http://mxmgallery.maxwellrender.com/
Some rather interesting materials there.
Good idea I reckon, we should start something up similar perhaps, maybe in conjunction with the ChaosSquid??
Yeah, saw that site. Did any of you read this? http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ThomasAnag/Misc/Maxwell/Materials/Instructions-StndMatScene.pdf
Someone put a bunch of thought into that little critter. I’d be interested in seeing something similar for Vray, as well as a similar representative model/scene that would be more suitable to exterior arch vis. It would be handy for comparing materials under a controlled setting (lighting, render settings, etc.).
Whatcha think?
Wow, no I didnt see that.. very interesting!!!
I guess those maxwell chaps have plenty of time on their hands to work on stuff like this anyway hehehe
Yeah I would to create a vray material database such as the maxwell one. Would be very handy!!
That is really great. So what do we create 2 scenes one interior one exterior? Or 1 interior diffuse 1 exterior diffuse/direct so we can see a material in shadow or is that overkill?
yeah i think there would need to be 2 scenes, like you mentioned.. with the exterior scene I would think only one scene would be required, and it could just be lit and modelled in a way where you have direct and indirect lighting visible.
some nice maxwell materials.
Good idea setting up a vray materials database, attaching it to chaossquid would be a great place for it
Yeah I guess thats what I meant. I love some of the features of that widget air bubbles and transparency bar. I might want more horizontal surfaces and it seems that if you use a transparancy bar a scale might be nice so you could adjust the sss amount and know if what you are seeing will work for a wine glass or an ice cube.
Then you could change out the widget thing for the standard max sphere in the material editor and you will be ready to roll 
Im quite sure we could make something up that would be compareable.
And maybe some mini scafolding and a few walls for the arch materials 
If people are interested enough in this I might start up a new thread so we can get cracking on it.
I imagine people will be very interested.
i guess it will help out the community so its a good thing
yeah, who wouldnt want quality vray materials 
And in the end Vlado might even choose to include some in later builds of Vray, or bring out a materials pack or something. Would be good to have some presets.
yeah good ideas !
Best part would be that all materials would be made in the same context, so the materials would all look as expected and work together.
For both scenes, I would suspect vray sun/sky for light (although different mults or exposures), and an appropriate hi-res hdri for reflections would be a good place to start. Probably vraycamera too? (Plus a caustics source for mats that would use it…) Opinons?
I was kind of thinking the opposite not sun/sky (for the interior) it seems to me the main objective is to provide a neutral environ where you can view the material independent of other color interactions. This controll I would imagine to be very important for testing materials. This is differnt than a default scene where you can see the material interacting with an environ. Basically the idea of the material test is a control of just a giant material browser swatch. That is what Thomas An is showing and I really like that idea.
Well, I suppose that depends upon your goal. If you want to scientifically analyze (which seems to be what maxwellians are obsessed with), then you want things as neutral as possible.
I was thinking though, that I’d prefer to see how each material would look in a real-world situation. Controlled, for sure, so we could make comparisons. But a real situation since none of my projects are inside a light box.
Also, I’d love to have these swatches to use for clients to select from. But if these were done in a white light box, I’m going to continue to hear from clients “why does it look like it has a yellow cast?” or “why are some of the shadows bluish?”. Aaaargh! I’d rather compare things in the light where they’ll be used just like the simulated sunlight they have at the paint store, rather than putting them in a color-neutral enviro.
What do others think?
Yeah i think maybe we should have one generic light box which all materials are shown on, and then a few specific mini scenes for things like arch materials. To see how those sorts of materials really acting in the appropriate setting.
Sounds ok?
Well, I’m of the opinion that they should be initially setup/rendered in a neutral environment of some sort. Then, you or I could take it and render the samples using the environment of our rendering to show it to our clients with the blue shadows, yellow tint, etc.
I don’t know about you, but our materials frequently look very different in different scenes because of lighting setup and where they are in the model.
I hear you. I can see both sides. Certainly, I’d like the controlled lightbox setup to see the physical characteristics of a material’s response to light. I’m just tired of the hassles. I wish I could have people pick a color swatch that actually looks somewhat like it will look in the rendering. Because no matter how many times I explain it, *that’s* what they are looking for.
So… who’s gonna do it?
sounds like you know what you want scott! you can do it
I will start a thread a little later on. Then we can start gathering ideas for the scene/models/lightbox, instead of bulking out this thread, plus it will be in the general section and not with a subject of maxwell which alot of people may just not bother with.. :lol: