Maxwell Render

Maxwell Render is an unbiased 3D render engine, developed by Next Limit Technologies in Madrid, Spain. This stand-alone software is used in the film, animation, and VFX industry, as well as in architectural and product design visualization.[2][3] It offers various plug-ins for 3D/CAD and post production applications.[4]

Maxwell Render
Developer(s)Next Limit Technologies
Initial release26 April 2006 (2006-04-26)
Stable release
5.0[1] / 30 October 2019 (2019-10-30)
Operating systemLinux (on x86-64)
Mac OS X (on IA-32 and PowerPC)
Microsoft Windows (on IA-32 and x86-64)
Available inEnglish
TypeRaytracer
LicenseProprietary commercial software
Websitewww.maxwellrender.com

Overview

Maxwell Render was released to the public as an early alpha in December 2004 (after two years of internal development) utilizing a global illumination (GI) algorithm based on a metropolis light transport variation.[5] Next Limit Technologies released its latest version of Maxwell Render V4.2 in February 2018.[6]

The physically correct rendering engine was originally used as a tool for animation and visual effects. Maxwell Render's trademark Multilight feature,[7] which permits the changing of light intensities and colors in real time, was used in the feature film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.[8]

General features

Physically-based advantages

  • Accuracy
  • Advanced Ray Tracing
  • Physical Sky
  • Fast scene set-up
  • Layer-based materials
  • Multilight

Multilight™ FIRE: Fast Interactive Rendering

  • Immediate feedback to make adjustments to lighting, materials and camera settings

Materials Realistic Camera Model

  • Real camera parameters: f-Stop, Focal length, Shutter speed, ISO, film size, diaphragm blades

Memory Saving Instances Accurate 3D Motion Blur Hair, Grass and Fur

  • Compatible with many hair systems: Maya Shave and a Haircut, Maya hair, 3ds Max hair, CINEMA hair, Ornatrix

Volumetrics Particle Rendering

  • Integration with RealFlow software
  • Maxwell Sea
  • Maxwell Volumetric
  • Maxwell Grass
  • Maxwell Scatter

Industry standard support

  • Alembic
  • AxF
  • Deep compositing
  • Pixar Open SubDiv
  • Python scripting
  • VDB

Network Rendering Post Production

  • Post production plug-ins
  • Channels
  • Custom Alphas

Interaction with other software

Maxwell Render for SketchUp[9] is a simplified version of Maxwell Render, fully integrated into the SketchUp software application. Users can set the camera, lighting and environment, apply SketchUp or Maxwell MXM materials, and render and save image files. It is widely used in product design, architectural and engineering visualization.

Plug-ins

3D application plug-ins

  • SolidWorks
  • SoftImage
  • MODO
  • MAYA
  • Houdini
  • Rhinoceros
  • SketchUp
  • LightWave
  • Graphisoft ArchiCAD
  • Bonzai 3D
  • REVIT
  • 3DS MAX
  • CINEMA 4D
  • form Z

Postproduction application plug-ins

  • Photoshop
  • Nuke
  • After effects

Third party supported plug-ins

  • solidThinking
  • blender

Version history
2004Maxwell Render Alpha version
2005Maxwell Render Beta version
2006Maxwell Render 1.0

Maxwell Render 1.1

2007Maxwell Render 1.5

Maxwell Render 1.6

Maxwell Render 1.6.1

2008Maxwell Render 1.7
2009Maxwell Render 2.0
2011Maxwell Render Suite 2.6

Maxwell for Google SketchUp

2012Maxwell Render 2.7

Maxwell Render Learning Edition

Maxwell Render 2.7.1

2013Maxwell for SketchUp

Maxwell Render 3.0

2014Maxwell Render 3.0.1

Maxwell Render 3.0.1.1 beta

2015Maxwell Render 3.1

Maxwell Render 3.1.0.2

Maxwell Render 3.2

2016 Maxwell Render 4.0.0.11
2017 Maxwell Render 4.0.1.1

Maxwell Render 4.1

2018 Maxwell Render 4.2.0.2

Maxwell Render 4.2.0.3

2019 Maxwell Render 5.0

See also
  • Ray tracing
  • Bella Render - Fast physical based rendering.
  • Indigo Renderer - Another commercial unbiased renderer
  • Kerkythea - A free unbiased renderer
  • LuxRender - An open source unbiased renderer
  • Octane Render - A commercial unbiased GPU-accelerated renderer

References
  1. "Latest release". nextlimit.com. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Maxwell Render". Easy Render. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Review: Next Limit's Maxwell Render - Computer Graphics World". www.cgw.com. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  6. "Next Limit Technologies - All Products - (866) 362-8970 Novedge, Authorized Reseller". novedge.com. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  7. "Multilight_features". nextlimit.com. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  8. "10 things you didn't know about Maxwell Render". NOVEDGE blog. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  9. "Plug-ins - Maxwell Render V4 Documentation - Next Limit support site". support.nextlimit.com. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
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