Vue…
Hey gang, whats crackin =)
Just wanted to give my 1st impressions of Vue, thought you guys may find it interesting…
I downloaded the PLE from the E-On site intent on learning it well enough to be able to post something for their contest. Installed pretty easy, no hassle there…
The interface is deep w/ plenty of features that may seem overwhelming at 1st, but if youre used to 3D applications its a pretty quick and easy adjustment. The PLE edition does have plenty of presets to get one started and tutorials for the program are easy to come by. I wouldnt say its the program itself easy or intuitive, and alot of its basic concepts are not soo easy to grasp. I definitely need MORE time to be comfortable to produce something worthy of their contest entry. Experimentation and exploration are the way to go, and youll have to apply all that “artsy” knowledge for your imagery created in it…
Adding objects and applying materials is not too complex, and the preset atmopsheres look awesome. The camera is not the nicest of “creatures”, I found it difficult getting the “right” angle at times, between the camera and the camera target, its easy to loose that perfect POV. For the most part, all I used so far are terrians, and they do have some great features… The best feature of Vue is probably its “ecosystem” feature, and while it will take time to master, applying/creating ecosystems isnt -that- difficult. So far, Ive not had time to “play” w/ things like booleans, space warps, the material editor or lighting, Ill get to that soon. As the contest is for a landscape, Ill concentrate my energies there, mountains, ecosystems and atmosphere =)
Vue has an awesome look and feel to its renders, Global Illumination is “VERY” easy to achieve (Ive not seen anything for HDRI as yet?!?) and “forresting” flush fields w/ trees and foliage is a snap. The 4 views is an awesome help for scene building, and the scene object list on the side is another plus, making it easy to see, pick and manipulate scene objects.
Now the down side =(
For one, it crashed a bit too much for my taste… The ecosystem gave me a bit of drama, when using my own objects, and “painting” the ecosystem isnt that easy to control. On first thoughts, Id have to say the Carrara replicator tool is superior to Vues ecosystem feature (however Carrara has no plant generator =B). I actually found the terrain generator unappealling, its just not no where near as good as the one in Bryce. Even though the Vue atmospheres are some of the best Ive ever seen, I couldnt make heads or tails of the editor, ONLY because there is no sky preview from which to work with.
Its best features are the hardest to “master” I suppose, that goes w/ any program =B
I couldnt help but find myself “comparing” Vue to my other 3D programs. I suppose we all do that, in the end, you either like something or you dont and in the end, for all its “minor” flaws, I do like Vue =) I wouldnt mind having a copy of Esprit when it goes on sale for 100…..
Ah, but its only the 10th, and I have 20 more days to see what I can learn and do w/ Vue =)
The Digital Surrealist the art of Paris Wells
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Category: thepixelpalladium
