These pages contain information describing the various components which make up the plugin, and how they are used to build and render scenes.
| Page | Description |
|---|---|
| Menu & Toolbar | Explains the purpose of the various menu and toolbar commands added to SketchUp by the plugin. |
| Scene Manager | Explains the use of the plugin's main interface, the Scene Manager, and five tab pages it contains: |
| Maxwell Fire | Explains the purpose and operation of Maxwell Fire in the plugin. |
| Context Menu | Explains the purpose and function of the context menu that the plugin adds to SketchUp entities. |
Controls
The plugin's interface uses a set of controls which have been custom-designed for use in this particular environment. Though it is always possible to use the keyboard where applicable, it is not usually required that you do so, since the majority of interactions are accessible using just a mouse or tablet.
Context Menus
Most parameters have a small button at their far right side:
Clicking this button pops up the control's context menu:
In the case of numeric sliders (as shown), you will find a Decimals value which is used in the slider's text-entry area. The number of decimals chosen is per-slider and persists between sessions. You will also find a Reset button in the context menu for some controls; clicking this simply brings the value back to its default. Lastly, you will find an Info button, the function of which is not yet implemented.
Color Picker
The plugin also implements a custom RGB color-picker:
Operation is fairly self-explanatory. In addition to manually choosing a color, drop-downs are provided for named and numbered color presets. A third drop-down is provided, which holds a list of user-defined named custom colors. A new custom color may be added at any time; the list persists across SketchUp sessions.
Texture Editor
For working with textures, the plugin provides a custom texture editor:
The sliders on the right control saturation, brightness, contrast, minimum RGB, and maximum RGB. The Invert button inverts the RGB values of the texture's pixels. The Interpolation button turns on and off Maxwell's texture filtering for the texture. These adjustments work in real-time, also affecting the appearance of the texture's thumbnail.
To activate texture tile and offset controls, click on the image with your mouse. To adjust tile size, drag the grip at the lower-right corner; to adjust offset, drag the grip in the center. To quickly reset tile or offset, use the buttons at the lower left. Exact tile and offset values may be typed in using the numeric inputs at the lower left. At the top right are toggle buttons which enable and disable repeat in the U and V directions. At the top left are buttons which may be used to copy the associated SketchUp material's texture here, or to copy this texture into the SketchUp material's texture; these are only shown when the texture's Source is set to Use Specific Texture.
Customization
All of the colors used in the interface are customizable. In the Scene Manager's Options tab, in the User Interface sub-panel, you will find a button labeled Color Scheme; clicking this button will cause the Color Scheme Editor to be shown:
As you see here, the Header text is being set to [132, 25, 25]. At the top of the editor is a list of custom presets; by default three schemes are already defined:
Light | Dark | Slate |
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Additionally, color schemes may be saved to and/or read from disk, allowing them to be shared, if desired.