Exit vertex edit mode and select both the curtain and
the curve.
Right click the curtain first, then hold SHIFT and right
click the Curve.
Press CTRL+A to apply any transformations applied to
the objects.
We now parent the curtain to the curve using the deform function.
Press CTRL+P and choose Curve Deform from the
menu.
Align the two objects, so they are inside the room parallel to the wall.
Press TAB to enter edit mode for the curve. Moving either
of the control points will deform the curtain.
You can add more control points by selecting two or
more adjacent points and pressing W. Choose ‘Sub-divide’ and confirm.
Position the control points, so the curtain follows the
wall.
68 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
If the curtain becomes too long, select it and enter
vertex edit mode.
Switch the ‘Transform around pivot’ to the 3D cursor.
To make things visually simpler, let’s move the curtain
to it’s own layer. Select it and press M.
The layer menu opens and press the second layer
button and OK.
To view this layer, press number 2. To view it with layer
1, hold SHIFT and press 2.
Note:- You can only move objects to different layers,
in Object mode. In Vertex edit mode, M = mirror tool.
Then scale constrained to the Y axis. Exit vertex edit
mode to see if you’ve scaled it correctly. Adjust again
if neccesary.
The Desk.
Select and duplicate the base scale cube.
As before set the dimensions to 111.5cm x 380cm x 62cm. This will be the width and height we need to set the
desk top.
Rename the object ‘desk-scale-cube’.
- 69
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Exit edit mode, select and duplicate the base scale cube again.
As before set the dimensions to 213cm x 370cm x 9cm.
In the left viewport. select all the verts and move them so the bottom face of the desk is aligned with the top
face of the cube.
70 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Bevel to 0.0400 and confirm.
Maxwell
- 71
Magazine
Next bevel the cube. Press W and choose bevel. Set
Recursions to 2 and confirm
MAXWELL AREA
Next make several cuts on the Y axis edges. Make one at Y=0.97, Y=1.18, Y=2.32 and Y=2.985.
Hold SHIFT whilst moving the mouse for small increments.
72 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Select the top right verts and move them along the X axis, so they line up with the edge of the 111.5cm wide
cube.
- 73
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Exit vertex edit mode and reselect the desk
scale cube. Change the X axis value for the
right hand side verts to 1.8700
Exit edit mode and reselect the desk.
Move the verts on the right at Y=1.18, at the bottom of the angled faces along the X axis, to match the desk scale cube.
Finally select the top right hand verts at Y=2.985 and move them
along the X axis to 1.080
Select all verts and set the mesh smooth. Assign a new material
and name the object. Exit vertex edit mode.
74 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Desk monitor housing.
Reselect the desk scale cube. Enter vertex edit mode and make the dimensions X=0.64 Y=2.985 Z=1.05.
We will also raise the bottom face of the cube to meet the top of the desk surface. Z=0.710
Switch the left viewport to front view by pressing number pad 1. Select the top right verts and move them along
the X axis to 0.510.
- 75
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Select all verts and bevel the cube using 1 recursion. (A, A, W, Bevel, LMB) Bevel to 0.005.
In the top viewport, cut an edge loop along the Y axis at Y=2.030.
Cut another edge loop along the Y axis at Y=1.017.
76 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Finally move the bottom verts up to Y=0.472.
Select the vertex on the far right of the top edge loop, using the right mouse button.
Snap the 3D cursor to this vertex and change the ‘Transform around’ to 3D cursor.
- 77
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Select the rest of the verts and rotate by -25’
Repeat for the last edge loop and rotate by -20’.
78 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Now we need to make a cut on each side of these
new edge loops and the existing ones.
Make each cut at 0.90000 from each edge loop.
Maxwell
- 79
Magazine
So now we have the basic beveled shape, we need
to make new edge loops to make the cube hollow.
In each case make cuts at the midway point for each
face loop.
Once you have chosen the face loop to cut, press P
to use the proportional knife tool, which will cut perpendicular angles between loops.
