E-on Software Newsletter - April 29, 2009

The latest e-on software newsletter has pretty much the same information as the press release about Vue 7.5.

E-on Software Uncovers Vue 7.5

Vue 7.5 Pre Release Available at no Charge for Users Under Maintenance

April 29, 2009. Beaverton, Oregon: e-on software, maker of Vue, the leading solutions for natural 3D environments, today disclosed the new features available in its upcoming professional solutions, Vue 7.5 xStream and Vue 7.5 Infinite.

Release 7.5 of Vue xStream and Infinite will add significant new functionality to Vue 7. Following the terms of e-on software’s maintenance contracts, users of Vue 7 xStream or Vue 7 Infinite who subscribed to a Standard or Premium maintenance plan will receive the upgrade to the corresponding Vue 7.5 product at no charge.

Users who are not under maintenance may nonetheless purchase the upgrade to Vue 7.5 (see further down for pricing). However, e-on software strongly recommends that they consider subscribing to a maintenance plan instead, as this may prove more cost effective* in the long term (maintenance plans include free upgrades to all .5 and full versions released during the subscription period).

More information on e-on software's maintenance plans can be found at:
http://www.e-onsoftware.com/maintenance

If they wish, users under maintenance can immediately download a pre-release version of Vue 7.5. Users of Vue 7 who subscribe to a maintenance plan today will also be granted access to this pre-release version.

Vue 7.5 xStream and Vue 7.5 Infinite are expected to ship during Q2 2009. Customers who purchased Vue 7 xStream or Infinite within one month of release of Vue 7.5 will receive the upgrade to Vue 7.5 at no cost.

At the time of releasing Vue 7.5, e-on software will also release a Vue 7.4 service pack for all Vue 7 products (including Esprit, Pro Studio and Complete). This service pack will add new functionality to Vue 7 and will be available at no cost for all Vue 7 users.

*The cost of the upgrade to the next version of Vue will be the same whether upgrading from Vue 7 or Vue 7.5.

New features of Vue 7.5

Vue xStream and Vue Infinite are the company's flagship solutions for the creation of natural 3D environments. While Vue Infinite is a standalone application, Vue xStream operates seamlessly inside of 3ds max, Maya, LightWave, Cinema4D and Softimage|XSI. Specifically designed for graphics professionals, these products combine a multitude of cutting edge features that easily integrate into existing production pipelines.

Release 7.5 of Vue adds a number of breakthrough features:

• Support of the V-Ray renderer for 3ds Max (xStream)
• Support of EcoSystem painting in XSI (xStream)
• Color and Alpha masks of single clouds and cloud layers in multi-pass renderer
• "Camera Mapping" to dramatically cut animation render times
• Spherical and planetary procedural terrains with infinite level of detail
• Spherical cloudscapes (procedural, or based on real-world cloud maps)
• Material Painting and effect-driven material mapping in the Terrain Editor
• Enhanced Multi-Processor usage for procedural terrains, Dynamic EcoSystems and panoramic rendering
• Ecosystem populations that can evolve over time
• Cloud layers that cast and receive shadows from other cloud layers and objects in the scene
• Improved OpenGL sky and cloud preview, colored EcoSystem instances
• Other productivity and feature enhancements.

More details on the new features of Vue 7.5 will be disclosed at the time of release.

A selection of new features already available in release 7 includes:

• Direct access and interaction with individual Vue elements inside of compatible applications (xStream)
• Extended compatibility with Mental Ray – integrated and satellites (xStream)
• EcoSystem 3 technology: dynamic population, EcoSystem painting from any angle
• Spectral 2 cloud technology: highly realistic volumetric 3D clouds and cloud layers
• New Radiosity engine optimized for indoor and infinite scenery
• Water Editor: convincing water animation from still lakes to stormy ocean waves
• Global Illumination rendering up to 4 times faster
• Improved SolidGrowth 4 plant technology with high definition species for "hero" plants
• Collada file format import
• Over 160 editable SolidGrowth plant species, with almost 100 species previously only available from Cornucopia3D.com and 20 brand new species.

Standard Retail Price:

Vue 7.5 xStream will retail for $1,495, with upgrades from Vue 7 xStream available for $495. Vue 7.5 Infinite will retail for $895, with upgrades from Vue 7 Infinite available for $295. Other upgrade paths from Vue 6 Infinite and Vue 6 xStream will be available at the time of release.

Annual subscriptions for Educational licenses of Vue xStream and Infinite are available respectively for $149/year/seat and $99/seat/year. Upgrades to Vue 7.5 are free for owners of active educational licenses of Vue 7.

Site licensing discounts are available, contact e-on software for further details and pricing information.

