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Manual

The documentation for this plugin will be updated as soon as possible, in the mean time please download the 2.5 documentation PDF here

The Maxwell Render plug-in for After effects improves the connection between Maxwell Render and one of the most used post-production platforms: After Effects. The Maxwell Image file format is a rich container where amounts of render data is stored. Each light buffer, alpha channel, Z-buffer and so on can be loaded from an MXI to an After Effects comp set. All channels generated by Maxwell Render can be loaded with After Effects from a single MXI file/sequence, like any other layered image format. One of the main advantages of the MXI format is that it stores all channels in 32 bits, so you can work using full range color always. In case that the user doesn't need 32 bits of color, the plugin is able to retrieve all channels in 16 and 8 bits too, maximizing the compatibility with the pipelines and plug-ins.

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We can access all the MXI buffers using the MXI extractor. It is an effect plug-in, so first add your MXI footage into a comp, and then apply the “MXI Extractor” effect to the layer. Then, you can “extract” the buffer you want.

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_Extracting the environment light from a MXI_
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The “Channel” parameter allows you to select the buffer, and the “Light” parameter indicates the light buffer you want to use. Using the “Light” parameter only makes sense when you select “Light” or “Shadow” in the “Channel” parameter.

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_Extracting the light 1 from a MXI_
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Channels available on the MXI files:

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• A comp named “All layers” containing all the buffers that the MXI have.
• A folder named “Comps” containing all the buffers that the MXI have separated.
• A comp named “Multilight” containing all the light buffers in “linear dodge” mode. Furthermore, the “Exposure” effect is applied to each light buffer to adjust the intensities easy.
• A comp named “Multishadow” containing all the shadow buffers.

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_Multilight comp. Note that the layers are blended in "linear dodge" mode_
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You can download the plug-ins by filling this form.