Extensions

Courtesy of Listratov Konstantin
 

Maxwell 4 includes extensions, specific external pieces of code which extend the capabilities of Maxwell.

The extensions are .mxx files (stands for Maxwell Extensions) and are located in the Maxwell 4>extensions folder. 

There are several types of extensions in Maxwell 4: 

  • Geometry Loaders: the extension code generates a new object in the scene with particular characteristics (like Maxwell Sea, Volumetric or the Alembic importer) 
  • Object Modifiers: the extension modifies an existing geometric object (like the Grass, Scatter or Subdivision modifiers).
  • Procedural Geometry: the extension renders geometry based on a mathematical description.
  • Procedural Textures: provide textures based on mathematical description, not on bitmaps.
  • Material Modifiers: these extensions provide a simplified user interface for some material types.
  • Camera Lens Extensions: with these extensions the user can program customized lens types, such as stereo, fish-lens...
  • BRDF Extensions: these extensions implement BRDF's, which can be analytical, data driven or in-between.

 

The current available extensions and the features they provide are: 

 

Geometry Loaders

Extension nameWhat it doesMore info...
AssetReference.mxxLoads geometry from a variety of file formats.
Asset Reference
MaxwellSea.mxxCreates a simulation of the ocean surface based on the Tessendorf model.Maxwell Sea
MaxwellMesher.mxxRenders particles from RealFlow™, meshing the particles at render time. Meant for rendering fluids and provides sophisticated controls over the resulting fluid mesh.

Maxwell Mesher

RFMeshes.mxxRender fluid meshes from RealFlow™ that have already been meshed in RealFlow™.
RF Meshes
RWMeshes.mxxAllows Maxwell to render RealWave water simulation meshes already created in RealFlow™.
RW Meshes
MWObjectAlembic.mxxImports objects in Alembic format.

Alembic support

 

Object Modifiers

Extension nameWhat it doesMore info...
MaxwellCloner.mxxAllows Maxwell to distribute instances of an object using a particle cloud file.
Maxwell Cloner
MaxwellGrass.mxx

The grass generator. Generates and distributes random grass guides over the object surface following certain user parameters.

Maxwell Grass
MaxwellScatter.mxxScatters instances of a given object across the surface of another object.Maxwell Scatter
SubdivisionModifier.mxxSubdivides the object using Pixar subdivision algorithms: Loop and Catmull-Clark.Pixar OpenSubdiv

 

Procedural Geometry

Extension nameWhat it doesMore info...
MaxwellVolumetric.mxxCreates a volumetric media either as a constant density object, using particle files to create smoke, fog, atmospheric haze etc or loading a OpenVDB file.
 Maxwell Volumetric
MaxwellParticles.mxxRenders particles from RealFlow or other particle systems as spheres.Maxwell Particles

MaxwellHair.mxx

MGrassH.mxx

MGrassP.mxx

These three extensions have no visible user interface. They implement the rendering primitives used by hair and fur packages in 3D platforms or MaxwellGrass

Hair

Maxwell Grass

 

Procedural Textures

Extension nameWhat it doesMore info...
MaxwellProcedurals.mxxA bunch of the typical procedural textures found on several 3D platforms: checker, circle, grid, gradient, noise, marble, voronoi, etc...

Procedural Textures

 

TiledTexture.mxxThis extension allows the use of tiled textures following the UDIM file naming convention.Texture Mapping: UV and UDIM
WireframeTexture.mxxRenders triangle edges with a different color.
Wireframe

 

Material Modifiers

Extension nameWhat it doesMore info...
MaterialModifiers.mxxThese extensions provide a simplified user interface for some material types. Current types are: Lambert, AGS, Opaque, Transparent, Metal, Translucent, Car Paint, Hair.
Material Assistants

Camera Lens Extensions

Extension nameWhat it doesMore info...
CameraLensExtensions.mxxThese extensions implement Lat-Long Stereo Lens and Fish-Eye Stereo Lens
Camera Lenses

 

BRDF Extensions

Extension nameWhat it doesMore info...
TableBRDF.mxxImplements reading of MERL BRDF Database materials.
MERL Material (TableBRDF)
XriteBRDF.mxxImplements reading of X-Rite™'s AxF™, Appearance Exchange Format materials.

X-Rite AxF Material