Developer(s)Next Limit Technologies Initial release26 April 2006; 10 years ago (2006-04-26) Stable release3.2 / 5 October 2015; 16 months ago (2015-10-05) Operating systemLinux (on x86-64)
Mac OS X (on IA-32 and PowerPC)
Microsoft Windows (on IA-32 and x86-64)
Maxwell Render is an unbiased 3D render engine, developed by Next Limit Technologies in Madrid, Spain. This stand-alone software is used in the film, animation, and VFX industry, as well as architectural and product design visualization. It offers various plug-ins for 3D/CAD and post production applications.
Maxwell Render was released to the public as an early alpha in December 2004 (after 2 years of internal development) utilizing a global illumination (GI) algorithm based on a metropolis light transport variation. Next Limit Technologies released Maxwell Render V3.2 in October, 2015.
The physically correct rendering engine was originally used as a tool for animation and visual effects. Maxwell Render’s trademark Multilight feature, that permits the changing of light intensities and colors in real time, was used in the feature film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
General Features
Physically-based Advantages
Accuracy
Advanced Ray Tracing
Physical Sky
Fast Scene Set-up
Multilight™FIRE: Fast Interactive Rendering
Immediate feedback to make adjustments to lighting, materials and camera settings
MaterialsRealistic Camera Model
Real camera parameters: f-Stop, Focal length, Shutter speed, ISO, film size, diaphragm blades
Memory Saving InstancesAccurate 3D Motion BlurHair, Grass and Fur
Compatible with many hair systems: Maya Shave and a Haircut, Maya hair, 3ds Max hair, CINEMA hair, Ornatrix
VolumetricsParticle Rendering
Integration with RealFlow software
Maxwell Sea
Industry Standard Support
Alembic
Deep compositing
Pixar Open SubDiv
Python scripting
Network RenderingPost Production
Post production plug-ins
Channels
Custom Alphas
New Features in V3.2
Virtual reality stereo lenses with two new lens types: Lat/Long and Stereo Fish Lens
PSD Output support: save renders in PSD format in 8, 16 and 32 bits
Extensions API that allow third party developers to develop their own procedural geometries, geometry modifiers, procedural textures, camera lens, etc.
Procedural emitters to apply emitter materials to entities that are not triangle meshes – such as hair/fur, particles and grass.
Separated Reflection & Refraction channels such as “Diffuse”, “Reflections”, “Diffuse + Reflections”, “Refractions”, “Reflections+Refractions”
‘Reflectance’ channel shows plain colors without the influence of global illumination.
Improvements in Multilight editor
‘Asset Reference’ extension can reference many different file formats as the geometries are no longer pre-converted to MXS. Some of the supported formats include: OBJ, FBX, Blender, Alembic, DAE, STL, LXO, 3DS, LWO, 3D, etc.
World-Y Grass allows you to define the overall growth direction of your grass blades towards the world-Y axis (sky direction)
Interaction with other software
Maxwell Render for SketchUp is a simplified version of Maxwell Render, fully integrated into the SketchUp software application. Users can set the camera, lighting and environment, apply SketchUp or Maxwell MXM materials, and render and save image files. It is widely used in product design, architectural and engineering visualization.
