Houdini plugin - MXS Reference (OBJ)

It is possible to reference external scenes in MXS format and have Maxwell load them at render time. This is useful in many scenarios, such as:

• creating a library of ready-to-render props complete with materials which you just reference into new scenes
• shortening export times in an animation by referencing the static objects and only exporting the animated parts at each frame
• reducing scene complexity and improving viewport performance by referencing heavy objects

The MXS Reference operator is located in the TAB menu of the obj network or can be added to the scene via the Maxwell Render shelf.

The MXS Reference operator has only a few parameters, the most important is the MXS Path where the referenced scene can be defined. Maxwell uses the geometry and materials found in the MXS file, it does not load environment settings, camera parameters or render options. By default, the objects use the materials they have in the referenced scene, but a new material can be applied on the Material tab. It is not possible to override the material on only some objects from the referenced scene, or apply different materials to different objects. It is also not possible to use only a subset of the referenced scene; all the objects will always be used.

Object

Transform

Display

Material

To export an MXS file use the Export MXS files (no render) flag on the General Settings of the Maxwell Render ROP node and define the selected objects on the Objects tab.