Greetings I just ordered Vue 5 from e-on, and now I read in a forum that "Vue 5 professional" will be released near the end of this year. Question: What's the difference? Will it be possible to upgrade to the pro version?

I hope they add particle system in PRO!!!

I'm sure it's possible for you to upgrade to Pro version, I don't ordered Vue 5 yet because I wait until Pro will be available, but I'm also concerning about the price for Pro version.

ditto

I sent a mail to e-on asking for a list of differences for the products, but they rejected my wish and stated "You'll have to wait until it gets on our website the next month". So I cancelled the order and I'll wait for the list to appear so I can see if I want/need the Pro version or not. Feels pretty heavy to buy Vue 5 and upgrade to Pro later, the person at e-on told me it "won't be cheaper".

Well I'm extremely happy with the new Vue 5 as it gives me a lot of new rendering choices for my needs and works great with all my Poser and 3D models. I'll gladly also upgrade to Vue 5 Professional- since I'm a professional and this is not a hobby for me. The standard Vue 5 I have to work with now is already paying for itself!

Out of plain curiosity, may I ask how (or what) do you use Vue professionally? Selling landscapes to advertisement bureaus or similiar? I'm a plain novice, but I'm interested in the program because I like nature and natural CGs. Some day I hope to make some money with it, but that'll take some years I guess.

I will upgrade with the Pro version.

I don't need both Vue 5 and the Pro version.

Once the Pro version arrived, then I would probably never use Vue 5 again. So I can't justify purchasing Vue 5 for only 60-90 days of use.

It's not a problem to wait for a couple of months.

Message edited on: 10/11/2004 16:35

I sell my work as artistic illustrations. A good render with good printing can easily net me several thousands of dollars per image- but then- I've been at it for many years. It's not a hobby for me. There is no simple formula- you have to know who wants to buy what, and why. It takes years to learn the markets and the the steps to take to sell your work- but everything I make in Poser and Vue makes money for me. Usually very quickly. But don't expect me to lay out a simple plan because there isn't one. But one tip: It's MORE IMPORTANT to understand doing business than being an artist. Most artists starve!

Most artists starve!

That's why I don't do this for a living.

"Most artists starve!" Yes you're right about that.

I'did sidegrade to Vue5 and I will probably get Vue 5 Pro also even if it's just a hobby for me. ;) In my oppinion only two things are worth spending money on. The things that you absolutely must do and the hobbies. I mean, yeah it will cost me $99 (or rather $150 with tax and shipping as I'm in Europe) for about 3 months but that's still not more than $50 per month and what will that buy me. A trip to the Cinema, a dinner and some beer and if I'm lucky I will get drunk and forget that I could be home rendering instead. ;)

It's MORE IMPORTANT to understand doing business than being an artist.

A few short years ago, I attended a photography conference. I was under the impression that I'd be seeing a lot of disscussions and examples of photographic techniques.

Well....

To my utter disappointment -- we spent the first 2 1/2 days of the 3-day conference listening to "how to" lectures about business issues. In fact, several speakers repeatedly made the point that one could be a lousy photographer.....but that this minor distraction was not any kind of an impediment to the central goal of making money. Lots of money.

If one can sell a lot of lousy pictures, then one can get rich.

At least that's the lesson that the "photography" conference taught.

I suppose that this rule can apply equally as well to 3D artwork.

If you think about it...3d graphics/photo touch-up/photo restoration is a very small community. So most people don't understand how easy/hard these tasks are to do.

For example...I supplement, my spending habits thru my hubby's office. He brings me pics to restore/alter/colorize etc. The last one I did, the woman paid me $40.00 to get her daughters ex-husband out the picture & replace the beast with something else. So go figure.....And I really don't like doing that crap..but hey, it's easy work :)

Message edited on: 10/11/2004 17:44

This is really an interesting thread.

I am using Poser 5 and Vue 4 for illustrations
for the book I am wrinting (for those of you
who speak German or just want to look at the
pictures: www.d-u-l.de).
Actually, this is a hobby for me which I was able
to make money out of, but it is hardly worth
mentioning it, not more than maybe 10 Euro per
month.
But I really like 3D programms, especially
Vue. I have never seen a software that produces
so good results so easily.
I wish I had more time for this ...

"If one can sell a lot of lousy pictures, then one can get rich. I suppose that this rule can apply equally as well to 3D artwork." You know what good ol Abe said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time." Basically, you can always sell crappy stuff until someone selling much better stuff comes along. ;-)

Which I would add: IF the next person coming along KNOWS HOW to do BUSINESS.. I have been a consultant to MANY fine artists over the years (non computer artists) and while all were nice people, most were very talented but CLUELESS on how to sell their art to make a living. While this might "offend" those who consider themselves "True Artists"- I found that the artists who have been the MOST SUCCESSFUL were those trained in art schools that stressed Commercial Art & Design. It's because they had experience having to PROVE to their instructors that their designs were valid and would meet a clients needs- (AS WELL AS being artistic.) When an artist understands "What People Want" and applies marketing knowledge along with artistic skills- they can be successful. Being an artist that only wants to do what they want and HOPE that people will buy their art (or get ANGRY when people don't "understand" their art) often "starve". I know of one very successful fine artist who started out in design school, did Ad Agency work (where you must meet client needs and deadlines) did Architectural Renderings (where you must meet client needs and dealines) and finally evolved by his 50's and 60's into an EXCELLENT and SUCCESSFUL painter. His work is extremely "artistic", yet his early commercial world training gave him the business skills to SURVIVE and PROSPER until he could gradually evolve himself into an Art Gallery type of artist. The same is true in 3D Art- (and probably more so)...

I've been using Vue 4 Professional for 3d Architectural and Civil Visualizations, mostly of roadways, roundabouts, tunnels, bridges and various kinds of buildings in conjunction with Photoshop and existing photographs. It's worked really well and has opened up a whole new business line for our company, and I will continue to use Vue as long as it continues to literally pay for itself,$500 for a piece of software that results in clients paying large sums of money for the resulting renders is money well spent in my opinion. Sure I could do the same with other softwares, but not for much cheaper, and the learning curve is so shallow with Vue that I can't imagine an easier piece of software to learn. Following up on Veritas777's comment, I actually went in reverse, using Vue for my artistic hobby needs and working that knowledge down into my work environment. It's also allowed me to improve my artistic hobby skills by being able to use the program on a daily basis for the interesting challenges that some projects entail.