Pressing F will flip the active loop allowing you to use
the perpendicular knife, if it doesn’t show initially
MAXWELL AREA
Now we need to make a cut on each side of these
new edge loops and the existing ones.
Make each cut at 0.90000 from each edge loop.
Extrude these faces inside the cube by 0.40000
Note:- Extrude in pairs rather than all together. This will
retain the face normal direction, for the extrusion direction.
Select the front faces as shown below.
Switch the viewport back to ‘Vertex select mode’.
Select all verts and recalculate the normals. Set the
mesh smooth, rename it and assign a new material.
80 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
In the top viewport select both the desk top and the desk mesh. Move them along the X axis by 0.2000 (20cm).
Switch to perspective shaded mode for the top viewport, by pressing number pad 5 and toggle Z.
Turn on any hidden layers, using SHIFT and a numeric key. (Not the number pad keys.)
Navigate the viewport using the middle mouse button and the scroll wheel. Your scene should look as the image
below.
- 81
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
As you can see we need to lift up the curtain for the left hand side of the desk.
Change the viewport back to wireframe mode, orthographic and front view. (Z, number pad 5, number pad
1.)
Select the curtain and switch to the Edit buttons (F9).
Press the ‘Make real’ button for the Curve parent deform modifier. Then Apply the modifier.
Lastly cancel the parent chain by pressing ALT+P and selecting ‘Clear and Keep Transformation’.
82 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Enter vertex edit mode for the curtain and deselect all verts with A. Press O to open the proportional editing tool
(soft selection).
Select a few of the verts at the bottom of the curtain, where the desk intersects them. Move them along the Z
axis.
Note: Change the area of influence by scrolling the mouse wheel, or using + & - on the number pad.
Select a few of the top right hand verts and move them along the X axis. This will make the bottom of the curtain
splay out.
Again adjust the proportional influence area to suit.
Switch off the proportional editing tool by pressing O and exit vertex edit mode for the curtain. Save the file with
CTRL+W.
- 83
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Desk supports.
Switch the right viewport back to top view, number pad 7.
Place the 3D cursor about 70cm in from the end of the desk.
Press Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Circle and confirm 16 verts.
Scale this circle to 0.5000 constrained along the Y axis. Next select the three verts at the far right hand side of the
circle.
Scale these to 0.0000 constrained along the X axis and repeat for the other end. Finally scale the whole circle by
0.7000.
84 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
witch the left viewport to side view, number pad 3.
Move the verts along the Z axis, so they touch the
bottom of the desk mesh.
Extrude the circle along the Z axis to -0.5500.
Extrude again along the Z axis to -0.0062. Extrude again
and scale to 0.9000. Repeat one more time.
Lastly, extrude again along the Z axis by -0.0062 and
then extrude again, down to the floor plane.
Select all the verts and recalculate the face normals.
In the top viewport, duplicate the verts and move them along the Y axis to -1.5000.
Exit vertex edit mode, set the mesh smooth, rename it and assign a new material.
- 85
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
The door and frame.
Select the room cube and enter vertex edit mode.
Use the knife tool to cut edge loops at X=2.37, X=3.60 & Z=2.02. Switch viewports to do the Z axis cut.
Change the top viewport to front view and switch to face select mode.
Select the face we’ve just created. In the side viewport extrude this to make the doorway.
86 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Snap the 3D cursor to the face and recalculate the face normals inside the mesh with CTRL+SHIFT+N. Exit vertex
edit mode.
In top view, duplicate the base scale cube and set it’s dimensions to 5cm deep along the X=0.77 Y=0.05
Z=1.995.
Align this to the doorway.
Bevel the cube with 1 recursion, to 0.002. Duplicate the cube and scale to fit the rest of the doorway.
Exit vertex edit mode for the door. Rename the object, set the mesh smooth and assign a new material.
- 87
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Next the frame work.
In top view, duplicate the base scale cube and set it’s dimensions to X=0.05 Y=0.05 Z=2.06.
Align this to the edge of the door frame.
