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- Maxwell Render’s networking option will be vastly improved, allowing users to see a preview and to track the progress of the image while rendering. We are also changing the internal protocol so to make it 6-10 times faster and to improve network efficiency and stability.
- We target to release the 64 bits version for Maxwell Render in the coming months.
- Maxwell Render for Linux is also getting a lot of our attention. We have started testing and get good feedback.
- The Maxwell Render OSX Universal Binary version has successfully been released with few reported bugs. We would like to thank the users who have brought bugs to our attention – we are fixing them.
- We are working hard on the plug-ins for Maya 8, 3dsMax 9 and Cinema4D 10 which when released will all see huge improvements. We target to release updates for all the plug-ins before the end of the year.
- You can now preview the improved workflow available through the new Maxwell plug-in for Maya. Next Limit will very soon release significant improvements of many of the Maxwell Render plug-ins – the plug-ins will have better workflows and integration with these host applications. Our development team are currently testing the latest improvements and have produced a preview video for the new Maxwell plug-in for Maya – the plug-in will be released within a couple of weeks. Until then watch the video and view the full list of features using the links below.
- View the video at http://www.maxwellrender.com/news/maya_video.html
- View the full list of features of the new Maxwell plug in for Maya at http://www.maxwellrender.com/news/maya.html
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- Instead of a RealFlow4 patch, we have now released version 4.2 which does not only include numerous bug fixes but also various improvements and additions. RF4.2 contains many new scripting functions, general improvements in the behavior of the constraints and much more. Now the vorticity for particles is not calculated by default, which means that if you don't need vorticity in the scene, the simulations are at least 20% faster than before. Please upgrade to version 4.2 at www.realflow.com and check out what’s new.
- RealFlow4 for Macintosh has now been released on the 7th of November (yesterday) instead of on November 10 as we planned initially. The Mac version has binaries for G4, G5 and Intel so RealFlow4 can make the most of your hardware.
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The winners of the Maxwell Render material contest “Candies” have been announced. The decision was though and it gave our Maxwell experts some sleepless nights as all materials were great. But after much discussion, our number one Willy Wonka is Olivier Cugniet with his stunning “Nougat” material. Olivier wins a handy folding bike and an official Maxwell Render T-shirt!
Fernando Tella scooped the second prize with his material “Piruleta-Red Lollypop _Candies” and he will receive an official Maxwell Render T-shirt.
The thirds prize goes to Rodrigo Martins for his material “Lollypop Candy” and he too will receive an official Maxwell Render T-shirt.
Congratulations to all winners! Your prizes will be delivered to your home addresses. We would like to thank you all for participating and voting. |
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The November Maxwell Render material contest is coming up and this time the theme is “Summer”. Be creative and create a material that makes you remember those sunny days before rainy autumn kicked in. Think of sand, sea, sunglasses, parasols, tanned skin and ice cream. Be sure to submit your material before the end of November. For more information, keep an eye on http://mxmgallery.maxwellrender.com Good luck everyone! |
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Next Limit Technologies scooped the award for “Best Software Development Company” at the ArtFutura 2006/ Aula Tematica event in Barcelona on October 27. Next Limit CEO Victor Gonzalez proudly accepted the award before participating in the ArtFutura conference the following morning. ArtFutura is an art, technology and digital culture festival where presentations, conferences and workshops take place.
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Check out the magazine 3D World for the latest articles on RealFlow4 productions, a fantastic Special Edition copy of RF4 and a 20% discount for RF4 for all readers. Look out for issue 84 and 85 of 3D World. Another magazine, Computer Graphics World, features an article on RF4& The Guardian in its November issue, so keep your eyes open. |
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Our Japanese users will be able to enjoy a RF4 review and an interview with a production studio that used RealFlow4 in their work in the magazine CGWorld, out on November 29. The magazine will offer of 20% discount on RealFlow4 to all its readers. All you need to do is get the offer code from the review page and contact one of our Japanese resellers mentioned below. The Japanese magazine CAD&CG, out on November 24, features a Maxwell Render review, a demo for all the readers and also gives away five exclusive Maxwell Render T-shirts to five lucky readers . The magazine also offers a 20% discount on Maxwell Render. All you have to do to get the discount is contact one of the Japanese resellers mentioned below quoting the page number of the Maxwell Render review.
