The Maxwell Render for Google SketchUp by Next Limit Technologies is a new easy to use render engine that works with Google SketchUp 8. The application is completely integrated into SketchUp allowing for a seamless experience for users. Maxwell Render for SketchUp is a simplified version of their full application Maxwell Render Suite.

When using Maxwell Render in an outside environment the product works great. The materials in your model work with this plugin and those same materials can even be edited within Maxwell. Though a drawback is that each material needs to be selected separately and changed manually.

The rendering time is decent and allows for fairly quick rendering based on settings. A render countdown clock signifying how long is left on the rendering is missing. If a large render is being tackled it seems as if the rendering time is infinite and there really is no knowing how much longer it will take. Though at any point in the rendering the image can be saved without disrupting the rendering. When saving the image there is a drawback as the file formats do not appear and “.jpg” needs to be added manually.

A major issue that is either missing or not obvious on how to do is how to create interior lighting points with the SketchUp Plugin. This option is available with Maxwell Render Suite, but doesn’t seem to be available on the SketchUp version.

Overall, the Maxwell Render for Google SketchUp by Next Limit Technologies is an extremely easy to use rendering engine but with many limitations. At the time of this review this plugin costs $95 for the licensed version and is available at MaxwellRender.com. I give this plugin 3 out 5 stars.

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