Hi everyone, recently I became interested in Vue D'Esprit as a companion to my Poser projects, however, upon looking at the gallery I've noticed that a lot of the images appear to be grainy. I'm wondering if this is something other people have noticed in Vue renders? I'm really interested in the software because it appears to be more capable than Bryce, including it's importing of Poser models options, but the render quality concerns me as well. Thanks!!!!

I don't know what you are looking at, but it really depends on how you render it. I have never had any problems with grainy appearance, of course I usually render in a really high mode. I have Bryce also and feel that both have great quality of render depending on your settings. I prefer Vue over Bryce with almost all aspects especially rendering. Sharen

I hear this a lot from Bryce users when the subject of Vue comes up. As Sharen suggested, rendering at higher quality will usually get rid of the alleged grainy quality. However, I've noticed that this is attendant to certain types of atmosphere. You have a lot of control over your atmospheres in Vue. Some do indeed yield a high-grain sort of sky, which I find to be very attractive when artistically used. Others yield razor-sharp definition. Both progs have their pros and cons, but I think you'll notice than an increasing number of people are coming to feel that Vue is the preferable option. I've recently deleted Bryce 5 from my system. I love the control and potential that Vue provides, and there's no question that the GUI is superior to Bryce's, and thus easier to learn. As you probably know, importing Poser 4 (and soon, 5) scenes into Vue 4.1.2 is a breeze. Not so with Bryce.

If you render at a low setting, then yes - it's grainy. If you are using volumetrics or fog or haze, my recommendation would be to bump the quality as high as it goes on those items as it's been my experience that those are what cause most of the grain (when the quality is set too low, even default). It's also been my experience that turning the softness of your light up to 5.00 or 6.00, especially sunlight, will greatly reduce graininess in shadows. No matter what you do to avoid graniness, your render time will increase with each of the things I suggested above, but Bryce suffers from the same slowness. They are both raytracers and there is just no getting around long render times. Aside from all that, Vue 4 and Poser 4 work perfectly together, and e-on is even promising compatibility with Poser 5 in the very near future. I've been a fan of Vue for many years now and have used it as my only landscape renderer, even tho I have Bryce as well. But Bryce just doesn't do it for me like it does for some. I just never got the texture editor or the interface. However, I've seen some absolutely fabulous things done with Bryce :o). Hope that answers at least some of your concerns :o). Laurie

Ditto here. It depends on your atmosphere and the quality of render. I struggled for a long time with Bryce as well and never got the hang of it the way many others did. But when trying to import poser figures, I found it to be an even bigger nightmare. Then I tried Vue and my word, it's so much easier to use and the import of poser figures is a breeze. I dumped Bryce and there is no looking back for me. This is my first Vue/Poser render. As you cand see, the poser figure is clear and sharp. But, in looking at the horizon behind her, due to a fog/haze in the atmosphere, it can appear grainy. Is this what you are reffering to?

THis is really a great render...Sharen

I think I know what Milla means--some Vue images are very grainy overall, not just in the shadows or in misty areas. This concerned me too, since I'm planning on learning Vue this summer. But many other Vue scenes aren't grainy at all, and I'd always wondered about that myself. I'm writing down the guidelines mentioned above to use when I begin working in the program, since I want to avoid the grainy look in most of the things I'm planning to do...Thank you all for posting them here where I'd see them (no time to browse the Vue forum at present) :)

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=pmermino

Milla,Of course you want to render at higher settings in any graphic program. But what your seeing...that grainy,muddy,desaturated look is from people that have not yet come to terms with the proper lighting and atmosphere settings.It's not hard..it's just a matter of learning what a big different just a few adjustments can make...(like reduceing the fog/haze and ambient light,will really get rid of most of that grainy look). Check out this gallery(link)for some UNgrainy Vue renders. SWAMP

Sharen - thanks! Milla - definitely take the time to check out the link that SWAMP provided. These are some truly beautiful images that show the true power of what Vue can do for you.

I agree.. these images are gorgeous, and caused me to wonder why some of the renders look grainy while others do not. I mostly notice this on the vegetation and water effects in some pictures. Like I said, the potential in Vue looks awesome, but it's just that look that concerns me. In my opinion, the "grainy-ness" reminds me of the "Add Noise" filter in Photoshop set to a low setting. It's nice for some pictures, but not all of them.

The grainy look of Vue renders is a combination of lower quality render settings, lighting, & shadows. If you are using soft shadows, or a volumetric atmosphere you are going to have to crank up the quality level, other wise you will get that nasty grainy look. Ambient light can also fudge up a good picture as well, as a lot of the default atmospheres have a high ambient light setting. If you select the User Settings and crank up the subrays per pixel to at least 9 and then set the quality to High you will not get that grainy look. Beware of longer render times with these settings as there is a lot of work being done by the processor at this level. I usually render a lower settings until I get what I want, then crank it up on high, then go to bed.

I know what you mean by the "graininess look". I thought that at first, too. Then I realized what was probably happening...that people didn't want high parameters on their renders (takes a while, sometimes) and settled for less. Now, I'm too lazy but I'm sure someone in the Vue forum can whip this little puppy (pardon the pun) up in a URL right away. It's a sort of grid comparison of rendering (a dog, I believe) with various settings. A simple shadow is provided to show graininess and smoothness with different settings. It's VERY good information. Gebe (Guitta) probably knows the link to it by heart.