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The implementation of Maxwell Fire in the plugin serves two main purposes, depending on the plugin version in question: In the Standalone pluginMaxwell Fire is both used for scene setup, and for rendering of final images. When the Standalone plugin is licensed, you can choose whether Maxwell Fire uses its Draft or Production render engine. Actual output resolution and the render engine used are set in the Maxwell Fire Settings window. Finished images are saved using the Save Image button in the Maxwell Fire window toolbar. In the Render Suite pluginWhile Maxwell Fire can be used to render final images, its primary purpose is to provide real-time feedback during scene setup. It is assumed that an MXS file will subsequently be written, and rendered in Maxwell Render. |
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The operation of Maxwell Fire in the plugin has been kept as simple as possible. To use Maxwell Fire, simply use the toolbar or menu to open the Maxwell Fire window:
The
toolbar By default, the scene will immediately be transferred to Maxwell Fire and its rendering begun, so the links shown above may only be visible for a short time. To access them at any time, use the small “left arrow” button near the top right of the window. This automatic starting of Maxwell Fire may be disabled using the Start Maxwell Fire option.
The panel at the top of the window contains several different buttons, depending on various conditionssome appearing only in specific plugin builds. When Maxwell Fire is active and rendering, it appears like this:
At the left side of the toolbarIn the main group, at center, there are two five buttons:
| Button | Function |
|---|---|
| Fire/Stop & Go | When Maxwell Fire is disabled, this button is yellow, and reads Fire. Clicking it in this state will perform an export if necessary, and begin rendering the scene in Maxwell Fire. If, on the other hand, Maxwell Fire is currently rendering, this button is red, and reads Stop. Clicking it in this state will disable Maxwell Fire. To completely unload Maxwell Fire and its data from memory, close the Maxwell Fire window. |
| Lock | Usually, it is desirable to have Maxwell Fire updated whenever something changes in the scene. However, when a final image is being rendered, it is desirable that inadvertent actions, for example, scrolling in the SketchUp viewport, be ignored, so that the rendering is not interrupted. This may be done by enabling the Lock button; when the rendering is locked, you can even proceed with working on the model, though it is important to understand that when rendering is subsequently unlocked, all changes made in the interim will be pushed into the scene, and rendering will be begun again. |
| Re-export Scene | This button is only shown after the scene has initially been exported. Clicking it will cause the data currently in memory to be released, and a new export will be performed. It is necessary to do this when objects have been moved, material assignments changed, or UV coordinates modified. |
At the right side of the toolbar, you will find two more buttons:
| Button | Function |
|---|---|
| Save Image | This button is used to save the current image to disk. It is only shown when an image exists. Maxwell Fire supports saving images in 8-bit RGB formats only. The format written is determined by the file extension specified, which can be any one of the following:
If no extension is specified, the image will be saved as .png. |
| Engine Settings | |
Shows the Engine Settings window | |
, which is used to control various Maxwell Fire settings. |
Additionally, another group of smaller buttons appears near the top right of the window. Their functions are as follows:
| Button | Free/Demo License | Commercial License | Function | Shortcut Key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual Size/Fit to Window | This button toggles the Maxwell Fire image display between showing the rendered image at its actual size, and fitting it to the current size of the display area of the window. When the window is focused, its function may be executed by hitting A on your keyboard. | A | ||
| Full Screen/Window | This button, which only appears in a licensed plugin, is used to toggle the display between its full screen and windows modes. When the window is focused, its function may be executed by hitting F on your keyboard. | F | ||
| Maxwell Links | This shows and hides the Maxwell Links panel, which contains useful shortcuts to information on using the plugin (i.e. help, tutorials, etc). When the window is focused, its function may be executed by hitting L on your keyboard. | L | ||
| HUD | This button toggles the visibility of the Maxwell Fire window’s upper and lower heads up display panels. When the window is focused, its function may be executed by hitting H on your keyboard. | H |
As mentioned above, toggling the Fire button at top-left causes the model to be exported from SketchUp into the Maxwell format. Once this process is complete, rendering will begin. Rendering progress and status messages are shown in the progress bar at the bottom of the window; if errors are encountered, a button will be shown to the right of the progress bar:
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