In front view create a mitre edge to the top left corner of the cube, by lowering the top left verts to Z=2.02.
88 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Switch to top view, select the left hand verts of the frame mesh. Scale constrained to the Y axis to 0.700.
Align the frame so it’s midway through the wall face.
Switch back to front view and select just the top four verts. Duplicate these and move them along the X axis by
-0.0010.
Extrude this face across the whole doorway and flip it by pressing the M key and choosing X Global.
Realign the verts to the doorway.
- 89
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Select all the faces connected to these, by pressing L with the mouse over the verts.
Snap the 3D cursor to these verts and deselect them with A.
Select the right hand frame with L and duplicate it. Cancel the transformation by right clicking.
Change the rotation/scaling pivot to the 3D cursor, press M and select X Global, to mirror the object.
Select all verts and recalculate the face normals outside. Set the mesh smooth and rename the object.
Create and assign a new material and exit vertex edit mode.
90 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Television monitors
All of the tv monitors and computer monitors, were created from duplicates of the base scale cube.
I’m only going to explain how to create one of the small television monitors.
However the other monitors can be created in the same way.
Duplicate the base scale cube and set the dimensions to X=0.42 Y=0.46 Z=0.26
Select all verts and press W. Choose Subdivide Multi and confirm 2 divisions.
Lets give ourselves some room. Exit edit mode and press M. Choose a new layer for the object, I’ll use layer 4.
Press the number of that layer to hide the others, in this case 4.
You can also use the layer buttons in the header bar of the 3D viewport.
Return to vertex edit mode for the tv cube, so we can make some edge loops to refine the edges and corners
of the monitor.
In each case make a loop cut at 0.9000 to each outer edge.
- 91
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Next in front view, cut two new loops for the outer edges of the screen along the X axis. Midway on each loop
should be fine.
Cut two more along the Z axis.
Cut two more edge loops at 0.90000 either side of each X axis cut we’ve just made.
92 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Deselect all verts and use the B tool to select the verts shown in the image below.
In the top view, deselect the rear verts using the B tool and extrude the front faces back into the tv casing.
Make the first extrusion -0.0010 and the second -0.0100.
Scale the faces slightly to give an angle around the edge of the screen.
Press Y to split these faces from the rest of the mesh. Using the B tool, deselect all verts except the center section.
Move these along the Y axis by 0.0020 to give the screen surface a slight curve.
- 93
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Set the mesh smooth, add a sub-surf modifier and rename the mesh in the Edit buttons. Create and assign a new
material.
As this mesh will have several materials applied to it, we need to add them in the edit buttons.
We need five materials, so press the ‘New’ button to create five.
At the moment, each material in the index refers back to the first material in the index stack.
So we need to make each material a single user. Open the material buttons (F4) and press the ‘Make single user’
button.
Increase the material index number to make the remaining materials, also single users. Rename each one accordingly.
1.TVgrey, 2.TVblack, 3.TVscreen, 4.Tvwhite, 5.Tvdarkgrey. Change the colour swatch respectively for each colour.
94 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Now we need to assign each material to the correct sections of the mesh.
Deselect all verts and hold the mouse over the screen section of the mesh. Press L and go back to the edit buttons.
Change the index number so the material displayed is TVscreen. Now press Assign to assign that material to the
selected faces.
Hold CTRL+ALT and right click the face loop that surrounds the screen section. Assign the Tvblack material, in the
same way.
- 95
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
The front section is dark grey so select that material in the index. Select the screen verts and hide them. (A, L, H)
In the top view, press A twice and deselect all verts except for the front two edge loops, using the B tool.
Change the material index to 2.Tvblack and press the ‘Deselect’ button.
Change the material index to 5.Tvdarkgrey and press the ‘Assign’ button.
96 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Next add an edge loop to refine the edge of the dark grey area.
Press K and cut a loop 0.90000 from the dark grey edge.
The buttons are mostly cubes, so select one of the verts on the front of the tv.
Snap the 3D cursor to this vertex. In front view, Add>Cube and press W. Choose sub divide multi 2 and scale the
cube.
