The plug-in is installed with an installer wizard on Windows 32-bit, Windows 64-bit and Mac OSX 64-bit platforms, and a shell script on Linux 64-bit platform, so you will not have to manually copy files.

Environment variables

The plug-in is installed to the program folder by default, in subfolders named by the plug-in version number and Houdini version number. This has two benefits:

the Houdini install folder remains clean, no files are modified
more builds of the plug-in can be installed at the same time

To make the plug-in available in Houdini, the following environment variables have to be defined:

HOUDINI_PATH have to point to the plugin installation folder. Use the & symbol to include the default houdini paths.
PATH have to point to the bin folder of the plugin install.

The installer creates a MAXWELL_FOR_HOUDINI_PATH environment variable and refers to this in the above variables. It has the advantage that only one environment variable have to be maintained when we want to change to a different plugin or Houdini version. The installers set the environment variables automatically if you choose this option. The settings on Windows are the following for example:

set MAXWELL_FOR_HOUDINI_PATH=C:\Program Files\Next Limit\Maxwell for Houdini\3.0.0.1\H13.0.343
set HOUDINI_PATH=^&;$MAXWELL_FOR_HOUDINI_PATH\houdini
set PATH=%PATH%;%MAXWELL_FOR_HOUDINI_PATH%\bin

If you work with more Houdini versions than you can install all the required builds of the plugin and have to create a batch script for each version which sets the MAXWELL_FOR_HOUDINI_PATH variable and starts Houdini.

Installed files

The plug-in consist of the following files:

Plug-in binary

houdini\dso\ROP_Maxwell.dll (.so on Linux, .dylib on OSX)

IPR binary

bin\Maxwell_IPR.exe (no extension on Linux and OSX)

Dialog windows

houdini\config\Applications\maxwell\*

Icons

houdini\config\Icons\*

Material gallery

houdini\gallery\maxwell_material.gal

Digital Assets

houdini\otls\*

Python scripts

houdini\soho\maxwell_render.py
houdini\python2.6libs\maxwell.py or houdini\python2.7libs\maxwell.py
houdini\python2.6libs\maxwell_ipr.py or houdini\python2.7libs\maxwell_ipr.py

Shelf

toolbar\maxwell
toolbar\MaxwellRenderTools

Menu extension

\houdini\MainMenuMaster

The plug-in built for the latest Houdini production builds. If you need a build for an older Houdini version, please contact the Maxwell Render support.

The installer mechanism has changed in version 1.3.0 and the plug-in conflicts with older releases. The installer automatically detects if an older version of the plug-in is installed and removes it before the installation starts.

OS requirements

Windows: XP or better, 32- or 64-bit.
Mac OSX: 10.7 or better, on Intel CPUs.
Linux: gcc4.4
- Ubuntu 10.04+ (64-bit)
- Debian 6.0+ (64-bit)
- RHEL 5+ (64-bit)
- Fedora Core 12+ (64-bit)
- Open SUSE 11.2+ (64-bit)
- CentOS 5+ (64-bit)
- Mint 13+ (64-bit)

Installer for Windows

The Windows installer wizard asks about the install location which is in the Program Files directory by default, the target Houdini version and the environment variable settings.

After a successful install you should see the „Maxwell Render” group in the obj network TAB menu and the Maxwell Render shelf. You can check the plug-in version by typing the maxwell_plugin_version hscript command, or get the Mawell ROP node info and check the path of the defining otl.

The plug-in can be uninstalled through the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel.

Installer for OSX

The Mac OSX build of the plug-in requires OSX version 10.5 or above. The installer copies the plug-in files to the /Applications/NextLimit/MaxwellForHoudini/[plugin_version]/[Houdini_version] folder by default and prompts to the admin password if needed. The folder can be changed in the installer. The installer sets the environment variables in the ~/.profile file.

After a successful install you should see the „Maxwell Render” group in the obj network TAB menu and the Maxwell Render shelf. You can check the plug-in version by typing the maxwell_plugin_version hscript command, or get the Mawell ROP node info and check the path of the defining otl.

If the plug-in is not recognized, you have to activate the environment variables with reloading the profile (source ~/.profile command or have to log out and log in again).

The plug-in can be uninstalled with the uninstall.sh script which is located in the plug-in installation folder. The uninstaller removes all installed files and restores the environment variables.

Installer for Linux

The plug-in ships with a shell script called install.sh which will copy the plug-in files to the /opt/NextLimit/MaxwellForHoudini/[plugin_version]/[Houdini_version] folder by default. To change the Houdini installation folder, you have to edit the script file. The installer asks about adding the environment variables to the ~/.profile file.

After a successful install you should see the „Maxwell Render” group in the obj network TAB menu and the Maxwell Render shelf. You can check the plug-in version by typing the maxwell_plugin_version hscript command, or get the Mawell ROP node info and check the path of the defining otl.

If the plug-in is not recognized, you have to activate the environment variables with reloading the profile (source ~/.profile command or have to log out and log in again).

The plug-in can be uninstalled with the uninstall.sh script which is located in the plug-in installation folder. The uninstaller removes all installed files and restores the environment variables.

The LD_LIBRARY_PATH should contain the /opt/hfs[version]/dsolib folder to run the IPR process properly. If it’s not set, you can create a wrapper to the IPR executable:

move Maxwell_IPR to Maxwell_IPR.bin

create Maxwell_IPR with this content:

#!/bin/sh
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$HDSO
$0.bin $@

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