I bought the download version of Vue 4 E'Sprit. I LOVE this software, and so I want to take advantage of one of the upgrades. WHich wil make me happier? Vue 4 Pro or Vue 5 E'sprit?

I have Vue 4 Pro and I love it. I just ordered my upgrade to V5I and can't wait for that to come in. If you can swing the price for Vue 4 Pro then get that. This way when you want to upgrade to V5I, it will only cost $149.00 US dollars to do it. The upgrade price from V5E is $399.00, see pricing below: Vue 5 Infinite - Complete Product US$599 599 411 US$599 Vue 5 Infinite - Vue 4 Professional Upgrade US$149 149 102 US$149 Vue 5 Infinite - Vue 5 Pro Studio Sidegrade US$199 199 136 US$199 Vue 5 Infinite - Vue 5 Esprit Sidegrade US$399 399 274 US$399 Vue 5 Infinite - Vue d'Esprit 4 (Boxed) Sidegrade US$499 499 343 US$499 Vue 5 Infinite - Vue d'Esprit 4 Download Sidegrade US$549 549 377 US$549

Get V5I so that your upgrade to V6I will be much cheaper.

To get the right answers, one has to give the correct information..... so, what are you going to do with Vue? If we know what you're going to use it for, we can give you much better advice.

I would get V5E simply because it produces much better renders than V4 thanks to global illumination and radisioty. If you want to get similar functionality as V4Pro you will however need to buy some add-on modules as well. But in my opinion the GI/GR provides a far greater quality boost to your work than the plant editor, the light editor, etc.

The Gi/GR functionality is great if you will be doing a lot of indoor scenes or using Poser figures. If you are basically doing landscapes, those lighting features aren't all that important. I'd go the VuePro route with the better opportunity to upgrade to Vue5I later on.

Attached Link: http://www.e-onsoftware.com/Products/vueproductline/index.php

Look at the comparison chart on e-on's site and decide which version best suits your needs (and budget). The price of V4Pro full version is the same as V5I full version, so unless you need the Pro features now, you may be better holding off for a little while. e-on are taking pre-orders of V5I now and their web site says 14 March is the ship date.

Well, I got impatient and ordered teh V5E, with the justification that I can buy the botanica and get all that I really use. Some day I would like to move up to animations, but I must find some way to make a profit before I justify this sort of expense for a hobby.

I started Vue 4 from Bryce to take advantage of Poser animations. A great start. Upgraded to Vue 4 Pro and VERY pleased with the results. Checked at the Vue 5 Esprit demo (GI, radiosity). Blown out of my socks. Eagerly, pants-pissing awaiting the immanent arrival of the most highly exalted Vue 5 Infinite complete with the Ecosystem thingy (angel choir sound here). Really it depends on what you need out of it. That wasn't very useful, was it?

"The Gi/GR functionality is great if you will be doing a lot of indoor scenes or using Poser figures. If you are basically doing landscapes, those lighting features aren't all that important" Actually, the GI and GR in Vue don't work all that good for interior scenes, but are optimized for outdoor use. They enhance detail in shadowed areas that appear as a single flat color in V4, which works wonders for architecture and vegetation, among other things.