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]
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
Version history
| 2004 |
Maxwell Render Alpha version
|
| 2005 |
Maxwell Render Beta version
|
| 2006 |
Maxwell Render 1.0
Maxwell Render 1.1
|
| 2007 |
Maxwell Render 1.5
Maxwell Render 1.6
Maxwell Render 1.6.1
|
| 2008 |
Maxwell Render 1.7
|
| 2009 |
Maxwell Render 2.0
|
| 2011 |
Maxwell Render Suite 2.6
Maxwell for Google SketchUp
|
| 2012 |
Maxwell Render 2.7
Maxwell Render Learning Edition
Maxwell Render 2.7.1
|
| 2013 |
Maxwell for SketchUp
Maxwell Render 3.0
|
| 2014 |
Maxwell Render 3.0.1
Maxwell Render 3.0.1.1 beta
|
| 2015 |
Maxwell 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
- Kerkythea - A free unbiased renderer
- LuxRender - An open source unbiased renderer
- Octane Render - A commercial unbiased GPU-accelerated renderer
References
External links
