Vue 7 xStream and Cinema 4D Training Video

asileFX has a new 276 minute long set of videos on using Vue 7 xStream and Cinema 4D available to buy from their web site.

Making Rivers that Follow Terrain Heights

Silverblade has posted a new tutorial for Vue showing a method for making a river look good in a terrain that isn't flat by having it follow the terrian's heights.

CGSociety Challenge XXIV - Secret Agent

CGSociety's Challenge XXIV - Secret Agent runs till 10th September and e-on software is one of the sponsors with copies of Vue 7.5 Infinite and Vue 7.5 xStream amongst the prizes.

Cinema 4D Sidegrade Offer

I've heard from a couple of people that Maxon are offering a 50% off sidegrade offer for Vue users to get Cinema 4D. It's not listed on the offer page but apparently they've asked and been told that Vue qualifies.

Vue Complete 7.4 - Build 43145

A new update is available for Vue 7.4 Complete, Pro Studio and Esprit Build 43145 is now available from the e-on software web site for registered users.

• Various fixes and optimization with layered EcoSystems.
• Improved rendering speed with Dynamic EcoSystems.
• Corrected saving directory path mismatch when rendering with Rendercows on MacOS.
• Various fixes an improvements for network rendering and batch rendering (external renderer).
• Improved memory usage for network rendering.
• Fixed a possible size issues when rendering animations using Tile rendering.
• Improved 3DConnexion support.
• Fixed a possible crash when hiding sun from render while rendering spectral clouds.
• Fixed Python module (esp SkinVue support).

Capturing the Brilliance of Light ReVue

Capturing the Brilliance of Light is the second commercial tutorial from Dax at QuadSpinner consists of two main parts. The first half is a look through the terrain editor while the second moves on to cover several short projects that illustrate different types of outdoor lighting.

The first part is a detailed, 35 minutes look thorough Vue’s atmosphere editor tabs that influence a scene’s lighting when working with a spectral model atmosphere. Dax works through the different control illustrating their influence on a scene using a simple Vue terrain. In the second part Dax moves on to the first of his projects in which he look at lighting an early morning scene. The second project covers lighting a cave or sink hole looking in from outside while the third covers lighting a sea cave with a watery interior. Finally Dax examines the tricky art of producing Godrays with two different scenes.

Alongside the systematic coverage of the tools and step by step projects there are some useful tips on using Vue 7 to achieve realistic lighting. Dax focuses on creating realistic skies which are sometimes, as in the case of god rays, dramatic but also sometimes preferring to create less dramatic, more mundane lighting in order to create a more realistic, and so ultimately, believable image.

The video is sixty-seven minutes long. It doesn’t suffer from long pauses for renders or covering mundane tasks unrelated to achieving the tasks covered. This is an issue that plagues some video tutorials I’ve seen and I’m thankful it isn’t an issue with any of the makers of Vue’s video tutorials. The video is an easy to watch 1280pc by 800px and the quality of the audio is good. Dax has a good, clear speaking voice which remains easy to listen to and follow throughout. Again, thankfully unlike some training videos I’ve watched recently, the curse of a monotonous, dull delivery did not threaten to bore me to sleep within the first five minutes because of this the odd um, eh and ah are entirely forgivable and add a human quality to the voiceover.

Overall a very good video tutorial which provides detailed coverage of the atmosphere editor and some useful projects.

Two New Lighting Tutorials

Geekatplay studios continue their regular stream of video tutorials for Vue with two new tutorials in their lighting series. The first, 22 minute tutorial, covers lighting a dark forest while the second, 21 minute video, goes over some of the basic properties of types of light in Vue.

Reseting Vue

Chipp has posted a useful guide on how to reset Vue's configuration file.

Ancient Egypt Competition

There are just ten days left to put together an entry for Cornucopia3D's Ancient Egypt competition.