Owners of Vue 7 network rendering licenses who upgrade to Vue 7.5 will receive the corresponding Vue 7.5 network rendering licenses at no cost.

Availability:

Vue 7.5 xStream and Vue 7.5 Infinite will be available in English for Windows XP32/64 and Vista 32/64, and on Mac OSX 10.4 and 10.5 as a 32 bit application (Universal Binary). Vue 7.5 xStream is compatible with the following renderers: Mental Ray for 3ds Max, Maya and XSI (integrated and MR satellites), V-Ray for 3ds Max, and Maya, Cinema4D and LightWave native renderers. Other renderers are under consideration.

FRAMANIP PRO Free

Ranchcomputing are giving away FRAMANIP PRO, an viewer for BMP, TGA, TIF, PNG, JPEG and JPEG2000 frame sequences. FRAMANIP works under Windows XP and Vista and available in 64-bit and 32-bit versions. This is a handy little application for anyone who makes animations with Vue.

Eonite's Clouds for Vue

Dick Scherzinger aka Eonite has posted some nice clouds for Vue in this thread at Renderosity.

Converting from SketchUp 7 to Vue

Chipp Walters has posted a video tutorial on Converting from SketchUp 7 to Vue.

Vue 7 Complete, Vue 7 Pro Studio and Vue 7 Esprit Update

A new, beta update for Vue 7 Complete, Vue 7 Pro Studio, Vue 7 Esprit and all the in between variations of Vue (Build 41213) is now available from e-on software's web site.

3D Artist Issue 1

3D Artist Issue 1 is out now in the UK. It includes a review of Vue 7 Infinite which gave it 8 out of 10 overall. Otherwise no Vue related stuff I could see.

Ozone 4.0 Free Open Beta

ULTRA REALISTIC ATMOSPHERES FOR 3DS MAX, CINEMA4D, LIGHTWAVE, MAYA AND XSI

March 31, 2009. Beaverton, Oregon: e-on software, makers of Vue, the leading solutions for natural 3D environments, and creators of breakthrough spectral atmospheric rendering technologies today announced the immediate availability of a free Open Beta of it’s upcoming Ozone 4.0 Atmospheric Plugin for 3DS Max, Cinema4D, LightWave, Maya and Softimage|XSI.

Ozone 4.0 implements the Spectral 2 cutting-edge technologies developed by e-on software for the simulation and rendering of atmospheric effects. Ozone 4.0 atmospheres provide an accurately simulated environment that affects all elements of the scenes, and behaves according to nature’s rules.

Some of the new features of Ozone 4.0 include:

• Breakthrough Spectral 2™ and Volumetric atmosphere models:

Based entirely on real-world atmospheric behavior, the new Spectral 2™ engine produces ultra-realistic environments with volumetric clouds, accurate light dispersion and natural phenomena such as Godrays. These new technologies realistically model the behavior of our planet's atmosphere to produce all kinds of atmospheric effects.

• Real 3D Clouds:

Highly optimized volumetric cloud layers that you can fly through or easily simulate realistic low-lying fog.

• Super-fast rendering technology:

Despite the staggering complexity of the atmospheric model it features, Ozone 4.0 renders its atmospheric effects at blazing speed, thanks to e-on software’s highly optimized technology.

• Animated clouds and sunsets in a breeze:

Users can realistically animate the atmosphere, the clouds and the sun, making their skies spring to life, all in a wink! Simply set the direction and speed of the wind, the rate of change, and render on!

• Extensive library of over 150 predefined atmospheres:

Ozone 4.0 includes presets for all kinds of atmospheric conditions: bright daytime, bad weather, sunrise, sunset, night time, etc. Customize the atmosphere using dedicated tools and the library of over 140 preset cloud shapes.

A complete and detailed list of features is available at:
www.e-onsoftware.com/ozone

Open Beta

Immediately available, the Ozone 4.0 Open Beta is a free, fully functional version of Ozone 4.0.

The application will expire shortly after the beta period. Commercial work is allowed with the Open Beta, provided that users purchase a full license of the product as soon as it is released commercially.

For more information: www.e-onsoftware.com/ozone.

Pricing and Availability

The Ozone 4.0 Open Beta is available in English for Windows XP and Vista (32 and 64 bits) and Mac OS X 10.4 (Universal Binary).

A single license of Ozone 4.0 will work with all compatible applications and renderers installed on the end user’s system, without requiring the purchase of any Extra Renderer licenses.

• Ozone 4.0 for Maya works with both MentalRay and Maya software renderers.
• Ozone 4.0 for Max and XSI works with MentalRay.
• Ozone 4.0 for LightWave and Cinema4D works with the native renderer.

Ozone 4.0 will retail at US$295, with upgrades from Ozone 3.0 available for $95 and RenderNode network rendering licenses at $95 per node.