- 97
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Duplicate the cube for the other buttons, scaling where neccesary and transform their positions with G.
Assign the Tvgrey material to all the buttons.
The knobs are created from circles. In front view, Add>Circle change the number of verts to 8 and confirm.
In side view, scale the circle and extrude it along the Y axis by -0.0040.
98 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Extrude again in the Y axis by -0.0005. Extrude again and scale by 0.7000 and move along the Y axis by -0.002.
Extrude along the Y axis by -0.0005, then extrude again by -0.015 and one more time by -0.004.
Extrude again and scale to 0.9000. Extrude a final time and right click to cancel the transform. Press ALT+M and
merge at the center.
Select all verts in the knob with L and CTRL+N to recalc the face normals.
Set the mesh smooth in the Edit buttons and assign the Tvblack material to the verts.
- 99
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Duplicate the knob and transform as required.
Select one of the knobs and duplicate it. Move it to
the base of the tv casing and rotate it by -90’.
Reduce the scale along the Z axis by 0.700.
In top view, duplicate the knob for each corner of the casing.
100 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
In the front view, place the 3D cursor below the knobs, Add>Circle and confirm 8 verts.
Scale this to 0.100 and again to 0.100. Scale a final time to 0.500.
Maxwell
- 101
Magazine
In top view, extrude along the Y axis by -0.0250. Extrude again along the Y axis by -0.0050, then rotate
by -45’.
Extrude by 0.015 along the X axis and scale to 0.0000
constrained to the X axis.
Snap the 3D cursor to the verts and change ‘Rotation/scaling around pivot’ to 3D cursor.
MAXWELL AREA
Select connected verts with CTRL+L and duplicate the mesh.
Cancel the transform and press M. Choose X Global to mirror the mesh, press W and choose ‘Flip normals’.
Select only the verts at the 3D cursor and press W. Choose Remove Doubles and confirm 8 verts removed.
Select the connected verts with CTRL+L and switch to front view.
Position the handle and duplicate it for the other side of the screen.
102 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Reveal any hidden verts with ALT+H and exit vertex edit mode.
All of the rack mounted objects and the other objects, were created using the same methods used here.
Instead of explaining how to create each one, here are the wire frame screen shots, which show where I’ve cut
edge loops etc.
- 103
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
TV monitors.
Rack mounted Kodak box and switcher panel.
104 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Small TV monitor.
Rack mounted Large TV monitor control panel.
- 105
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Rack mounted Waveform monitors.
Rack mounted Audio control panel.
106 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Da Vinci control surface.
Sting control surface.
- 107
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
A4 folder & paper.
Telephone.
108 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
This is the method for creating the coiled phone cable.
Change a viewport to front view and press CTRL+C to center the 3D cursor, then press C to center the camera.
Press Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Circle change the number of verts to 8 and confirm.
Scale the circle to 0.1000, then scale again to 0.1000 and one more time to 0.3000.
Move the circle by 0.0050 along the X axis, then select one vertex with the right mouse button.
Duplicate this and snap it to the 3D cursor. Extrude this vertex along the Z axis by 0.0050.
- 109
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Note:- The size of the circle represents the thickness of the wire.
The distance of the circle from the Zero crossing point, represents the coil radius.
The height of the extruded vertex from the zero crossing point, represents the distance between coils.
Open the Edit buttons with F9. In the ‘Mesh Tools’ section, change the steps to 8 and the Turns to 120.
Press the Screw button and click in the front viewport. In a few seconds you should have a coil.
In top view, select and delete the verts in the center of the coil. Select all and set the mesh smooth.
110 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Rename the object, create and assign a new material.
To deform the coils, use the same method we used for the curtain. Parent the coil to a Bezier curve, using the
deform function.
Applying a sub-surf modifier to the coils, would help them to deform better, along the Bezier curve.
Exporting the objects.
In top view select the base scale cube and move it outside the room.
Select all objects by pressing A twice. Make sure all layers are visible.