Capturing the Brilliance of Light - Vue Video Tutorial

Dax at QuadSpinner has released a second commercial Vue 7 video tutorial "Capturing the Brilliance of Light". In 67 minutes he covers:

• Global Radiosity
• The atmosphere editor including the influence of Haze, Fog, Light Decay, Scattering Anistropy and Cloud Anistropy and Aerial Perspective
• How to easily create God-rays
• Reflected light
• Producing bright sunlit scenes
• Lighting caves, grottos, sinkholes and similar scene
• Control the colors of the sky to create realistic renders

I'll be posting a full review of the tutorial here in the next few days.

Modeling Railway Track's in Vue Tutorial

GillB has a new tutorial on her web site about modeling a railway track from a picture in Vue go to Gill's web site and then Tutorials >> Vue >> Bitmap Modelling.

Geekatplay studio Tutorials on Terrains and Round Planets in Vue

Geekatplay studio has put out new video tutorials on creating a Round planet in Vue 7.5 and creating a realistic terrain in Vue.

E-on Software News - June 15, 2009

e-on Software has put out its latest newsletter with information about the latest Vue 3D Environment Competition, AsileFX's SnowFlake, The Metanode Collection, Making of "Refueling at OrMorFour" by Patrick Merminod and Rhythm & Hues' use of Vue on Brad Silberling's "Land of the Lost".

Vue 3D Environment Competition 2009

WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED AT SIGGRAPH 2009!

June 15, 2009. Beaverton, Oregon: e-on software, maker of the leading solutions for natural 3D environments, in association with Maxon, Pixologic, 3D Total, 3Dconnexion, Cornucopia3D and 3D World Magazine, today announced the fourth edition of the "Vue 3D Environment Competition", designed to showcase the capabilities of 3D technology for CG environments.

Any version of Vue - including the Pioneer and the Personal Learning Edition (PLE) which are available at no charge- can be used to enter the competition (standalone or in combination with any other 3D application).

Judging will be based solely on the quality, realism and artistic merit of the entries, not on the version of Vue used to create them.

With 8 prestigious judges representing the different fields of the 3D Industry, this competition is a unique chance for anybody to see their work exposed to the eyes of industry experts, as well as winning a complete 3D toolkit (over $11,000 worth of prizes).

Get Noticed!

The "Vue 3D Environment Competition 2009" judges are all leading figures in the world of 3D graphics, representing the Motion Picture, Game, Media and Broadcast industries:

• Paul Huston – Digital Matte Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic
• Scott Brisbane – Digital Matte Painter, Rhythm & Hues
• Max Dennison – CEO and Senior Environments TD, Matte Painting UK
• Eran Dinur - Senior Digital Artist, LucasFilm Animation Singapore
• Stephane Belin – Senior Concept Artist, Electronic Arts
• Susumu Yukuhiro – Matte Painting Supervisor, Whiskytree
• Tom Greenway – Editor, 3DTotal.com
• Jim Thacker – Editor, 3D World magazine

Win a complete 3D Toolkit!

The winner of the "Vue 3D Environment Competition 2009" will receive a complete 3D arsenal worth over $6,500 including: Maxon Cinema4D XL Bundle ($2,495), Vue 7.5 xStream ($1,495), a 3D Total Mega Bundle (worth over $1,300), Pixologic ZBrush 3.1 – with free upgrade to ZBrush 4 ($595), 1 3Dconnexion SpaceExplorer ($299), 1 year subscription to 3D World magazine ($150), $100 voucher for Cornucopia3D content, and a 1 year subscription to 3D Creative and 2D Artist magazines ($81.2).

The first runner up will receive Maxon Cinema4D Core ($995), Vue 7.5 Infinite ($895), 1 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator SE ($99), 1 year subscription to 3D World magazine ($150), 1 year subscription to 3D Creative and 2D Artist magazines ($81.2), and $75 voucher for Cornucopia3D content.

The second runner up will receive Maxon Cinema4D Core ($995), Vue 7.5 Infinite ($895), 1 year subscription to 3D World magazine ($150), 1 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator SE ($99), 1 year subscription to 3D Creative and 2D Artist magazines ($81.2), and $50 voucher for Cornucopia3D content.

Submissions start June 15, 2009 and end July 20, 2009.

The winners of the competition will be announced at the Siggraph show, in New Orleans, on August 04, 2009.

