Maxwell Render | 3D Design News, Software Releases & More

Opening Times and Christmas Deals

December 20, 2019December 20, 2019 by CAD Software Direct

It’s been another strong year for 3D modeling and rendering. We’ve seen major releases in Vectorworks 2020 demonstrating considerable performance boosts, KeyShot 9 adding GPU rendering and RealCloth, a Maxwell 5 engine re-write built for speed, and so much more than we can list here.

As always, we’d like to extend our sincere thanks to all of our customers and partners for making this another great year, and we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. With both the year and decade drawing to a close, it’s time to send off 2019 in style.

CAD Software Direct Opening Times

Our offices are open as normal on December 23rd, so any orders placed before then will be processed as usual. We will do everything we can to get late orders back to you before the break, and there will be limited order processing between Christmas and the New Year. Otherwise we’ll be back to work and sending out orders first thing on January 2nd.

Christmas and New Year Offers – Up to 50% OFF RRP

25% OFF All Purchases
Offer until December 31st

Vectorworks Offer

Excludes Service Select renewals, Dongles, Shipping, Reinstatements, and Prorated cost of adding to the service select contract.

20% OFF A New Licence
Offer until January 6th

Maxwell Render Offer

50% OFF New Licences, 30% OFF Plugin versions
Offer until January 6th

RealFlow Offer

15% OFF RRP on Rhino 6 Licences and Upgrades
Offer until January 2nd

Rhino Offer

15% OFF the V-Ray + Rhino Bundle
Comes with FREE Affinity Photo
Offer until January 2nd

V-Ray Rhino Bundle Offer

£50 OFF A New ZBrush Licence
Offer until January 2nd

ZBrush Offer

£50 OFF A New Artlantis Licence
Offer until January 2nd

Artlantis Offer

If you have any questions or would like further information, give us a call on 01206 804984 or send an email to contact@cadsoftwaredirect.com

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
from all of us at CAD Software Direct!

Corona for SketchUp – What Happened?

December 12, 2019December 12, 2019 by CAD Software Direct

While the latest news surrounding Corona for SketchUp may have been announced way back in 2018, we are still seeing search activity on Corona for SketchUp. Here’s a little bit about what happened, and some alternative suggestions.

In early 2018, the team behind Corona admitted that the SketchUp plugin was not successful due to a small team of developers undertaking work before moving on to other projects. Little progress was made and some development roadblocks surfaced, which combined with limited manpower dedicated to the plugin, pulled the project to a halt.

It was around this time as well that Chaos Group released version 3.6 of their highly successful V-Ray for SketchUp plugin. After seeing where their own project was at, and comparing it to Chaos Group’s offering, the Corona developers decided it best to concentrate their efforts into Corona for 3ds Max and Corona for Cinema 4D – especially as the Corona team have since joined to become part of Chaos Group themselves.

It is a possibility that a unified API for Corona and V-Ray, or a universal export format may appear at some point, but this is far from an official plan so don’t hold out hope on this one.

Corona for SketchUp Alternatives

Fortunately, there are a wealth of renderers for SketchUp.

V-Ray for SketchUp offers easy photo-realistic rendering for artists and designers in architecture, interior design, film and games design as well as visual effects and much more.

Maxwell Render is available as a plugin for SketchUp as well as a standalone package. Maxwell Render provides unbiased rendering for stunning lighting and realism.

KeyShot is a standalone render that can be used with SketchUp files. This is ideal for photo-realistic product shots.

If you’d like to know more about which render is best for you, contact us or find out more at CAD Software Direct.

Cyber Monday Deals Now Live

December 2, 2019November 29, 2019 by CAD Software Direct

Black Friday might be behind us, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still deals to be had. If anything, these are even better! Check out the links below and grab a big discount.

20% OFF New Licenses, Upgrades and Add-Ons
Offer until 6th December

Enter CMKEYSHOT at Checkout!

KeyShot Offer

Excludes EDU and Maintenance products. KeyShot for ZBrush not included.

40% OFF perpetual licenses when purchased with Service Select
Offer until 5pm Tuesday December 3rd

Contact Us for the Vectorworks Offer

Those who have previously purchased a Vectorworks licence or Vectorworks Service Select maintenance agreement are ineligible.

First introduced on Black Friday, these deals below expire today so now is your last chance!

20% OFF All New Licenses / 10% OFF All Upgrades
Maxwell Render and RealFlow
Ends 5pm Today

15% OFF MSRP on SketchUp Annual Subscriptions
Ends 5pm Today

Enter BFSKETCHUP at Checkout

SketchUp Offer

If you’d like more information about any of the deals, email us on contact@cadsoftwaredirect.com

Black Friday is Here (and Cyber Monday on the way!)

