Plugins



Stay in the comfortable environment of your favorite 3D / CAD application and use the corresponding Maxwell Render plug-in to connect to Maxwell Render and take advantage of the software’s capabilities. The advanced level of integration makes it unnecessary to get in-depth Maxwell Render training, saving you time and money. We have created a range of plug-ins to connect Maxwell Render to the most popular 3D / CAD and post-production applications in the industry.

To download any of the plugins:

  • If you are a Maxwell Render customer - from the download area found in the Customer Portal

  • If you are a demo user: you can download the software by filling this form.

Maxwell Render plug-in is available

Maxwell Render plug-in not available yet, but will be available soon.

Not Applicable - 3D application for this OS does not exist

Maxwell Render plug-in not available

Please note, we have dropped support for 32-bit platforms. Maxwell will only run on 64-bit.

Platform

Version

Windows

MacOS

Platform

Version

Windows

MacOS

3ds Max

2016 - 2024

ARCHICAD

AC21 - AC27*

Cinema 4D

R20 - 2025*

Form·Z

form·Z 8

form·Z 9

form·Z 10*

Maya

2018 - 2024

Rhinoceros

5.x

6.x, 7.x and 8.x*

SketchUp

2017 - 2024*

(if you are using 2019, it is required to be 2019.2 or newer)

Postproduction plugins

Photoshop

CS3-CS6

CC*

21-22

 

Particularities of some of the plugins

Cinema4D

On the new Mac computers with Apple Silicon processors (the M-series), the plugin requires Cinema to run using Rosetta for the plugin to be visible. In some versions of Cinema4D S26 and 2023 it was not possible to force Cinema to use it with Rosetta so we suggest testing the plugin on your version before buying the product. As far as we know, it will work fine with Cinema4D 2024, Cinema 2025 and Cinema4D R25 and older ones.

Archicad

Archicad 25 Update 1 (build 3011) is not working with the plugin version 5.2.2. Please, use Archicad 25 Update 2 (build 4013) instead.

On MacOS with Apple Silicon-based computers, the plugin has to be used with the ArchiCAD version for Intel-based computers (using Rosetta) so the plugin shows up (please, notice the Archicad installer for Intel-based processors is different from the one for Apple Silicon processors; you can get it from here: Graphisoft downloads).

SketchUp

On MacOS, SketchUp has to run in Intel mode (using Rosetta) if you have an Apple Silicon computer; also, if you are using 2019, it is required to be 2019.2 or newer.

Photoshop

Versions CC 2019 from 20.0.2 to 20.0.7 are not compatible with the plugin. For version 23 and 24, you can use the files for version 22.

Photoshop Elements: the plugin can work in Photoshop Elements too; it can load the MXI files, and the actions offered to edit the Multilight layers, however, Photoshop Elements is limited to 8 bits edition.

Rhino

It is mandatory to use Rhino 6 SR19 or newer, but having it updated to the latest is the best way to avoid problems as McNeel also fixes issues in the code we use to connect the plugin.

In the case of Rhino 8, when using the plugin on the Mac computers using Apple Silicon processors (M1, M2, M3), Rhino requires to be launched using Rosetta for the plugin to work fine.

Form·Z 10

Using Maxwell 5 with form•Z 10

Windows

Maxwell 5 is compatible with form•Z 10 on Windows.

macOS with Intel-based macs

Maxwell 5 is compatible with form•Z 10 on Intel-based macs.

macOS with M-series ("Apple Silicon") based macs

Maxwell 5 is compatible with form•Z 10 on M-series based macs when form•Z is configured to run in Rosetta mode.

Plugin Install Location 

You will need to place a copy of the Maxwell for form•Z plugin where form·Z 10 can find it.

  1. Quit form•Z 10 if it is running.

  2. If you have already installed Maxwell 5, you do not need to do so again. (Run Next Limit's Maxwell 5 installer if you do not already have Maxwell installed on your system.)

  3. If it does not already exist, create a "Plugins" folder at the following location:

On macOS: /Applications/formZ 10/Plugins/

On Windows: C:\Program Files\formZ 10\Plugins

  1. Place a copy of your existing formZ 9 Maxwell plugin folder inside the folder mentioned in step 3.

Additional steps for macs with M-series ("Apple Silicon") processors ONLY:

  1. To ensure Rosetta is installed on your mac, double-click on the Maxwell application in /Applications/Maxwell Render 5/. If macOS has not yet installed Rosetta on your mac, you will be prompted to approve installation.

  2. Navigate to /Applications/formZ 10/formZ 10.x/

  3. Control-click on the formZ application and choose "Get Info"

  4. In the resulting Info panel, enable the checkbox option "Open Using Rosetta"

  5. Launch form•Z. If the Maxwell icons do not at first appear, you may need to reset your workspace. (Workspace > Reset Workspace...)


Downloading and/or updating the plug-in

You can find the latest version of each product at our Portal, depending on the products you purchased. The installer of each plugin includes everything you need inside and also launches Maxwell Render installer during the installation; a bit like matryoshkas, it includes another installer (Maxwell Render's) inside the main installer. Normally, installing the new version over the old one is fine.