Rhino 5 - Introduction

This documentation includes all the information you need to know to use the Maxwell for Rhino plugin. It goes into the details of some general Maxwell concepts, but it is not intended to replace the regular Maxwell Render documentation.

What do I need to know to use the plugin?

The Maxwell for Rhino plugin has been designed to work in as simple a manner as possible. Wherever appropriate, unnecessary items have been optimized away, leaving what is intended to be a very simple and straightforward, yet complete, interface to Maxwell from within Rhino. Most of the functionality contained in the plugin is accessed via one of several plugin windows, all of which may be opened or closed using the Maxwell menu or toolbar:

Scene Manager

The Scene Manager window holds the parameters used to define the Maxwell scene; that is, it contains the values which will be written into the MXS files the plugin produces. It also contains parameters used to determine how and where the scene is to be written. The Scene Manager may be used either as a floating window, or as a Rhino dockbar using the plugin option Dockable Scene Manager.

Database Manager

The Database Manager window provides an MXM Browser, as well as several object-specific catalogs for storing individual material components (i.e. BSDF, Emitter, etc.). You can drag MXM files into the scene, drag materials from the scene into the MXM Browser to save them as MXM files, or drag components back and forth between the Material Editor’s layers tree and the applicable pages in the Database Manager to build new materials using saved components. The Database Manager may also be used either as a floating window, or as a Rhino Dockbar using the plugin option Dockable Database Manager.

Object Properties

The plugin adds a new Maxwell page to Rhino's Object Properties window. Like other Object Properties pages, this is used to manage data which is attached to Rhino objects.

Material Editor

The plugin implements a native-to-Rhino Material Editor which is designed to work in a way very similar to Maxwell’s MXED MXM editor.

Maxwell Fire

This plugin implements Maxwell Fire. Its Maxwell Fire window may be used either as a floating window, or as a Rhino dockbar using the plugin option Dockable Fire Window.

Camera LCD

This tool is provided for convenience in managing the most common camera parameters; it is made to resemble the LCD back-panel of a digital camera.  

Log Viewer

As you use the plugin, it keeps track of various actions by printing messages to this window. Some of these messages can be useful for diagnosing any possible issues you may encounter. Should you run into an issue you can’t resolve, you can email a copy of the current log directly to support using the Log Viewer’s right-click menu.

Help Viewer

If you open the Help Viewer, the cursor will change to a ‘help’ cursor when the mouse hovers over many of the parameter-labels in the various plugin windows. Clicking (left or right) on any of these parameters will show help specific to the selected parameter in the Help Viewer. The Help Viewer may be used either as a floating window or a Rhino Dockbar using the plugin option Dockable Help Viewer.