More information and submission guidelines are available at: www.e-onsoftware.com/competition

Vue 7: From the Ground Up Review

Paula Sanders has posted a useful review of Ami and Vladimir Chopine's Vue book Vue 7: From the Ground Up Review.

E-on Software Releases Vue 7.5 and Ozone 4.0 Personal Learning Editions!

E-on Software Releases Vue 7.5 and Ozone 4.0 Personal Learning Editions!

LEARN THE LEADING SOLUTIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL 3D ENVIRONMENTS AT YOUR OWN PACE

June 09, 2009. Beaverton, Oregon: e-on software, maker of the leading solutions for natural 3D environments, today announced the immediate availability of the Personal Learning Editions (PLE) of its solutions for professionals, Vue 7.5 xStream, Vue 7.5 Infinite and Ozone 4.0.

Vue 7.5 Personal Learning Edition

Vue 7.5 xStream and Infinite are the industry-leading solutions for the creation, animation, rendering and integration of natural 3D environments for film, broadcast and architectural visualization.

While Vue Infinite is a standalone application, Vue xStream operates seamlessly inside of 3ds Max, Maya, LightWave, Cinema4D and Softimage|XSI.

The Vue 7.5 PLE is a fully functional version of Vue 7.5 xStream/Infinite. With the PLE, users can:

• Create complete projects,
• Save their work and export to other applications,
• Render stills and animations without size/length limit,
• Experience Vue’s power directly inside Max/Maya/XSI/LightWave/Cinema4D,
• Learn at their own pace (the PLE never expires)!

The Personal Learning Edition ships with a wide selection of Vue 7.5 presets, as well as the complete PDF Reference manual.

Key new technologies available in the Vue 7.5 PLE:

• "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/modified cloud maps)
• Support of the V-Ray renderer for 3ds Max (xStream)
• Color and Alpha masks of single clouds and cloud layers in multi-pass renderer

Users can download the Vue 7.5 PLE at no charge from www.vue7.com/ple

Ozone 4.0 Personal Learning Edition

Ozone 4.0 implements the Spectral 2 cutting-edge technologies developed by e-on software for the simulation and rendering of atmospheric effects directly inside Max/Maya/XSI/LightWave/Cinema4D

Ozone 4.0 atmospheres provide an accurately simulated environment that affects all elements of the scenes, and behaves according to nature’s rules.

The Ozone 4.0 PLE is a fully functional version of Ozone 4.0. With the PLE, users can:

• Use e-on's atmospheric rendering technologies inside of 3ds Max, Maya, XSI, Cinema 4D or LightWave,
• Create entirely new atmospheres or load any of the 150+ included presets and modify them,
• Use any of the 140+ included cloud shapes,
• Animate the atmosphere, the clouds and the sun,
• Render images with no size limit,
• Save and export their work, and
• Learn Ozone 4.0 at their own pace: the PLE never expires!

More information and download instructions are available at:
www.e-onsoftware.com/try/ozone_4.0_ple/

PLE Requirements and Restrictions

The PLE versions of Vue 7.5 and Ozone 4.0 perform under all versions of Windows XP and Vista (32 and 64 bit), and are Universal Binary for Macintosh OSX.

Both PLE versions are for personal, non-commercial use only, files created with the PLE cannot be exchanged with other PLE users and are not compatible with other versions of Vue or Ozone, network rendering through the host application is not available for Vue 7.5 xStream and Ozone 4.0 PLE, and renders may be watermarked and carry a logo.

Lighting in Forest Tutorial for Vue

Geekatplay Studio has a new 24 minute video tutorial on Lighting a Forest scene in Vue.

Vue 7 - Beyond the Basics Reviewed

Digital Image Magazine has a review of Richard Schrand's Vue 7 - Beyond the Basics Reviewed.

Silverblade's Suggested PC Build for Vue

Silverblade has updated his suggested build for a PC for running Vue and other 64 bit applications.

3D World - July 2009 and Vue

This months 3D World magazine is sealed in a cardboard envelope. If you're buying it to find out if there's anything for Vue inside don't waste your money as theres just an advert and a brief report on Vue 7.5's release.