The actual installation is flawless. Including the Maya plugin arrangement, and the Mental Ray arrangement.  

I have two versions of Maya - 8.5 Unlimitedon one machine and Maya 2008 (plain version) on another machine.  Have tried Xstream 7on Maya 8.5 first as that really is my main modelling tool, but will de-install Xstream on this one and then shift it to Maya2008 on my second machine, where I actually do most of my rendering and do all my Realflow work.

The VueXStream installation seems to have unloaded all my Maya plugins, for some reason. But I simply went back into the Plugin Manager and refreshed all of them. The Xstream plugin does show up there. (Exapnd the pic above.) I have to say, this is a heck of a lot better than Xstream 6.

Much as I admire Vue, the Presidential Election is far more important. LOL!

More in a minute.

Cheers, Pam. Your minute is over now...

 Paloth, I did open an old Vue 6 file, and a Vue 5 file to look at render times. They both open without problems. Render times are noticeably faster. More on this later....

Well as the pricing is a $99 upgrade to complete, I think that would be my choice, I just can't afford infinite at the moment even though it does have things I will use, hmm, tough choice.

Jon

I saw pricing of Infinite update, and fell aback.
Have us pay $ 395 plus VAT for getting features that ought to work in 6Inf or 5Inf
but didn't,
without being sure they'll finally work in 7Inf,
that's not fine :-(
Moreover, Vue7"complete" is NOT the follower of 6Inf,
it lacks important features.

I dare hope that this time,
they won't call one € one $ as they did last time,
punishing us europeans
(one wouldn't believe that e-on began in France...)
else I'll look elsewhere.

I got the somewhat unhappy feeling,
as if the e-on's renderfarm were the community of us Vuers,
the render-cows were us,
and they just milked us when they want money.
And now, after "we" have been useful, they throw us away.
This "maintenance" thing, "standard, + $ 395" and "premium, + $ 995" + VAT,
smells.
As does the separate convenience pack, and separate render node licence.
I not yet know what is the reason behind all that, but we'll see.
Sorry,
for what I see until now, the "cows" are us... :-(

Maybe Vue7Inf is worth the money,
may be those conveniences, maintenances and render licences are worth the money,
perhaps they finally bugged out all the major bugs -
but I think that we, who bought 6Inf, have a right to get a bug-free application,
at reasonnable update price
...not the way they do it there.
I am disgusted.

By the way,
I would not have shown the clouds in the first seconds of the video, nor in the end,
they are deadly static -
as is the sailing ship and her sails. Purely untrue :-(
The "outdoor radiosity" clip seems to lack light focus adaption : one would like to see if Vue correctly masters close shadowed objects, as does the human eye -
visibly Vue7 does not,
it would need supplementary light sources to open up those "closed" shadows (?).

As does the indoor radiosity scene, much too hard lighting.
If I would show that one to a client,
his wife would flank me out, me and my project.

I make such lighting to find out what lacks in the scene,
to find out what I must do to the project, to make that space "liveable" for humans -

but I'd never to show such horror, except for bad example what not to do.
That video does not convince me of Vue7, at all.

S'cuse me for me straightforeward...

GP france, they didn't charge 1$=1€  last time around. While Vue6 was 800$, it was 600€ here. I remember this was a huge grief in the Vue5 days when they did charge 1$=1€, but I'm sure they didn't do it with Vue6. And they haven't done it with Vue7 either.

Quote - > Quote -

How do you know how much the upgrade for 6 infinite to 7 complete is? I havent seen anything that says the upgrade pricing for that yet.

Cheers
Jon

  

From the newsletter:
Vue 7 Solutions for Vue 6 Infinite Users

Vue 7 Complete was designed as an alternative to Vue 7 Infinite, for users who want all the "bells-and-whistles" but don't need the production-specific tools of Infinite.

If you are a Vue 6 Infinite user, we give you the choice to either upgrade to Vue 7 Infinite, or to Vue 7 Complete (when it is released):

• Vue 7 Infinite - Upgrade from Vue 6 Infinite: $395
• Vue 7 Complete - Upgrade from Vue 6 Infinite: $99

A comprehensive side-by-side comparative chart is available here, so you can make an educated decision :-)

Vue 7 Complete does not include the extended plant library available with Vue 7 Infinite and Vue 7 xStream, but you can purchase this library from Cornucopia3D.com for $199.

---

I have no money to allocate to a full upgrade to V7 inf but complete looks like good value for money- lots of fancy new features (if they work) and not that horrible expense ... Maybe someone will buy me a xmas present:)

Here is how it appears inside Maya. Again, far better than the previous version.

Then I tried import ing one of the Vue scenes that ships with Xstream 7. No apparent problem there until I tried to render it. OK, Mental Ray seems to have gone away, and I received an error message "No object matches name:VueXstream7EnvMRShader.framerate."

Hmmmm, no problem with Mental Ray disappearing as that happens pretty often with Maya 8.5. I just have to go and re-install/re-configure. But am not sure about the "shader.framerate" thing. 

