Software

This is not meant to be a full-fledged review but more a quick look at the features this amazing piece of software has to offer. I will write a multi-part review soon but I have not upgraded yet to Version 8 which has just been released. And I will certainly want to have a thorough look at it before.

What Vue Is And What it Isn’t

Vue from e-on Software is a complete software solution for creating 3D renders of virtual worlds. It was designed in particular for the creation of photorealistic landscapes but can also be used to render any other kind of 3D scenes. It also supports animation.

It contains a basic modeler with primitive shapes and boolean operations. You can do a lot with this, but Vue is not a tool for modeling complex objects like airplanes or animals. But it allows you to import any 3D object you wish into your scenes.

Where Vue truly excels is landscape design. And this includes not only terrain but also plants. Fractal mountains, oceans, forests, deserts, you name it. A powerful atmosphere editor lets you create the appropriate sky for your scene.

It comes with a fairly good raytracing engine that is tweakable in many ways. But it should be noted that the rendering engine it is not a physically correct implementation like for example LuxRender.

Modular Concept

Vue is distributed in several versions with varying degrees of complexity. The basic functionality is included in the free version Vue Pioneer. Rendering size is limited and a logo is placed on the pictures, but you can already do quite a lot with it.

For advanced functionalities, 12 modules are supplied that can be bought separately according to your needs. There are several “in-between” verions that include a limited number of modules. The full Vue Complete ($599) obviously comes with all modules. There are also professional verisons called Vue infinite and Vue xStream that offer corporate workflow enhancements and integration into existing 3D production environments.

If you should decide to upgrade from the free Vue Pioneer, I stronlgy recommend that you buy the low end version Vue Esprit ($199) first. Just stacking modules on top of your Vue Pioneer will result in licensing problems with purchased 3D content. I could have saved some money by having known this before…

Basic Features

• Modeling with primitive shapes and boolean operations
• Fractal terrains
• Atmosphere editor for skies, sunlight and clouds
• Import of proprietary 3D objects
• Plants that differ from instance to instance called Solid Growth
• Powerful material editor
• Additional light sources
• Basic animation capability

Additional Modules

• 3DImport: Import of all major 3D object types including Poser and Daz3D figures
• RenderUp: Unlimited resolution for renders, control over all rendering parameters

These two modules are included in the Vue Esprit version

• HyperVue: Parallel rendering on up to 5 network computers
• DeepAccess: Better object and material handling for complex scenes,  batch editing
• LightTune: Advanced lighting control, assign specific lights to specific objects
• Botanica: Customize Solid Growth plants, derive new species from existing ones
• EcoSystem: Populate terrains and any other objects with plants or any other objects, very powerful!
• EcoPainter: Paint with Ecosystems on any terrain or object with the mouse or a graphic tablet
• 3D Exporter: Export scenes or parts from scenes into many formats
• KronosFX: Advanced animation control, support for HD animations
• AdvancedGraph: Very powerful graphical function editor for materials and many other aspects
• Zephyr: Advanced wind control

Cornucopia3D

Cornucopia3D is both a community for Vue artists and a shop for Vue related stuff like models, plants or materials. It is officially supported by e-on Software and it is the only place where you can buy the additional modules. You need a free Cornucopia3D account to register your software (and you need to registerVue in order to run it)

Apart from the fact that for using Vue you are required to have an account there, it is entirely remommendable to have a look around at Cornucopia3D. You can buy lots of interesting stuff, often for low prices, and the forums are a good source of information. There is also a very nice gallery where you can see what can be done with Vue.

Is it Worth the Money?

Apart form the free Vue Pioneer, Vue is not cheap. I suggest to give Vue Pioneer a thorough try and look in the Cornucopia3D gallery what can be done with the more advanced vesions. For me it is worth every penny, but it’s always a matter of personal prefence. In my opinion, there currently is no better software to design 3d landscapes. And Vue is flexible enough to be used as standard renderer for many other purposes as well.

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