Note: It’s very important that you don’t select the Blender camera to be exported.
If a Blender camera is selected and exported the scene scale will be incorrect. Use the B tool to deselect the
camera.
Set the .obj export options as follows and press OK.
In side view, rotate the objects by 90’.
We now need to export the scene again for the camera
match, in 3DStudio Max. Rotate the objects back -90’.
Now go to the File menu and select Export> Wavefront Scale all the objects by 100 and export an .obj. Change
the filename for this export. FilenameX100.obj will do.
(.obj)
Confirm a location to save the file and click ‘Save’. Keep all the export options the same as before. Save
the file and exit Blender.
We will keep the assigned filename.
Note: 3DStudio Max imports .obj files with a 0.01 scale value, hence the need to scale up by 100 before
export.
Second Part of the article on the next Maxwell Magazine.
- 111
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Making of Maxwell Interior Render
by Jeong-ho. Kim
1. Reference Image
Hello, My name is Jeong-ho.Kim from South Korea. I’ve participated Maxwell render contest with this scene. At
first, I chosen this my reference image which was found in someone’s blog.
This photo is lit by outside natural light from large window and I have only this one image so I don’t know the
shape of other sides. But I could guess there is a window at right front wall of image gather from right side of bed
is bright and bed pillar has specular. And I found that the opposite side is closed gather from wall with reflected
image of bed head plate.
112 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
2. Modeling
First of all, I made room with comparatively exact dimension with helping of background image in 3dsmax.
- 113
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
And made all furniture and objects with edit poly and
FFD and cross section modifier and etc. I arranged a
furniture in the backside of the room(A), That would
be reflected in the bed head-plate. And added two
dark colored boxes(B) in the right corner for the purpose that prevent backside of the right chair from lit
by bright wall.
114 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
3. Mapping and Materials
I made textures with splines and circles in the 3dsmax for similar to reference image.
the picture of the frame was made by splines and rendered in the 3dsmax and retouched in the photoshop.
- 115
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
The texture of chairs and curtain is made by edit with Reference image in photoshop
I added UVW mapping modifier to each object and made all materials with Maxwell MXM material in the material editor.
116 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Most of all materials had 2 BSDF layers but some has just one layer like white wall(231,231,231 lambertian).
- 117
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Right is the material of small sofa in the front of the camera.
118 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Pillow has weight map texture.
- 119
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Lampshade has additive blending mode.
120 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
Bedding has normal bump map which made in photoshop.
- 121
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
Bulb for toplight and stand has emitter material. They are small box objects.
At first set up an appropriate intense and adjust later.
122 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
4. export mxs file
Assign renderer and material editor with Maxwell and uncheck Rendered Frame window because we don’t
need it.
Uncheck ‘Launch render after saving MXS’ because I’d like to final adjust and render in the Maxwell studio and
press ‘Save MXS’ for assign the path of mxs file.
Now I assigned my viewport with camera view and press render button.
With information window, export would be completed.
- 123
Magazine
Maxwell
MAXWELL AREA
5. Making of background image
Launch Maxwell viewer and load image for background. Then adjust Intensity and save MXI file.
124 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
6. Rendering
Import MXS file in the Maxwell studio.
In the Sky option, change sky type to ‘Skydome’ and set the white color like 252.252.252 and set the intensity 30
which would be adjust with test render result.
Now change sky type to ‘MXI/HDR Map’ and assign ready-made MXI file and check Screen mapping option.
In the ‘Sky used in disabled channel’ option, set ‘Skydome’
Go to Render options panel, check ‘Enable Multilight’ and ‘Material ID’ and ‘Object ID’ channel.
.
Maxwell
- 125
Magazine
Select ‘3D’ button and change viewport to Camera view and press render button
MAXWELL AREA
When rendering is sone, change the bright level with slide bar and Save Image.
126 - Maxwell
Magazine
MAXWELL AREA
7. Post process
Launch Photoshop and load rendered image and Material ID or Object ID file which is rendered assigned folder.
