Panels

Maxwell Studio provides different panels for different functions. The panels can be opened or closed using the Window menu or right-clicking in the title bar of a panel.

 

Panel nameFunctionality
Scene TreeThe main items panel to access the selection and attributes of all the items in the scene. Includes Render Options, Environment, Cameras list and Objects list
Attributes PanelA flexible multi-purpose panel that displays the attributes from the item selected in the Scene Tree
MaterialsList of materials available in the scene
Resources BrowserBrowse material libraries on local/networked computers, or access the MXM gallery
HistoryList of changes made in the scene which you can scroll through to undo/redo changes
ConsoleInfo and error messages from Studio
Material EditorAdvanced editing of the selected material
Interactive PreviewPreview windows to display interactively your scene while you are editing it. Launch the preview render with the FIRE button

 

Most of the panels are divided into subsections to display the information more efficiently. Click on the section’s name to expand/collapse the section. 

The Window tab on the Menu bar, contains the list of all the available panels in Studio, that you can display or hide. 

 

The Window tab on the Menu bar showing all the panels in Studio

 

Numerical inputs

The numerical input can be edited by typing in new numbers or clicking the up and down arrows. You can also use the MMB (middle mouse button) and drag over the up/down arrows to scroll the setting. Alternatively you can use the scroll wheel of the mouse. Press Ctrl while using the MMB to scroll faster through the numbers.

Keep in mind that the Ctrl key in Windows corresponds to the Cmd key in Mac OSX, so wherever the Ctrl key is used on a shortcut, Mac users should use the Command key. 

Right-clicking in a numeric field brings up a menu with the option to set the Decimal Precision. This way you can customize each numeric field to your needs. Some fields may not need any decimals at all; others may require 3 or 4 decimals. If you want to move an object in very small increments you can increase the number of decimals.

 

For numeric fields that are related, such as the Position/Rotation/Scale numerics in the Object Attributes panel, you can also type in a value just for X Position, and hold Shift while pressing Enter. This will copy the value you entered to all three position fields. You can also press Shift + MMB when hovering over the up/down arrows to change all the related fields at the same time.

When selecting a color in the Color Picker, if you want to create a gray desaturated color, just type one value on one numeric field and hold the Shift button while you click Enter. This propagates your value to all the fields, producing a gray color.