form•Z | Tools and Commands

Owned by ben (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 03 Dec, 2013 by Mihai Iliuta (Unlicensed)Version comment
4 min read

Maxwell Commands

All Maxwell commands can be found in the form•Z main menubar: Extensions > Maxwell Render >.

Project Settings

Invokes the Project Settings dialog. Settings defines here are on a per-project basis. (They apply to all open windows of the current project, and are saved at project level.)

  • Resource Manager: This important service warrants its own section. See form•Z | Resource Manager.
  • Autotranslate 'Shaded' Renderer
    • Search for missing bitmap textures: When enabled, if formZ cannot report a valid file path to a bitmap texture file, the Maxwell plugin will attempt to find it using its Resource Manager.  It is highly recommended that this option be kept at the default: enabled.
    • Allow project-embedded bitmaps to be exported: When enabled, if formZ cannot find a valid path to a 'Shaded' renderer bitmap texture (and the Maxwell plugin also cannot, if Search for missing bitmap textures is enabled), a version of the bitmap embedded in the formZ project will be used instead. This version may be reduced in resolution or quality, so the option to disable is provided. When disabled, and a valid path cannot be found, a rendering error will occur instead, letting you know that you need to add a Resource Library path to the original texture.
  • Generated Filenames
    • Convert Whitespace To: [spaces, underscores, dashes] Controls how spaces are treated in automatically generated filenames. For workflows that involve remote servers, you may wish to select ‘underscores’ or ‘dashes,’ for maximum file system compatibility.
  • Material Preview
    • Time: Time is the maximum time the material preview will render before stopping, in seconds.
    • Sampling Level: Rendering will also stop if it reaches the specified Sampling Level (if it is unable to reach the specified SL before the Time has been met).
    • Use Fill Light: A 2’ x 2’ key light at camera left always illuminates the material preview object (sphere, cube, etc.). Enabling this checkbox adds a 2’ x 2’ fill light to the preview at camera right. Enabling the Fill light will result in a better material preview in most cases.
    • Use Kicker Light: Enabling this checkbox adds a 2’ x 2’ kicker light to the preview above and behind the material preview object. Enabling the Kicker light will provide a clear highlight along the top of the object, which is useful for certain shiny or metallic objects that otherwise may only reflect the empty (black) scene above.
    • Set all to MXED: All materials in the project using referenced MXMs will have their previews updated to the MXED preview embedded in the MXM file. Note that all MXMs will opened (and searched for, if not found at the specified location), so this process may take some time with projects referencing many MXMs. See form•7 | Updating Projects from form•Z 6 for a key usage scenario.

Focus Camera

The Focus Camera command focuses the camera on the plane of selected entities (individual or multiple objects, segments, points, etc.) Unlike form•Z's Fit All command, Focus Camera leaves the view cropping and orientation unchanged.

Workstation Transfer

Collects all the Maxwell-related resources your project needs into one location, so you can move your project to another computer.

The following resources will be copied to the selected destination folder:

  • Referenced MXMs
  • Bitmap images, IOR, and IES files that each referenced MXM makes reference to
  • Saved versions of any embedded bitmaps in the form•Z project file
  • IBL files (MXR, HDR)
  • IES files referenced by the IES light type

MXS scenes are not collected, as they are not necessary for this type of transfer.

Of course, you will also need to transfer your form•Z project, component libraries, etc.

Package for Renderfarm

Builds a Maxwell scene, then packages it, along with all required resources, in a single folder. This folder may be moved to another computer or environment for rendering.

Resources collected:

  • MXS file
  • Bitmap images, IOR, and IES files that each embedded MXM makes reference to
  • Saved versions of any embedded bitmaps in the form•Z project file
  • IBL files (MXI, EXR, HDR)
  • IES files referenced by the IES light type

Referenced MXMs are not collected (they are embedded in the MXS).

 

About

Presents versioning and compatibility information.

Log

The Log is used to diagnose problems and evaluate performance. (Project translation time is logged).

A new log is begun when a Maxwell Render is initiated or Fire is enabled. The log will stay in memory until a new render is initiated.

  • Log Entries: Each line indicates the severity, context, and data associated with the entry. Any errors will be highlighted in blue to make them easy to spot.
  • Text field: This field (below the list) is a duplicate of the currently selected log entry in a form that can be copied. (You can copy a filename here, then search for it in your favorite file search utility.)
  • Save Log: Saves the log as a text file; useful for emailing to technical support if an issue is non-trivial to resolve.

Maxwell Documentation

Launches the online Maxwell Render documentation.

Plugin Documentation

Launches the online Maxwell for form•Z documentation.

Forum

For convenience, Maxwell for formZ support is available though the AutoDesSys forum here.

This command presents versioning and system information suitable for posting to the public support forum, then opens the forum web page.

  • Select the Forum command.
  • Copy the system information provided and click OK. The forum web page should pop up after a moment.
  • On the forum web page, click on 'Start a New Thread' if you need to post an inquiry. Paste the system info provided into your post.