Now select wall color by ‘color range’ menu and save selection.
Then load selection in the rendered image, adjust color level.
Jeong-ho. Kim
- 127
Magazine
Maxwell
MXM AREA
The Material Editor
by Tiziano
Premessa
Le onde elettromagnetiche interpretate in una frazione di secondo dal nostro cervello come colori e
luci sono il vero risultato della possibilità che abbiamo di vedere ciò che ci circonda.
Maxwell Render è il primo motore di render di tipo “unbiased” cioè non vi sono interpolazioni di sorta
per ottenere il render o immagine finale, utilizza equazioni della fisica e della matematica, per impressionare una pellicola virtuale che corrisponde all’immagine finale.
Le equazioni sono principalmente quelle di “Lambert”, quelle di “Fresnel” , quelle di “Abbe” e le funzioni BSDF.
L’equazione di “Fresnel” consente di definire materiali di tipo “plastico” cioè con riflessioni “non costanti” legate alla rugosità della superficie e ad uno speciale indice di riflessione (IOR). Ogni oggetto
ha principalmente due riflessioni diverse: riflessione frontale e riflessione a seconda dell’angolo di vista.
Con l’equazione di “Abbe” è possibile ricreare la dispersione della luce, in oggetti vetrosi.
Con l’quazione di “Lambert” è possibile definire oggetti completamente opachi, quindi non riflettenti.
Maxwell Render “simula” i materiali come nella realtà: vi è una suddivisione in sotto-strati chiamati
“Layers”.
L’insieme dei layers formano il nostro nuovo materiale con queste possibili caratteristiche: colore o immagine, riflessione, trasparenza, rugosità della superficie, microsolchi, basso/alto rilievo (effetto BUMP),
“Coating” (rivestimento di strato sottilissimo) e “SubSurface” (luce in parte assorbita).
Maxwell Render mette a disposizione dell’utente un insieme di materiali “reali” già pronti per l’uso
come: oro, alluminio, rame, diamante e molti altri: le vere caratteristiche del materiale come il colore,
la riflessione a seconda dell’angolo di vista, la trasparenza e altre informazioni fisico ottiche sono state
catturate da speciali strumenti di laboratorio e salvati in files con esensione .ior.
Altri motori di rendering hanno oggetti come: punto di luce, luce a spot, luce indiretta ecc... ecc...
Maxwell Render invece consente di utilizzare qualsiasi oggetto, come fonte di luce. Questo modo di
emettere luce è più realistico, perchè per esempio: una lampadina sappiamo che è formata da un
bulbo di vetro e da un filamento interno che se è incandescente emette luce. Uno speciale materiale
chiamato “Emitter”, viene assegnato all’oggetto che emetterà luce, l’oggetto a sua volta potrebbe
avere un suo materiale, maxwell render consente di unire il materiale dell’oggetto e l’emissione di
luce, avremo quindi i “materiali incandescenti”.
Lo strumento messo a disposizione dell’utente per definire i nuovi materiali o recuperare e modificare
materiali già definiti è il: “Maxwell Material Editor” o applicazione MXED
Tutte le opzioni del nostro nuovo materiale sono depositate in files con estensione .MXM ...
128 - Maxwell
Magazine
MXM AREA
In natura sappiamo che ogni superficie ha una propria rugosità o micro-imperfezioni, che se sono molto accentuate avremo oggetti opachi che non riflettono gli altri oggetti circostanti, come da figura in
alto a destra. Di conseguenza, come mostrato in figura a sinistra la luce seguirà direzioni casuali e in
tutte le direzioni o in modo meno uniforme. Vi sono comunque situazioni intermendie di rugosità in cui
la riflessione degli altri oggetti è più o meno visibile, tale effetto è chiamato “glossyness”.
Se la rugosità della superficie è nulla o molto molto bassa, avremo oggetti che riflettono sempre più
altri oggetti circostanti. La luce come mostrato in figura a sinistra potrà seguire una direzione più uniforme. Quanto la rugosità è nulla avremo oggetti che fungono da specchio, come da figura in alto a
destra. L’effetto glossyness e quello a specchio di una superficie sono legati dall’equazione di Fresnel,
riflessione non costante.
