Revit - The Maxwell Material Options

The Material Options

The first step before starting to render is to setup the materials. By default the plugin tries to translate all the materials used in the scene, but due to limitations in the Revit API, textures and some other characteristics cannot be accessed to give an exact replica, therefore we provided a way to give you more control over the materials. Start by pressing the Materials button from the Maxwell ribbon panel. A new window will appear.

The window shows all the materials available in the current document and tells you which of them are currently assigned to objects. If you have an object selected in the document, then the material window will open with the material assigned to said object already selected. If the material window is already open and you press the Materials button again, it will bring the window to the front and update the window to match the currently selected object.

All materials are initially set to be automatically translated, if you want better control over the outcome, you must first check the Use MXM File box. Doing this will enable the four customization buttons and will override the automatic translation process.

• The first button creates a new mxm file that will contain the material as it is translated by the plugin and sets it to be used with the material.
• The second button will open up a material editor that lets you customize and preview the currently assigned material.
• The third button opens up a material browser that lets you choose an mxm file from your library.
• The fourth button opens up the same material browser that lets you download materials from the internet to use in the render.

Furthermore, there is a browse button available that lets you choose an mxm file from the disk and a Embed MXM checkbox that lets you choose whether the current material should be embedded in the final scene or kept as a reference.