V5i really looks awesome - The compositing and syncronization options are what "sells me" on the program as well as the ecosystem.

But just how stable is V5I? I keep hearing about memory leaks and crashing... yet OTH I see others doing great work with it.

Can I get some real world experiences from some of you V5I users about it's stability? I can live with occasional crashes, as long as it's usuable?

(I am on a Mac G5 - 1.5gigs, Panther 10.3.9)

Thanks in a advance!

V5I is perfectly stable and useable, the various patches have done a lot to improve it's stability. However, what will bring it to it's knees are large texture maps. I have 1.5 gigs of physical ram, and if I try to use say two or more Poser objects with large and detailed texture maps then I can watch the memory get steadily eaten up until there is nothing left at which point the programme just gives up. Apart from that the programme is outstanding, with superb lighting options, funtional terrains and of course the ecosystem. Plus much more! Get it - you won't regret it.

Thanks for the reply.. and I do want it. Sounds like if you use it within it's limits it's fine. Perhaps too many are trying to push a bit too hard?

I think you're right. Vue5I is so much more powerful than its predecessors that I don't think any of us is aware of its limits. Lord Wexford is right - it seems that the large texture maps are a problem. since I don't use Poser (yet), I find that large scenes may start giving me problems, but since ecosystems and polycounts running into the billions, it's hard for me to define when the problem is going to start. Eco polys are handled differently than other object polys. But for me, Vue5I is extremely stable and a joy to work with.

I'm working with Vue 4.2 at the time. I switched from Bryce a few months ago, and I definitely enjoyed that switch. Now, I really look forward purchasing V5I : the ecosystem technology seems to open such a range of opportunities !!!

Message edited on: 05/20/2005 06:58

Just beware, if you plan on using it for a lot of Poser figures, you will encounter a lot of problems. This mem bug / leak thing related to Poser has been there from version 4 and still exsists in V5I. I dumped V5 Pro due to this ongoing problem and E-On doesn't seem to be able to find a solution for it.

Vue 5 Infinite is awesome when working with still imagery. The are an abundance of options for every feature. The program has proven more than stable and capable of handeling very large poly scenes without a hit in performance. Importation of my Lightwave and .obj file models hasn't been a problem. From an animation perspective though, Vue 5 Infinite is more a work in progress. My initial animation results have grain/noise which is proving difficult to remedy without destroying details with blur solutions which in turn produce extended rendering times. I am crossing my fingers and pouring through the manual in hopes of finding a happy medium. richcz3

Thanks for all the input guys! You sold me. I will order in a couple of weeks. @aeikema - I will watch out for that with poser figures. Just wondering if the mill-figures could be cause more of the problems due to their polygon count? @richcz3 - I'd be interested in the results of your animation tests. I noticed that the V5I demo movie (The one by Philippe Bouyer) makes a lot of use of motion blur too. Good stuff though!

"Just wondering if the mill-figures could be cause more of the problems due to their polygon count?" animajikgraphics, It's not because of their polycount, it's due to the high res textures poser uses. as others have explained before. Vue is (and always had) having a lot of trouble when you use multiple high res textures. It uses memory very insufficient whn it comes to textures. Poser utilizes memory much more sufficiently.

@aeilkema - Thanks for clarifying that for me