Quando la luce può attraversare un’oggetto in parte o completamente abbiamo oggetti trasparenti
o dielettrici come da figura a destra. La luce nell’attraversare l ‘oggetto cambia direzione, avremo
quindi il fenomeno chiamato “rifrazione”. Questa rifrazione è stata misurata da speciali strumenti che
ne hanno prodotto un indice chiamato “Indice di Rifrazione” in inglese “Index Of Refracion abbreviato
in IOR.
- 129
Magazine
Maxwell
MXM AREA
Maxwell Material Editor
Il Material Editor è disponibile in due moalità: Come applicazione indipendente o MXED (icona presente sul desktop) oppure all’interno dell’applicazione MAXWELL Studio. L’interfaccia utente è la medesima, e si presenta come da figura soprariportata.
130 - Maxwell
Magazine
MXM AREA
Prima di creare qualsiasi materiale, occorre configurare alcuni parametri che riguardano l’anteprima
del materiale: Facendo click con il pulsante destro del mouse e selezionando la voce del menu Set
preview options apparirà un piccola finestra dove è possibile impostare:
Quality factor immettere il valore più alto: 10
Bounce immettere un valore alto in caso di materiali trasparenti, altrimenti il valore 4 è sufficiente.
Scale indica la scala dell’anteprima normalmente 100%
Preview Engine RS0 Anteprima non fisicamente corretta
RS1 Utilizzo di Maxwell Render
N.B: Nella modalità RS0 alcuni tipi di layer o Emitter porebbero essere non reali, o non renderizzati (colore nero). E’ consigliabile utilizzare sempre RS1
Enable autopreview se abilitato mediante baffo di spunta, per ogni variazione al nostro material il Maxwell Material Editor mostrerà una nuova anteprima. È consigliabile non mettere il baffo di spunta, per
non perdere tempo.
Queste impostazioni possono essere di default da Maxwell Studio dal Menu Edit g Maxwell Preferences g Preview
I Layer/Strati del materiale
Ogni Materiale viene replicato da Maxwell Render come
nella realtà, suddividendolo in layer o strati.
Facendo click con il pulsante destro del mouse è possibile
selezionare questi tipi di layer:
- Basic Layer
- Emitter
- Coating
- SubSurface
Il solo layer Emitter è uno speciale materiale, che permette di attribuire ad un qualsiasi oggetto l’emissione di luce.
Non vi sono limiti sul numero totale di layer di tipo BSDF e/o
Coating, in questo modo, come si osserva anche dalla figura a fianco è possibile definire materiali molto complessi, vi sono comunque queste restrizioni:
Ogni layer BSDF può essere associato ad un solo layer di
tipo SubSurface
Un solo layer Emitter puo essere unito agli altri layer così da
creare i materiali incandescenti.
L’insieme dei Basic Layer forma il nostro nuovo materiale e
può essere memorizzato in files con estensione .MXM
- 131
Magazine
Maxwell
MXM AREA
132 - Maxwell
Magazine
MXM AREA
Il layer Basic
Il layer basic definisce il peso degli altri layers BSDF, Coating e SubSurface
Parametri:
[0..100,00] Peso / Percentuale di visibilità
Basic weight map [immagine] Immagine per peso/percentuale variabile
Il valore 100.0 significa layer completamente visibile il valore 0.0 significa annullare il layer.
E’ possibile inoltre associare un’immagine in modo da avere un peso variabile, che dipende dall’immagine stessa. L’immagine dovrà essere in scala di grigi o bianco/nero (no colori) con profondità di
colore a 24 bit (true color).
L’immagine applicata verrà così interpretata:
Colore nero: Colore bianco: Scala di grigi: peso = 0.0
peso = 100.0
peso da 0.0 a 100.0
Il valore numerico influenza i colori bianco e scala di grigi dell’immagine;
in questo caso il valore numerico è una percentuale.