Our Japanese resellers:
Oak: www.oakcorp.net
Indyzone: www.indyzone.jp
Parthea: www.parthea.com
Ultimate Graphics: www.ultimategraphics.co.jp |
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The Maxwell Render material website mxmgallery.maxwellrender.com now has the option to view materials by thumbnails. You can check out all new materials, or the highest ranking materials, in one quick and easy overview.
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The International Broadcast Equipment Exhibition 2006 (Inter BEE 2006) will be held at Makuhari Messe in Japan from November 15 to 17. One of our Japanese resellers, Ultimate Graphics, will have a Maxwell Render exhibition at this mayor event. They will give away some official Maxwell Render T-shirts in a special event lottery. For more information, please visit http://bee.jesa.or.jp/privacy.html (Japanese) or http://bee.jesa.or.jp/en (English).
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Name.......... Ignacio "Nacho" Bonafonte
Age............. 28
From........... Born in Zaragoza, Spain. Now living in Madrid. |
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Education: "I studied Software Engineering and added Mac development knowledge on my own. ” |
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Work: “I work on the Mac versions of Next Limit applications, so for both RealFlow4 and Maxwell Render. I also work on everything else that is Mac-related; I am the Mac crazy-guy here.” |
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Latest activity: “Last month I finished work on the Universal Binary version for Maxwell, which turned out great. Now I am working on RealFlow4 for Mac, which will be released on November 7 and is working well.” |
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Best aspect: “There are two things that I like about working here. One is working at the top-limit of technology, with innovating and barrier-breaking tools and applications. It is also great to work with people that love what they do and to see their work in progress and their latest developments.” |
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Worst aspect: “Uhm… I enjoy my work a lot every day. I know this sounds silly, but for me there are no bad aspects. I don’t mind working hard or projects and deadlines getting in my head. Sorry but I can’t think of anything.” |
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Free time: “I love being with my two daughters. They are four and one year old. I also like reading books, especially fantasy and read almost anything I can get my hands on. I am also crazy about Macintosh and Apple and started using a Mac when I was a child” |
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Hi to: “I haven’t worked here for a very long time so I don’t know a lot of people in the industry. But I would like to say hi to all our Mac users and let them know we are fully Mac-committed.” |
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Future: “I think we have a surprisingly bright future ahead of us. We have so many great, different and innovative technologies here. I don’t think anyone can imagine how far we can reach.” |
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Optimization methods |
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There are two optimization methods that can do a lot to decrease render times in Maxwell Render. One is to not use large surfaces such as walls/ceilings/floors with too high diffuse values. The other optimization is to try and keep all emitter surfaces as low poly as possible. In most cases a single sided poly plane will be sufficient.
The following images illustrate the amount of noise decrease just by taking care of these two optimizations.
The left image shows the walls/ceiling/floor with a diffuse material at RGB 240, and spherical emitters for all lights. Compared to the image on the far right, there is substantially more noise.
RGB 218 was chosen for the middle and right images because 218 approximately represents the reflectance of white matte paper. You could of course put this up a bit further with only a small increase of noise, but using 240 or more for walls and ceilings will not produce realistic results and will increase noise levels. |
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Image details: Rendered with Maxwell Render 1.1 on an AMD Athlon x 2 with 2.2 GHz. Modeled with Lightwave 8.5. The stone is a spessartite (mandarine garnet), and the material is made by importing absorption spectrum data into Maxwell Render via a complex ior file. |
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Artist details: Henri Desbois is 38 years old and comes from Burgundy in France. He is teaching geography in Nanterre University near Paris. Henri was first involved in 3D and CGI as part of academic research on virtual realities in 1998, and he has been a dedicated hobbyist ever since. |
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About Maxwell Render: “Maxwell Render sets new standards for photo-real renders. I love the straightforwardness of the camera setup. The Maxwell community and its ever-growing material library is a great help too.” |
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