Maxwell Interactive

When you open this UI element RealFlow will start to voxelize and render the current frame. There is a difference between → "Maxwell Previews" and "Maxwell Interactive":

• "Maxwell Preview". RealFlow renders the entire simulation frame by frame. The result is stored as an image sequence and can be viewed in the → "Movie Player".
• "Maxwell Interactive". This mode is also called "FIRE". RealFlow creates a temporary render of the current frame that cannot be saved. When you change → viewport perspective, lighting, and materials the render will be updated in realtime.

• To activate "Maxwell Interactive" please click on Display shelf > FIRE (see icon above)
• By default, all scene elements have the same colour. If you want to change the standard colour go to the node's Node Params > Node > Colour.
• Materials can be applied under Selected node > Node Params > Maxwell Render > Material (see screenshot below).
• All viewport actions and material changes will be applied to the render instantly.

Maxwell Render is configured globally under

File (OS X: RealFlow) > Preferences > Preview > Maxwell Options

But in most cases you will most probably define individual settings for every project:

• Display shelf > Maxwell Scene Preferences
• The parameters here and in the preview preferences are identical, so they are only explained once.

Here are the most important options:

• “Global intensity” is a multiplier for the scene's light intensity.
• With “Use Physical Sky” you have access to the “Light” slider, where the current time of day is adjusted. The scene's colour scheme will change according to the current “Hour”.
• If the preview is blurry increase “Image Quality” to 100%.
• “Max Sampling Level” is used to reduce noise. The higher the sampling level, the longer the render takes.
• For interactive renders, the “Draft” mode is enough; for the → preview render set “Engine” to “Production”.
• As long as you are in interactive (“FIRE”) mode, the new settings can be used with the “Apply” button. Once you are satisfied, click on “OK”.