November 29, 2019November 29, 2019 by CAD Software Direct

It’s that time of year again, and there’s some big discounts to be had this time around. Take a look below for what’s available right now.

20% OFF All New Licenses / 10% OFF All Upgrades
Maxwell Render and RealFlow
Offer until 5pm Monday 2nd December

15% OFF MSRP on SketchUp Subscriptions
Offer until 5pm Monday 2nd December

Enter BFSKETCHUP at Checkout!

SketchUp Offer

Save 15% on Trimble’s MSRP when purchasing up to 5 new SketchUp Pro annual termed subscription seats. Discount only applies to the first year term. Offer available until 03.12.19 06:59 (UTC) through participating resellers only. The promotion does not apply to previously placed orders. Not valid in conjunction with any other offer. Not valid for SketchUp Pro Classic licenses or any other SketchUp license type, Maintenance & Support fees, or Reinstatement fees. Valid in UK and Ireland only. Non-transferrable.

Trimble Inc. reserves the right to cancel or modify part or all of this promotion at any time without notice, for any reason in its sole discretion.

10% OFF a 1 year or more Subscription of Cinema 4D
Offer valid November 29th only

Contact Us for the Cinema 4D Offer

As for Cyber Monday, December 2nd, watch our blog, social channels and website for deals you won’t want to miss on Vectorworks and KeyShot.

If you’d like more information about any of the upcoming deals, or would like to be notified, email us on contact@cadsoftwaredirect.com

Maxwell 5 Launches Today

October 31, 2019October 31, 2019 by CAD Software Direct

The physically-correct, unbiased spectral engine at the core of Maxwell not only produces beautiful images, but also lighting-accurate simulations. You may have heard in the past that Maxwell achieved such high quality by being quite slow, something Next Limit themselves will admit.

With Maxwell 5, the story has changed. A fully rewritten multi-GPU core now delivers final results in minutes and accurate previews in mere seconds.

With the latest version now released, anybody who pre-ordered their upgrade can now download it from their Next Limit Customer Portal.

As an added bonus, the pre-order offer has been extended to November 4th, so you’ve got a little longer to lock in your upgrade price if you haven’t already!

Plugins Available

Plugins Coming Soon for Download

Maxwell 5 Features

V-Ray Importer

Additive Materials in GPU

Lights Group

GPU FIRE

Multi-GPU

With multiple GPUs working in parallel, you’ll get the most accurate renders available on the market without compromise on speed.

Cloud

A brand new Cloud Rendering Service gives you access to some of the most powerful machines available to speed up your render times and productivity. Easily dispatch cloud render jobs straight from Maxwell to free your computer from high CPU loads so you can get on with more important things.

Visit CAD Software Direct to find out more about Maxwell 5, or contact us if you have any questions.

Maxwell 5 Upgrade Pre-Order

October 16, 2019October 16, 2019 by CAD Software Direct

Next Limit have launched the Maxwell 5 upgrade pre-order!

This release of Maxwell Render has been long awaited, and you patient Maxwell users deserve an exclusive offer to reward your trust and support.

If you’re an existing Maxwell Render user, you can get a Maxwell 5 license before anyone else, at a never seen before price – it’s the lowest upgrade price ever!

Don’t wait to upgrade. This offer will end whenever Maxwell 5 launches.

Upgrades are sold as individual licenses, and the upgrade price is the same whether you’re upgrading from V4 or even V1!

Upgrade to Maxwell 5

At Least 15% Off Sale This Summer

July 12, 2019July 17, 2019 by CAD Software Direct

We don’t need any excuse other than the sun being out to celebrate summer with some discounts!

From now until August 30th 2019, we’ve got at least 15% OFF RRP on a wide range of 3D software. Whether you’re in product design, mechanical engineering, visual effects or architecture, you’ll find a good deal.

Save on Altair

Enter SUMMER15 at checkout on Evolve and Inspire.

Leverage solidThinking’s robust solution set for Model-Based Development, Concept Design and Manufacturing Simulation.

Inspire
Powerful and easy-to-use Generative Design/Topology Optimisation and rapid simulation solution for design engineers.

Evolve
A high quality 3D Hybrid Modeling and Rendering environment that enables industrial designers to evaluate, research and visualise designs.

Save on Thea Render

Enter SUMMER15 at checkout on Thea for SketchUp, Thea for Rhino and Thea for Cinema 4D.

Unbiased, Biased and GPU Rendering
Thea Render is a physically-based global illumination renderer of high quality, using state-of-the-art techniques.

Presto Engine
Thea Presto is an advanced rendering engine that has been written from the ground up and is optimised for simultaneous GPU (NVIDIA & AMD) and CPU execution, maximising your computing power.

Save on Maxwell

Enter EXSUMMER15 at checkout on all new licenses of Maxwell V4 including Maxwell for SketchUp, Maxwell for 3ds Max and more.