Esempio:
Se imposto come valore numerico 80.0 e nell’immagine ho il colore bianco esso varrà come peso=80.0
mentre il nero varrà come peso=0.0 e la scala di grigi varierà da 0.0 a 80.0.
Quando utilizzeremo un’immagine come “peso variabile” a fianco del nome del layer apparirà la
lettera maiuscola “T”
Se il materiale ha un solo layer e il valore numerico sarà minore di 100.0 esso verrà sostituito internamente come valore = 100.0:
Il peso dei “layer” viene sempre normalizzato internamente da Maxwell, ciò significa che se ho 3 “layer
pesati” con valori del peso rispettivamente 40, 50, 70, il loro contributo non supererà mai il valore totale
100.0 dando luogo a effetti innaturali.
Il reale contributo sarà sostituito da maxwell stesso con i seguenti pesi: 25 / 31 / 44
(40+50+70=160: 40/160=25, 50/160=31, 70/160=44).
La somma dei pesi dei layer è sempre 100.0 (normalizzazione dei pesi).
L’utilizzo di un’immagine in bianco e nero consente inoltre di simulare l’effetto clipmap.
- 133
Magazine
Maxwell
MXM AREA
Per applicare un’immagine ad un parametro immettere il baffo di spunta e fare click sul quadratino
a scacchi.
Le immagini applicate possono essere colorate (profondità di colore: 24 bit) per i parametri Reflectance 0° Reflectance 90° e Transmittance, mentre per i parametri Roughness, Anisotropy, Angle e Bump,
le immagini dovranno essere in bianco/nero con profondità di colore a 24 bit.
** Per raggiungere maggior realismo è possibile utilizzare delle speciali immagini chiamate normal
map, sferetta con la scritta “N”, le quali contengono informazioni che riguardano le normali della superficie. Le normal map non sono immagini in scala di grigio, sono ricavate mediante appositi plug-in
di terze parti per software tipo Adobe Photoshop.
134 - Maxwell
Magazine
MXM AREA
Il layer BSDF
Il layer BSDF rappresenta lo strato di matriale che definisce il colore, la riflessione, la trasparenza, la rugosità, i
microsolchi e sua direzione e l’effetto alto/basso rilievo dell’oggetto.
Il layer può essere disabilitato facendo click sulla sferetta gialla.
Parametri:
BSDF Nome di default del layer
Material properties Proprietà del materiale
Reflectance (0°) [colore o immagine] Indica la riflessione vista frontalmente
Reflectance (90°) [colore o immagine] Indica la riflessione vista a seconda del
l’angolo di vista
Transmittance [colore o immagine] Indica il colore della della trasparenza
Attenuation distance [1,00 ... 999,00] [nm, um, mm, cm, dm, m]
Distanza della trasparenza
Ior Custom Nd [1.0 ... 1000.00] Indice di riflessione (materiali plastici)
Indice di rifrazione (materiali trasparenti)
Se IOR = 1.0 avremo nessuna riflessione/
rifrazione
Abbe
[1.0 ... 2000.00] Indica il valore di dispersione della luce
Load file [File .R2] Controlla l’effetto fresnel, modificando
l’angolo dell’effetto
Load full IOR data [File .IOR] Imposta i parametri di un materiale
reale
Surface properties
Proprietà della superficie dell’oggetto
Roughness [0.00 ... 99.00] [eventuale immagine] Lambertian Corrisponde a Roughness =100.0 (oggetto completamente opaco)
Anisotropy [0.00 ... 100.00] [eventuale immagine]
Aggiunge microsolchi alla superficie.
Angle [0.00 ... 360.00] [eventuale immagine] Indica l’angolo e/o direzione dei microsolchi. Aggiunge un’effetto di basso o alto rilievo della superficie, è necessaria un’immagine perchè l’effetto sia visibile.
Maxwell
- 135
Magazine
Bump [-100.00 ... 100.00]
[Immagine]
Indica la rugosità della superficie