I have rooted through the forums as best I could, and was not able to find what I wanted, so I ask: Is there any way to convert a *.vob to anything a little more common like a, *.obj or a *.dxf, without having to buy Vue Infinite? If it compares to Vue Easel favorably then I probably will save up my pennies for it but it's really not an option right now nor in the near future.

Any simple convertion utility (ideally freeware) would be helpful, and this certainly won't prevent me from using Easel... but finding this elusive tool would help me use it more. I have other options, of course, but Easel is so much more... favorable.

Only Vue handles .vob and only Infinite does conversions

Okay... I'm not normally obtuse but that's not something I really wanted to hear, so I will keep at it until I'm convinced there's no other way. ^_^

All righty, I get that only Vue programs make use of the VOB format, and that the only way to import these models as such into a 3D program is to use Vue. I can't import a VOB into Poser for example. (That's where my particular models are headed, if that matters.)

Using P3dO Explorer I can see the thumbnail that was assigned to my VOBs when I saved them in Vue Easel; a program like that that can manage the files and possibly convert them (not edit, just convert) would be sufficient for me.

All I want to do is use the Objects I assmble in Easel to be used in Poser-- On the face of it that doesn't seem like an unreasnoable request. If I am doomed to fail in this, is there another program, one that compares to Easel in ease of use and price range, that is designed to allow object exporting to other programs?

Alas, Dave_III, what you're seeing in P3DO is exacly that - the thumbnail that Vue created. P3DO is not interpreting the original .VOB file in any way. The .VOB format is commercially protected.

My suggestion to you (and, of course, you are perfectly free to ignore my advice), would be to get one of the free 3D modellers in which to create your objects (Wings and Blender are both free, supported here in the community, and can export in Wavefront .obj format, which can be imported into virtually any 3d App, including Vue and Poser).

Vue is not a dedicated modelling app. It's a landscape generator (with a little modelling thrown in, and a somewhat paranoid attitude to sharing stuff that its users create..)

Cheers,
Diolma

Or alternately, you could simply upgrade to Vue5I which DOES export a great many formats, well .obj and .3ds, which Poser apparently reads very well.

Not an ideal solution but if it is only an object now and again you could always ask on the forums if there is a V5I user who has the time to convert them for you.  If you have a specific object or a few you need doing at the moment I'd be happy to do this for you.  Drop me an e-mail on mark@impworks.co.uk and we can figure out a way to transfer the files.

That was going to be my next suggestion......great minds an all that

Ok... I guess I have enough info to let Vue Easel go as a model-maker. Like I said before, I do have options-- including a copy of trueSpace 4.3, which does do more or less everything I need it to, it's just that the interface is uncomfortable (unlike Vue) and it's generally unsupported, even in the fan community... I've seen Wings and Blender before, but not recently, so I will give them a try.

I appreciate the offer to convert the model, but I couldn't keep asking for that generosity and besides, the model(s) in question were just arranged primitives at this point, I can rebuild them in pretty much any program there is.

Upgrading is, of course, my eventual plan, but simply not an available option at this point. I will, at least, still be able to use Easel as a stage-setting-up program, so it' won't be completely lost to me at this point.

What type of models are you trying to get into Poser (I don't mean file format; I mean what they're of: rock, tree, ect.)?  I have both and with the exception of Poser's characters (which is about to change with the new Vue 6) there's not a thing that Poser renders better than Vue.

Short answer: Simplistic monsters and people, and even more simplistic trees and such. I'm working on a style that involves heavy use of primitives: Balls, cones, cubes, etc. I've been using trueSpace (an OLD copy of tS... 4.3) to do my modeling and excluding some deformations and boolean-ing they're not going to be very complicated, math-wise, at all. I tried to use Poser to assemble the models but the interface felt too clunky for me (so does tS, I hasten to add... It took me half as much time in Vue Easel as it did in tS to do the same amount of work) and I didn't get very far. Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance, I may try again at a later date.

As far as rendering, my eye isn't experienced enough to be able to tell the difference yet. Vue Easel may not be able to model like I'd wanted, but at least I can still use it as a Stage-Setting-Up program.

I didn't realie you were using Easel.  I am not sure how advanced the renderer is for that version (though all Vue renderers are good).  Even if you are modeling with primitives, I can see why you wouldn't want to use Poser.  It feels very awkward creating objects in it.  I'd reccomend trying ZBrush.  There's something in it called Z-sphere modeling which is basically modeling wth primitives just like you're doing.  But it is a very comfortable worksace and then you could bend the spheres around like limbs, and subdivide them, and resculpt them and create high-quality meshes by using simplistic modeling techniques that you have been experimenting with.  In ZBrush, you can export OBJ models which virtually every 3d app (including Poser) is compatible with.

Ah, now, that's advice I was hoping for... I was originally going to head over to the 3D modeling forum and troll for suggestions, but when I saw the "We can't decide for you" disclaimer at the top of the page I knew that it would be the same question asked ba-zillions of times before, and therefore would probably not be well received again. ^_^

I have not done much that could even remotely be considered complicated (I haven't done anything that outstrips the sample files, even), so the renderer has yet to be disappointing, or even challenged. Ergo, no complaints.

As for ZBrush, the price is daunting and the demo is very limiting (well, for me anyway... exporting is disabled and half the point of trying the program is seeing how well it interacts with the other programs I want to use, for example), but I may be able to give it a look. Basically I'm at "interested amatuer" level, $500 is more in the intermediate range, if you see what I mean. But thanks for offering the idea. ^_^