Typical this comes out far too close to Xmas !!! And I have too much other stuff to buy at the moment but it might make a nice late xmas pressie to myself next year I guess. 
(I hate being grownup and responsible and stuff :biggrin: )

First of all, I am a Pro 6 owner, so my considerations are based upon this fact. The first feeling is that 7 Complete is not really such a jump to be worth the cost (even if not announced yet, just extrapolate from Infinite price) while 7 Infinite is looks really "ferocius" but the price is tremendous... well, offers last until Feb 2, 09, so I will see in Jan09.

Bye :sad:

P.S.: remember my comments about being a "monopoly" and charging and providing features accordingly? REMBEMER all the "this is work of love" propaganda somebody in this forum spread :mad:? Well, here are the facts: a ghastly price hike and added features in a .5 PAYED release...

 Actually, I am seriously impressed.

Render time on my biggest circular waterfall (a monster) looks to be down to about 3 hours on an XP 32 bit machine - down from 17 hours in Vue 6 Infinite. Not sure that this will be typical render time improvement, and I'm not a Poser person, so I had to try the waterfall instead.

But, for liquids and glass, this is a very significant decrease. I had avoided putting splashing comber waves up for sale because while I can make 'em, I'd found the render times were impractical for almost every potential purchaser.

Clouds are simply breath-taking. Does that phrase translate into other language?

Breath taking - literally "a couper le souffle" in French :)

Thanks a lot, Pam. I see Agiel didn't lose his french somewhere in the garden state...

Render times DO seem much faster than V6i in V7i - and the radiosity solution is looking great!

 I'll post my pic and render times and spec when it finishes. I do like this top-down render process much better. (For you that haven't gotten it yet, the scan line render process proceeds from the top down now, rather than the bottom up scan line painting used in Vue 6.)  This rendering engine is VERY - VERY fast !  It is going to beat the 3 hours it promised. Rather a dramatic improvement over that old 17 hour time.

I hate you all now and I'm going to sit in a corner and cry m'kay ?
:biggrin:

 Hey FrankT, and for all of you who are not able to make this upgrade for now.

It will wait. There are many other things more important than this next release of Vue. (Although for the half-dead E-On staff, it surely doesn't seem like it.) 

There undoubtedly will be some bugs and improvements coming along over time. I, like some of the others here have to make my living by modelling, so I pretty much need it now. Just think of us who were more or less required to purchase it as giving you some real information about it early on. No doubt, we will be pointing out its good and bad aspects over time. So, not to get too excited or lose too much perspective on the real world.

Mazak

Well, I'm officially £357.10 worse off.  (includes VAT and express delivery)

Wonder if I can download too so I don't have to wait.....

Vue 7 Complete = 70 plants
Vue 7 Infinite = 160 plants

Anyone have an idea as to what those 90 extra plants are? I mean, are they useful...must have...types of plants or are they weird garbage thrown in as an after-thought? (like most of the "Scifi" plants)

Mazak

Mazak

Mazak

Mazak

Quote - Vue 7 Complete = 70 plants
Vue 7 Infinite = 160 plants

Anyone have an idea as to what those 90 extra plants are? I mean, are they useful...must have...types of plants or are they weird garbage thrown in as an after-thought? (like most of the "Scifi" plants)

I just got this list from Martin Frost - here's what's there....

trees: all the usual suspects from vue 6 plus the following.
Montezuma cypress
old autumn broad leaf
old juniper
white oak
alder autumn
alder late spring
autumn white birch
banana
blue spruce
broad leaf straight trunk
bulky conifer
cone shaped confiner
date palm
Joshua tree
HD larch tree autumn *
HD larch tree - summer*
large European ash - autumn red
large European ash - autumn gold
large European ash - spring bright ?
large European ash - summer lushy
large European ash - summer spars
Alder late summer
leafless tree - down
leafless tree old and dead
leafless tree up
leafless tree - side
HD lime autumn *
HD lime tree *
Lombardy poplar*
orange tree**
plum tree autmn*
gnarly tree a, b, c, d, e
Red Spruce
scots pine
sequoia
sonnitera**
tall pine tree
oak tree seedling
walnut autmn*
wallnut
plum tree winter*
wallnut winter*
winter tree a,b,c,d,e,f,g*,h*,i*,j*
young fir tree Sci- fi all the usual vue 6 plants
chubby fantasia
flamia
floria
nexia
paradisia
rainbow spring
alian trykea
musaffa
pikaka

prehistoric
Large carboniferous pine
carboniferous horse tail
carboniferous horse tail small
prehistoric cycad tree *?
Distant pine
Carboniferous pine
tall carboniferous pine
round carboniferous pine

grasses plants
all of the vue 6 inf selection
acacia tree seedling
acuba
betal palm seedling
diffenbachia
small grassland plant
lilly of the valley green
long grass
monstera
robina pseudoacacia seedling
scheffera
small grassland plant 2, 3
sorrell
spring hollyhock (*?)
tomato plant
wild plant

Flowers
Primrose
bonnyclump
colorful bonnys
red flowers*
Sow thistle* (dont get to excited its actualy a dandelion)

bushes
Dry bush
bush one autumn
bush one blossoming
bush one crawling
bush one group
bush one summer
bush one winter
kentia
yucca

Aquatic
Seaweed
anemone 1,2,3,4,5 (8?)
brown algae

the ones with a star are not ones ive seen in the store
the ones wich a question mark are the ones im really not sure about...
 

