Getting Started
form•Z / Maxwell Render Integration
This Maxwell Render plugin has been created with the intention of providing an optimum integration of Maxwell Render with form•Z .
Maxwell Render is integrated in form•Z by means of two plugins. The principal plugin, MaxwellZ.fzp, controls Maxwell Render options and handles the integration of Maxwell materials inside the form•Z materials palette.
If you can see “Maxwell Render” as an option in the form•Z Display menu, the plugins are properly installed and enabled.
The First Step: Making a Rendering
At it’s most basic, rendering a Maxwell image in form•Z a ‘one button’ process:
1. Open form•Z and create a new project. The plugin will ask if you want to create a default Physical Sky light. Click ‘OK.’
2. Create a few simple objects with different materials on a ground plane.
3. Select Display > Maxwell Render. Maxwell will launch as a separate process and render the current form•Z view
What Happened
When you selected Maxwell Render, the Maxwell plugin produced a Maxwell Scene File (MXS) based on your form•Z project, and saved it in the location you specified.
- All visible geometry was translated and embedded in the MXS.
- All your form•Z views were converted into Maxwell Cameras and included in the MXS file. The current view will be rendered; the other views can be accessed if you open the MXS in Studio, Maxwell’s standalone scene editor.
- The scene was set up to be illuminated by the Physical Sky that you created.
- All your active materials were automatically translated into Maxwell Materials and embedded in the MXS file. If your project used embedded image maps from form•Z's predefined materials library, or RenderZone procedural textures, they were converted to bitmap images and saved in a folder called 'Resources' alongside the MXS file.