Next Limit Technologies will launch Maxwell Render 1.5 in mid-May, which will bring a great number of improvements, new features and enhancements for new and existing customers, including:
* Core enhancements: Key parts of the engine have been rewritten, resulting in many fantastic improvements, bringing the quality of rendered images to a completely new level. Memory handling has been greatly enhanced. This version uses much less memory than version 1.1, making it possible to render at very high resolutions (for example at 8000 x 6000 with less than 2 GB of Ram) without losing quality. As a consequence of the core enhancements, memory-intensive tasks such as glare, Multilight with a lot of emitters, large geometries and a lot of heavy textures are improved. Additionally, MXI files can always be re-rendered/ resumed and the size of the MXI files is around 3,5 times smaller in the new version.
* Maxwell Studio and the Maxwell Material Editor have been rewritten, resulting in great improvements in usability and performance and better "look and feel" and workflow for the users.
* 32 bits output: It is now possible to set the output image format to HDR directly inside Maxwell Render.
* Network: Maxwell Render's networking option has been vastly improved and optimized, making it more stable and faster, with the possibility for users to see a coop preview image, a preview image of each node and to select machines by name or IP.
* Linux version: A Linux version will be available with 1.5.
* Plug-ins: All current plug-ins are compatible with Maxwell Render1.5, and many of them have been further improved, especially the LightWave plug-in.
In terms of licensing changes, they consist of the following:
With the release of Maxwell Render 1.5, Next Limit is changing its licensing policy in a number of areas. Standard licenses will now have no CPU or Core restrictions. Maxwell Render 1.5 licenses will be issued per machine, irrelevant of how many CPU cores the machine has. Performance of Maxwell Render will be dependant on the hardware being used, not restricted by the license. Prices of Standard licences will be maintained ($995/ â¬895/ Â¥118.000).
Because there are many existing Maxwell Render customers using multiple single-core or dual-core machines within the old "4 CPU core" restriction, Next Limit will not introduce a new policy that will disadvantage them in any way. Therefore, Maxwell Render 1.5 will recognize existing licenses as four Standard licenses. Each existing license will be usable with up to four machines, regardless of how many CPU cores are on each machine.
Next Limit is also introducing a new Maxwell RenderNode license that is aimed at those users who are using their own extra machines as nodes for increased rendering speeds and capacity.
These new Node licenses will give users infinite possibilities for expanding the number of machines used in their personal render farms. Maxwell RenderNode licenses will be priced at â¬295/ $395/ Â¥49.770 each.
Next Limit is keen to provide software and licensing solutions that are flexible and provide larger organizations with the tools and support they need to use Maxwell Render in their workflows, irrespective of numbers of users, machines or licenses.
Next Limit wants to support the development of commercial render farm services that can provide contracted and ad-hoc additional rendering capacity, and other rendering services.
From the launch date until the end of June 2007, Maxwell Render Standard licenses will come with three free RenderNode licenses, allowing new customers to use Maxwell Render on up to four machines for the same price as one Standard license.
Next Limit Technologies (www.nextlimit.com) is based in Madrid, Spain, and invents, develops and markets software for architectural visualization, 3D simulation, product design and animation. Inventors of RealFlow, a fluid and dynamics simulation tool used in many high-end film productions such as POSEIDON, Next Limit Technologies also develops photorealistic rendering solutions: Maxwell Render (www.maxwellrender.com), the Light Simulator. Ideal for engineers, designers and architects, Maxwell Render offers ease of use, extremely detailed lighting and unparalleled quality.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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