System requirements
SA
The Standalone plugin is designed for use with:
- SketchUp and SketchUp Pro, version 6+
- 32- and 64-bit Windows XP or greater
- Mac OSX 10.6+, on Intel processors
RS
The Render Suite plugin is designed for use with:
- Maxwell Render Suite 2.7.20
- SketchUp Pro, version 6+
- 32- and 64-bit Windows XP or greater
- Mac OSX 10.6+, on Intel processors
Installation (Standalone)
Installation of the Standalone plugin falls into two categories, depending on whether the version of SketchUp supports RBZ-based installation.
SketchUp 8 M2+ (RBZ-based installation)
- Download and unzip the plugin .zip file on your Desktop.
- Open SketchUp and go to the Preferences > Extensions window.
- Click "Install Extension" and browse to the unzipped folder.
- Follow the instructions given by SketchUp to install the .rbz file.
- If you are on Windows, install the Microsoft Visual C++ SP1 runtime.
- Should any failure occur, try using the ZIP-based installation below.
SketchUp 6 & 7 (ZIP-based installation)
- Download and unzip the plugin .zip file on your Desktop.
- Change the contained .rbz file's extension to .zip and unzip it.
- Copy maxwell.rb and the maxwell folder into your SketchUp Plugins folder:
- If you are on Windows, install the Microsoft Visual C++ SP1 runtime.
Microsoft Visual C++ SP1 Runtime (Windows only)
- Having installed the plugin, make sure SketchUp is closed.
- Open Explorer and navigate to the SketchUp Plugins folder.
- Inside, navigate to maxwell/vcredist and locate vcredist_x86.exe.
- Right-click vcredist_x86.exe and choose "Run as administrator."
Installation (Render Suite)
Individual installers are provided for each specific version of SketchUp and operating system.
Windows
- Download and unzip the plugin .zip file on your Desktop.
- Navigate to the setup folder.
- Right-click setup.exe, and choose Run as Administrator.
Mac OSX (SketchUp 6-8)
- Download and unzip the plugin .zip file on your Desktop.
- Double-click on the .mpkg installer and follow the instructions.
Mac OSX (SketchUp 2013)
- Download and unzip the plugin .zip file on your Desktop.
- Double-click on the .dmg file.
- Drag the plugin files into the indicated folders.
Updating to a new version of the plugin
From time to time, updates to the plugin are released. The process for updating your installation depends upon which version of the plugin you are using.
Render Suite
All Render Suite plugins use OS and SketchUp version-specific installers. Upgrading from one version to the next simply consists of visiting the Next Limit Customer Portal, downloading the appropriate package, unzipping it, and running the installer, as described above . The installer will update your installation automatically.
Standalone
Standalone plugin updates are available from the same download page where the plugin was originally obtained. As described above, there are two classes of install for the Standalone plugin: RBZ-based for SketchUp 8 M2+, and ZIP-based, for SketchUp 6 & 7. In either case, installation of updates is as described above, with the additional step that it is best to first delete the existing plugin (consisting, as described above, of maxwell.rb and the maxwell folder) from your SketchUp Plugins folder.
Notes on Plugin Files
As described in the above installation instructions, the plugin consists of two main parts: a SketchUp Ruby Extension, consisting of a maxwell.rb file and maxwell folder, and, for the Render Suite plugin, a SketchUp 3D Exporter plugin, named Skp2Mxs.dll on Windows and Skp2Mxs.plugin on Mac OSX. The applicability and standard location of these files is as follows:
Item | SA | RS | Location on Windows (typical) | Location on Mac OSX (typical) |
---|---|---|---|---|
maxwell.rb | C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google SketchUp 8\Plugins | /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/plugins | ||
maxwell (folder) | ||||
Skp2Mxs.dll | C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google SketchUp 8\Exporters | |||
Skp2Mxs.plugin | /Applications/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp.App/Contents/PlugIns |
Relocating the Plugin Outside of SketchUp's Plugins Folder
Optionally, you may elect to move maxwell.rb and the maxwell folder to any location you wish.
