Started using Poser 5 about two months ago. Been trying to get sales help at EON. It's kind of lame. So I have a few questions for the users. What should I buy? I obviously like the idea of Mover 5, so I can import my Poser animations into VUE, but I have read that VUE 5 has Mover 5 in it? Also, what is HDRI imagery and how do I create it? Should I be looking at buying Mover 5 and VUE 5 separately? Should I be thinking VUE 4.5 Pro? What is the direction I should take here? HELP!

I don't have Vue yet, but I seriously think about buying it... but I think I can answer some of your questions. Vue 5 has not mover 5 included, but it can import still poser files even without it. HDRI is a way of illuminating a scene. It uses a pic with more than the color info to simulate the light coming from a real environement. Only expensive software uses hdri today, Vue5 must be amongst the cheapest. The rendering engine in Vue 5 not only allows the use of HDRI, but uses Global illumination and radiosity. Vue 4 doesn't.

If you want to import animation/ dynamic clothing/hair you'll need to buy mover as well. look through vertas777 posts here lately. He has some GREAT samples of the lighting that vue can do now in vue5

Warangel; (1)Vue 5 doesn't have Mover 5, but it does. There -is- a Vue 5 specific version of Mover 5 on the applications CD in the add-ons folder. But you have to have a valid liscence for Mover 5 to register it and use it. So you will have to buy Mover 5; but what you will get is a serial number keyed into the reg number of the Vue 5 you bought. (2)HDRI is High Dynamic Range Image. Vue5 does image based lighting, which is where you load an image into the atmosphere editor, and the image is 'lit' from calculations made off of the picture you loaded. HDRI is the upper end of this scheme. HDRI images are taken with a special camera, and very detailed image lighting cues are stored in a .hdr file. For stills the effect is incredible; for animation, it's pretty much a waste of time, as it takes quite awhile to render a frame with HDRI, and being in motion prevents you from really seeing the effect. But that's why we have GI and Radiosity to play with, as well..... (3) Doing animation, you definitely want either Vue5Mover 5 or wait until the turn of the year, when VuePro 5 is due out. VuePro has the network rendering ability for stills natively; but you need Mover 5 for the Poser animation and dynamics import. With the Esprit line, Mover 5 provides the network ability as well as the Poser import functions. Vue 5 is cheaper. We don't know the new features of VuePro 5 yet, but it's safe to say the new toys in Vue 5 will be there, so all the lighting goodies will be present, and well as the animated trees (and I assume the metablobs).

I called e-on support and had very good response to all my questions. I left a message and they called me back right away. Many of the features are listed on the web site as well.

just a small info update regarding vue5 pro. steve has publicly posted that vue5 pro will have every pro feature from vue4 pro + all the new vue 5 esprit features + some new goodies.

(Gets out the virtual pom poms and jailbait): Particle System! Weather System! Rah! Rah! Rah! (at least we can hope.... :P )

lol hehe well yeah we can always hope :)

So should I hold off for a VUE 5 Pro version? Oddly when I called, they said they had no plans of a Pro version. This is what I mean. I have had nothing but bad luck with the sales people there so far.

I wonder what number you are calling. Did you call the order center or the support line? The order Center I think just takes orders, the support line actually was very helpful. I order on line with e-on myself I didn't use the order center.

thats up to you warangel. try the vue5 esprit demo first, its a 60 day trial, once thats over im more then sure that the vue5pro version is out, makes for a much better decision then having us decide for you.