Non-biased rendering – Maxwell Render Studio is a standalone render engine for making perfect images, films and animations from 3D models. It is the complete solution for anyone who demands immaculate results on a deadline. Maxwell Render is now also available as a plugin for a wide range of modellers. Please visit our Maxwell Render category for more information.

Save on RealFlow

Enter EXSUMMER15 at checkout on all new licenses of RealFlow including RealFlow Cinema 4D, RealFlow 3ds Max and more.

Save on formZ

Enter EXSUMMER15 at checkout on formZ Jr and formZ Pro.

Architectural 3D – formZ pro is the full version ready to assist you with all of your 3D modeling needs. Animation, layout, and a customizable interface are all here. If you can imagine a form, you can build it with formZ pro. formZ Pro is a general purpose 3D solids and surface modeler. Not only can you build any form you imagine with formZ, it can also ignite discoveries of forms that you may not have thought of otherwise. formZ, the 3D form synthesizer, is above all a 3D modeling program, even though it also includes drafting, rendering and animation. Additional photorealistic rendering is offered by formZ RenderZone.

Save on BobCAD

Enter SUMMER15 at checkout on BobCAD products including BobCAD Mill and BobCAD Lathe.

CAD-CAM Solutions for Your CNC Business
Faster cuts with a modern interface, BobCAD-CAM is powerful, modular software designed to help shops of all sizes.

CAM Software and Modules
Machine parts faster and easier with BobCAD-CAM. Alternatively, leverage the Solidworks environment with BobCAM for time-saving toolpath capabilities right within Solidworks.

Support & Maintenance
BobCAD-CAM offer a variety of Email, Standard and Premium support packages for both BobCAD-CAM and BobCAM for Solidworks to fit any budget. Advantage Plans are also available to allow you to always work in an up-to-date CAD/CAM development environment. Stay competitive and improve operational efficiency with the most current tool to maximise your investment.

30% OFF New Maxwell Render Licenses – Very Limited Time Offer

May 16, 2019 by CAD Software Direct

The International Day of Light is held on May 16th every year to commemorate the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser in 1960 by physicist and engineer, Theodore Maiman. This year, we’re celebrating the International Day of Light with a big discount on the most precise lighting software around.

New licenses of Maxwell Render purchased on May 16th or 17th will get a 30% discount when MAXWELL30 is entered at checkout.

Get the Discount >

Maxwell 4 | SketchUp 2019 is Here.

April 16, 2019 by CAD Software Direct

Maxwell 4 | SketchUp 2019 is officially here to give you the best of Maxwell for SketchUp. You can even get 10% OFF Maxwell at CAD Software Direct throughout April.

Maxwell for SketchUp

Maxwell for SketchUp is really simple to set up – just install the plugin and you’re off. Maxwell | SketchUp offers seamless integration with SketchUp Pro, allowing you to work comfortably within the SketchUp interface.

Maxwell has been specifically designed for rendering in SketchUp with a simple yet comprehensive toolbar, giving you advanced Maxwell Render technology in a simple, self-contained package.

April Deals: Vectorworks, Maxwell Render and More!

April 3, 2019 by CAD Software Direct

April has arrived, and now is a great time to save on Vectorworks, Maxwell Render, Realflow and formZ! Check out our current offers below which are running from now until the end of April.

Vectorworks – Get Current with 50% OFF

Time to Get Current by upgrading to Vectorworks 2019 at a 50% discount when purchasing a year of VSS before April 30th. When upgrading Fundamentals, take advantage of an additional 50% OFF when upgrading to Architect, Landmark or Spotlight!

Eligible customers must be in the UK & Ireland only, and not currently on VSS.

Vectorworks Offer >

Maxwell Render – 10% OFF

Get 10% OFF when you enter APRIL10 at checkout before April 30th. Maxwell Render is a render engine for making perfect images, films and animations from 3D models. It is the complete solution for anyone who demands immaculate results on a deadline. Maxwell Render is now also available as a plugin for a wide range of modellers including Maxwell for SketchUp and Maxwell for Cinema 4D.

Maxwell Render Offer >

Realflow – 10% OFF

Get 10% OFF when you enter APRIL10 at checkout before April 30th. RealFlow is an industry-standard, out-of-the-box fluid simulation software. Fast and easy to use, it is compatible with all major 3D platforms, as well as Realflow for Maya and Realflow for Cinema4D.

Realflow Offer >

formZ – 10% OFF

Get 10% OFF when you enter APRIL10 at checkout before April 30th. formZ Pro is a general purpose 3D solids and surface modeler. Not only can you build any form you imagine with formZ, it can also ignite discoveries of forms that you may not have thought of otherwise. formZ, the 3D form synthesizer, is above all a 3D modeling program, even though it also includes drafting, rendering and animation.

formZ Offer >