If these are moved out of SketchUp's standard plugins directory, SketchUp will no longer find, and will therefore no longer load, the plugin. To get things working again, all that is required is to make a new Ruby file (that is just a regular text file with the extension .rb) which will be responsible for loading maxwell.rb from its new location. One might name that file something like maxwell_loader.rb, and it would need to contain just a single line (note the use of forward slashes in the path; they should be used whether you are on Windows or Mac OSX):
require "C:/the/directory/where/maxwell/rb/is/now/located/maxwell.rb"
You would then need to place this maxwell_loader.rb file in the standard SketchUp plugins directory; at startup, SketchUp will find it and execute the require
statement, loading the plugin from its new custom location. This strategy is used extensively during development: code is written and compiled for the most part on one machine, while being run and tested on multiple machines (and OSes). Using this strategy ensures that exactly the same code runs, regardless if it is being loaded from the local machine, or over the network.
Troubleshooting
If the plugin menu and/or toolbars do not show up in SketchUp after installing, the first thing to do is to go to SketchUp’s Preferences > Extensions panel and make sure the Maxwell for SketchUp extension is enabled.
Windows
The plugin’s installer is not capable of uninstalling some very old versions of Maxwell’s SketchUp plugin. If you have any doubt about whether one of these might be installed, use Windows Programs and Features (Add or Remove Programs in XP) to verify that you do not find any entries named similar to MaxwellExport (Version 2.x).
If such a plugin is indeed currently installed, you should also find a MaxwellExport.dll (actual name may vary slightly) in your SketchUp Extensions directory. If not removed, this will cause the new plugin to malfunction; for example, it may start two instances of Maxwell Render when rendering, or one, when attempting to write an MXS file or render in Maxwell Fire. If you find that any of the above things are true, it will be necessary to remove the old plugin components:
- 1. Use Windows Programs and Features to uninstall the old plugin.
- 2. Delete any Maxwell-related .dll files from [SketchUp 8]\Extensions.
- 3. Delete any Maxwell-related files and folders from [SketchUp 8]\Plugins.
- 4. Use Windows Programs and Features to Repair the new plugin.
Mac OSX
The installer expects to find SketchUp in its standard location. When this is the case, the installation will be accomplished automatically, as described above. If, however, you have installed SketchUp in a non-standard location, it will be necessary to extract the contents of this package (right-click, Show Package Contents) and install the plugin’s components manually. If this is necessary, extract and place the Skp2Mxs.plugin file into the folder on your machine which corresponds with (this item only applies to the Render Suite plugin):
/Applications/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp.app/Contents/PlugIns
Then, extract and place the file maxwell.rb and the maxwell folder into the folder on your machine which corresponds with (this item applies to both the Render Suite and Standalone plugins):
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/plugins
If previous versions of the Maxwell plugin are present (i.e. SkpToMxs.plugin, MaxwellExport.rb, and the Maxwell folder), it will be necessary to delete them manually before installing new plugin files.
Uninstallation
Uninstalling the plugin is accomplished differently, depending on OS, and the plugin distribution used.
On Windows
For the standard installer-based distribution, uninstallation is accomplished using the Programs and Features window in Windows Control Panel, or by running the installer again, and choosing the Remove option. For the universal .zip-based plugin, uninstallation is simply the reverse of installation: delete maxwell.rb and the maxwell folder from your SketchUp Plugins folder.
On Mac OSX
Here, uninstallation is the same regardless of the installer used; it involves deleting maxwell.rb and the maxwell folder from your SketchUp Plugins folder. If you are using the Render Suite plugin, you should also delete the plugin's exporter, which resides directly inside of SketchUp.app:
- 1. In Finder, open Macintosh HD/Applications/Google SketchUp 8.
- 2. Right-click SketchUp.app and choose Show Package Contents.
- 3. Delete SketchUp.app/Contents/Plugins/Skp2Mxs.plugin.
After deleting these files and folders, empty the Trash, and reboot the machine.