Houdini plugin - User interface

Owned by
Peter Horvath (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 26 Oct, 2014
3 min read

The installed Maxwell Render plug-in contains several operators which are responsible for the following functionalities:

  • Maxwell Render (ROP): Basic render operator which manages the render parameters and controls the render process. Because Maxwell Render is a SOHO output driver, it requires a Houdini license.
  • Maxwell Camera (OBJ): Asset which extends the camera parameters with Maxwell Render specific settings.
  • Maxwell Environment (OBJ): Light operator which holds the environment settings and responsible for displaying the sky in the viewport.
  • Maxwell Grass (OBJ): This node contains the settings of rendering grass in Maxwell Render.
  • Maxwell Volumetric (OBJ): Object which represents a volume in the Maxwell scene.
  • Maxwell Sea (OBJ): Object to produce a realistic waves simulation based on the Ocean Statistical Spectrum solver (in RealFlowâ„¢).
  • Maxwell Alembic Object (OBJ): Object to load Alembic file format which is a very efficient storage of geometry and other scene data.
  • Maxwell Subdivision Modifier (SOP): Surface operator which implements Pixar OpenSubDiv subdivision modes to subdivide low-polygonal objects into smooth surfaces.
  • Maxwell Scatter (SOP): Surface operator to distribute instances of an object across the surface of another object.
  • Maxwell Cloner (SOP): Surface operator to create instances of an object using the distribution from a particle BIN file.
  • Maxwell Material (SHOP): Basic shader operator representing a layered material used by Maxwell Render.
  • Maxwell Ref Material (SHOP): Shader operator which represents an MXM reference material.
  • Texture procedurals (SHOP): Shader operators to represent procedurals which can be associated with any textures of the Maxwell Material node.
  • Material Assistants (SHOP): Shader operators with a reduced set of intuitive parameters that simplify and speed up the material creation process.

The user interface of the nodes is described in the following sections. Most of the parameters are equivalent to the Maxwell Render material parameters. See the Maxwell Render manual for detailed description.

The plug-in installs a shelf with Maxwell Render related operators and some helper tools:

  • Maxwell Scene: Adds basic Maxwell Render nodes to the scene which are Maxwell Render ROP, Maxwell Environment and Maxwell Camera.
  • Maxwell Render: Adds a Maxwell Render ROP node to the scene.
  • Maxwell Camera: Adds a Maxwell Camera OBJ node to the scene.
  • Maxwell Environment: Adds a Maxwell Environment OBJ node to the scene.
  • Maxwell BSDF: Creates a Maxwell Material node with a layer and a BSDF component enabled.
  • Maxwell Coating: Creates a Maxwell Material node with a layer and a BSDF component which has a Coating component enabled.
  • Maxwell Emitter: Creates a Maxwell Material node with a layer and an Emitter component enabled. 
  • Maxwell Displacement: Creates a Maxwell Material node with a layer and a Displacement component enabled.
  • MXS Reference: Adds an MXS Reference OBJ node to the scene.
  • Maxwell Subdivision Modifier: Adds Maxwell Subdivision Modifier SOP node to all selected geometries.
  • Maxwell Scatter: Adds Maxwell Scatter SOP node to all selected geometries.
  • Maxwell Cloner: Adds Maxwell Cloner SOP node to all selected geometries.
  • Maxwell Grass: Adds Maxwell Grass OBJ node to the scene.

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