Mazak

Mazak

Mazak

Well, I just installed Infinite and gave it a first spin. I must say I'm VERY impressed. I loaded an old, very heavy scene, and it loaded perfectly. In Vue6 that scene was already acting very sluggish but now in Vue7 it's all very fast and smooth. The new OpenGL algorithm is really good. Fast and accurate.

fingers in his ears
LALALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALALALA
Seriously I think this is going to be a killer upgrade.  Thank (insertdeityofchoice) the upgrade price doesn't look like it's temporary

the scene I'm currently working on is very taxing. I've split it into 2 to try to get it done.  Wonder if I should wait......hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

First problem: SkinVue doesn't seem to work in Vista64 (don't know about 32 bits). I tried with and without the latest fix Dave made for 64 bits. Hmmm...

Quote - the scene I'm currently working on is very taxing. I've split it into 2 to try to get it done.  Wonder if I should wait......hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Or,  sell the family and home, and buy a 64 bit 8 gig RAM PC!
Go on, you know it makes sense!  :biggrin:

 I am not liking the idea of having to pay for updates. If you dont take the maintenance pak then you pay for every upgrade to Vue7 that you want/bugfix need. This could get very pricey very fast.

Ron

Yeah, I can see who the maintenance packs are aimed at, and thats fine by me, the priority support bothers me, the support was never that quick anyway and I just hope the normal users, the ones that have supported them for the last few versions don't get shafted with longer than neccesary support times.

Jon

Been using Vue since version 4. One time only, had a support time of 24 hrs. All others under 1 hr.

That's just me of course - but my support history with e-on has always been excellent.

Sorry if I missed this in these replies, but did anybody else notice the empty heading of modelling! in the comparison chart?. They can't mean the basic stuff that comes with infinite because they haven't dotted that box either. An upgrade module possibly. Looks very tempting. 

Oh dumb question
Xstream 7 can be used as standalone Vue, correct? :)
ie doesn't REQUIRE you to use it from inside another app?

Does anyone know if there are any new materials in this release? Or just the same old collection.

Same question regarding atmospheres.

Jon

There are 5 or 6 new "Landscapes" materials, 3 meta-waters (the ones editable with the water editor), some rocks are different (the old "Chipped" looks much better now). There are 24 new atmospheres, in a new folder called "Physical" and 7 or 8 in the old folder "Bad weather", with the new spectral 2 clouds.

Cheers Rutra :) 

Jon

Silverblade33,  I have just installed Vue7Xstream and it can be used as a standalone or plug in

cheers, Susan

What is the timeframe for being a 'Late Buyer'? ($195) - I can't find the info anywhere ...

Vue 7 Late Buyer :-

This offer is applicable to users who bought Vue 6 Infinite after October 1, 2008.

Jon

Well I guess that rules me out :(  Thanks for the reply :) 

watching the election, sleep long, go to work, eat lunch...leech v7 xstream, close mobile..close administration, pour 1½ liter cola in jug, add headphones to head, adjust volume..play

Quote - From the newsletter:

Point-Five Releases

In the course of the coming year, we will be releasing Vue 7.5. This paid-for ".5" release will introduce new features and technologies. These new features and technologies are undisclosed at this point.

Service Packs (former software updates) will remain free of charge for everyone.

:blink:

Does this mean that if we do not purchase the Standard or premium Maintenance plan we will still be able to update to 7.5 when it is released?

WOW, trying a big interior (London Natural History Museum Grand Hall - CGTalk lighting challenge).
 
Got up to 22 light sources, before V7 wouldn't take any more - in radiosity render and spectral light type too. Very impressive! Never tried more than 8 in V6 and that was often a struggle.
 
Still had 76% resources as well, even with that big museum model. Had 1 sun, 10 spots, 11 quadratic omnis.

Totally stable for all of my 6 hour's work, until I tried to add that 23rd light.

Impish, your little ditty may be too short even if repeated ad nauseum.  LOL  I think I'll join the waiters and watchers for that price.  I am still digging into 6i.  The prices EON is setting may be a bit much but time will tell.

Some new atmospheres. 

Here is the dumbed down (70% jpg quality) render of my large circular waterfall. (Click on it to expand the picture.) 1, 384,704 polygons for the waterfall. Broadcast quality 1024 x 780

Xstream 7 = 3 hours, 27 minutes

Xstream 6 = 16 hours, 51 minutes