Maxwell file types

Image courtesy of Mike Verta (www.mikeverta.com)

.MXS

The Maxwell Render scene file format. It contains all the geometry in your scene, cameras and their settings, materials and material assignments. Note that it does not contain the actual textures used in materials or any HDR / MXI textures used in your scene.

An .MXS file can be created by the plugins and Maxwell Studio as well.

.MXI

The Maxwell Render high dynamic range image format. An MXI file is always created when rendering with Maxwell Render™. More than just holding image data, it contains all the render calculations and makes it possible to resume a render at any time, adjust the intensity and color of the lights in your scene during or after the render has finished using Multilight™. The render MXI file is also loaded by the compositing plugins (currently Nuke, After Effects, Photoshop) which allows you to fine tune each light and render channel separately inside the compositing application.

.MXM

A standalone Maxwell material file. Note that textures used in the material are not stored inside the .MXM file, only references to the location of the textures on your computer are stored. A material can either be stored inside an .MXS file, or it can also be created by the standalone Maxwell material editor, MXED, and saved as a separate .MXM file. This can be useful to enable users yo create their own material libraries and reuse materials between scenes. .MXM files can also be extracted from an .MXS file using the function "Extract from MXS" found in the Material Editor in Maxwell Studio (Choose "File" in the Material Editor panel, then "Extract from MXS").

.MXX

Maxwell extensions. Extensions are external pieces of code that allows Maxwell perform specific tasks, like rendering fur, particles, fluid meshes, etc. They are provided with the Maxwell installation, and located inside the Maxwell 2>extensions subfolder. See the Extensions section for a detailed description.

.SKY

Contains all the parameter settings used in the Physical Sky environment lighting. You can load and store sky presets using this file, to quickly change the look of the sky. A .SKY file is a simple text file, you can edit it using a simple text editor if you wish. For more info, see

.STLAY

A Maxwell Studio layout file. The Maxwell Studio UI can be customized by the user to better accommodate different tasks, such as material creation, setting up the camera etc. Saving your current layout to a .STLAY file allows you to quickly switch between saved layouts while working. For more info, see

.LYT

Same as the .STLAY file, except it stores the layout of Maxwell Render UI. 

Image courtesy of Tom Rusteberg (www.wanderplay.com)