SketchUp

The Maxwell for SketchUp plugin exists as two separate products: the Standalone plugin, and the Render Suite plugin.

Which version to install

If you have purchased both Maxwell for SketchUp, and a full Maxwell Render Suite, it is preferable to install the Render Suite version of the plugin. This version also provides export functionality to .MXS (Maxwell's file format), which means you can render your scenes with the full production render engine, use network rendering etc. To download the Render Suite version, log in to the Customer Portal, click the "Download Area" link and then click on the Maxwell logo. This will take you to the main download area where you can also find the Render Suite version of the SketchUp plugin.

Maxwell for SketchUp (Standalone)

The Standalone plugin has no dependencies on Maxwell Render; all rendering is done directly inside of SketchUp, using the Maxwell Fire window. Throughout this manual, topics and features which only apply to the Standalone plugin are marked using the symbol SA.

The Standalone plugin is distributed using a single .zip file which supports both SketchUp and SketchUp Pro, versions 6 and up, on Windows and OSX. Installation is accomplished by simple copy & paste. In order to support the free version of SketchUp, data-transfer from the SketchUp model into the Maxwell scene description (a.k.a export) is accomplished using a Ruby-based exporter.

By default, the Standalone plugin is provided freely, with a Free license (see the Maxwell Render EULA, also included in the plugin .zip file) which allows you to render images without making any purchase from Next Limit. Optionally, a Commercial license may be purchased. This license may be activated (a license key will be sent by email upon purchase) from within the plugin, providing for an ’in-place’ upgrade. Under an activated Commercial license.

The capabilities of each license are as follows:

License	Draft Mode	Production Mode	Maximum Resolution
Free			800 pixels
Commercial			1920 pixels

Maxwell for SketchUp (Render Suite)

The Render Suite plugin expects to find a full Maxwell Render Suite installation on the machine. Throughout this manual, topics and features which only apply to the Render Suite plugin are marked using the symbol RS.

Although it is possible, as with the Standalone plugin, to render images from within the plugin, this is not the primary intended workflow for the Render Suite plugin; rather, it is primarily designed to accommodate rendering in Maxwell Render, outside of the SketchUp process. As such, the Render Suite plugin provides much broader functionality than the Standalone plugin. For the most part, this functionality concerns features which are provided by Maxwell Render itself, for example, the output of Maxwell MXS files, editing of Maxwell MXM files in Maxwell’s MXED material editor, network rendering via Maxwell Render’s Network Rendering system, etc.

Additionally, this plugin requires SketchUp Pro, since it uses a very high performance C++ -based MXS Exporter to transfer data from SketchUp into Maxwell’s format.

When the Render Suite plugin is run in the absence of a valid Maxwell Render Suite license, it will operate in its Demo mode. When running in Demo mode, the plugin’s Maxwell Fire implementation will provide the same functionality as that of a Standalone plugin running on the Free license.