Hello all, I'm new to Vue, I have a freebie/demo version of 3.1 and so far I'm impressed with it's production. although I tried to import Vic3 OBJ and it crashed on me, told me I didn't have enough memory. Of course I might have done the importing wrong? But I was wondering does Vue render better than Poser5 with those characters [it certainly does for scenery!]? As in P5 seems to just go blah in some images whether I have 1 or 2 models present, sometimes it just freaks out when it reaches a certain part of the image and stops. I was wondering how long does Vue take to render say an average 1-2 person image. Also how much memory does it take? I currently have a 1 gig Ram system which needs updating I agree but shouldn't that be enough for rendering a Poser figure in Vue? I understand the more complex the image the more time/mem it takes. Thanks for your time!

Try downlading a newer demo, like Vue 5 Infinite. That will import Poser5 stuff no problemo.

Without starting the Ram flame again i think 1 GB is enough. I don't have more and even Infinite works fine here. Including Poser import. The problem in your case might be that Vue 3.1 is simply too old to deal with those monster imnports. Not the mesh is the problem but mostly the high res textures (4000x4000) that often come with those. These are really memory killers. But Elminster is right, how about downloading a demo and see yourself?

Yeah I might do that, thanks to both of you for your input. I had a feeling 3.1 crashed on me due to importing Vic3 but from what I was able to see in 3.1 it's an amazing program. E-on has 4.0 Vue on sale for 69.99 and I can upgrade to 5.0 cheaper than purchasing 5.0 straight out. Is there a lot of changes in 5.0 as in lot more features or should I wait on the upgrade?

Well, 4 is pretty old now and i am very surprised that it is on the shelfs still. Not so often companies keep old versions up, here i think it is a great idea. 5 has several benefits. #1 it is modular so you can buy additional modules if you need them. Like Botanica or better light features. You can see the whole list on E-ons site i think. Another great feature are procedural terrains - resolution independant so to say. And not to forget the higher render options like Radiosity and all other render settings in between. It is really a question of what you plan to do with the software that helps with the decision.

Okie dokie, I might just spend my bday money on Vue. I can't get anyone in the Bryce area to answer my question...they're probably going Vue? what's that wink

Look into Vue Infinite and you will understand why the trend is Vue right now. Way to go for DAZ/Bryce, another league! And one thing is clear - Poser import into Vue is much much easier than into Bryce. You simply deal with the native pz3 file format.

I slurged and bought infinite after I had bought esprit. I have no regrets. For me the best feature is the ecosystems. For outdoor scenes...it just can't be beat. Good Luck.. Dragontales

Thanks to everyone for their help :) I figured out that it was cheaper to purchase 4 and then purchase the upgrade to 5 than buying 5 outright, saving 20-30 dollars. Now they've listed V4 as a download only for 69 dollars. I went ahead and bought that around 230EST...so far no link after 7 hours and there wasn't anything on their site that said I am going to have to wait X period of time before I can get the program. Read the fine print that says for the boxed versions it will take 4 days JUST to hand over to the delivery guy [FedEx/UPS] Then X days for them to get it to me [charging me top fees too!]...I searched thru some FAQ and there was one back in 2002 a lady who bought a download link said she had to wait 4 days and then on a dial up connection had to DL over 500megs of stuff in 24 hours. They replied to her kind of snotty "well I guess we'll have to send it to you on a disk and charge you 30 dollars." He claims the wait is for security....what, their office runner gets mugged frequently or something on his way to the postoffice which has caused them to alternate their runners trip schedule? I can't order my upgrade to Vue5 until I get the serial for 4 so it looks like I'm looking at a good 2 weeks maybe longer before I can get my hands on a copy. Probably why you can only order from the company, Amazon used to carry Vue but not anylonger. So while I'm eager and pleased that I've finally decided on Vue, I'm feeling bitchy and irritated [like my cat who just had 3 teeth pulled today at the vets!] about this wait time. And I thought I'd vent and bore you all to tears with it.

I remember when I bought Infinite, about 2 weeks after it came out. It took two full days for them to process my credit card order. I received the software three days after that. Of course, I live five miles from e-on's Beaverton office. It shipped out at 8PM and I received it at 2PM the next day. I was prepared to have to wait 2 weeks for the software, so needless to say I was a happy camper. In this day and age of credit card fraud, I can understand the 'security' issues.

Finally got the link for Vue4 and I've been playing. Having fun learning the ropes. 3.1 came with some samples of others artwork and I have folders labeled Sample 1-3 in my Vue4 but there isn't anything in them, no tutorials or anything. It was a little bit of a bear to get it installed, even using the WinRAR they recommended. Got error messages on the Bitmap folder a few times and told to put in the default CD which I thought was amusing since it was a download. I reckon I'll need to drop them another note. They logged my order for 5 pretty quickly, so maybe tomorrow I'll get a message it's been shipped out. I was hoping to get it before my vacation was over as I generally don't like box items to sit on my door step for a while...tempting people with sticky fingers... I'm surprised, Terra, that you didn't drive to their office to pick it up :)