The latest (cough, gasp, weeze!) prices for all versions of Vue tells me there isnt much competition around at the moment in the field of 3d environment modeling.
Bryce's last update was lets face it a joke and while many apps have some lanscaping cheats and work arounds, well they're just that cheats and work arounds.
I'm not gonna complain about the pricing for Vue, we know it $uck$ but that looks to be a symptom of no competion.
I fear that this will continoue until someone wakes up to the fact that there is a cornered and overpriced market that is ripe for a competiter.

Here, here!  I agree.

DAZ just announced Carrara 7, but that concentrates mainly on DS rather than Poser from my understanding, I wonder how much work it would take to have a Poser import feature added to it, some of the outdoor scenes I've seen with it look pretty spectacular!

I don't think Vue is overpriced. It's not possible to compare with competition, because there's none relevant, but if we compare with other high end 3D packages, like 3DS Max or Maya, we see that Vue is much, much cheaper. Last time I checked, 3ds Max costed something like 3000 or 3500 dollars, or similar, and Maya was about 5000. Vue Xstream is at 1500, so I would say that's not overpriced. Ok, 1500 is a lot of money but for a professional high end 3D package, unique in its field and integratable with many other packages, I don't think that's exagerated.

Seen the prices for CityGen for example ? that's a niche product and costs a small fortune so no, I don't think Vue is overpriced for what it is

It depends on what you want from the software you buy. I only use Vues rendering engine for poser scenes - nothing else. To get the best out of it you need phyton scripts and that only comes with the Infinite versions. So yes, that's a high price to pay.
If only E-on would make a poser only rendering program without all the ecosystems and other things they put in them that makes them so expensive, I would have jumped on it a long time ago.

Odds are the consumer market for something like that would make them so little money that it wouldn't be worth it to eon.

Keep in mind, their main market at this point is high end profession tv and film production markets, who buy 100 licenses without blinking an eye.

Honestly, I'm amazed they haven't raised thier prices further, and moved up higher into the pro market, since it look like they are being used by more and more pro studios every day.

I for one am grateful that Vue makes their products affordable for just about any budget.

If you want a less expensive version go for Espirit. Very well priced and can get the job done.

Now with Vue 7 Complete we have another stepping stone to a higher end version.

And as has been mentioned above, their highest end versions are so cheap in comparison to Maya and 3D Max there really should be no complaints at all.

If you want the higher end versions of Vue, start saving.  Yes, I'm along with you, it would be nice if everything would be cheaper, but there is always going to be something that is out of reach of our budget and Vue does a very commendable job of making different and highly effective versions of their application available for any budget to meet. (I know I am grateful.)

The same cannot be said for Maya and 3d Max. Where do you see any entry level versions of their application, hmmmm?

If Vue raises their price by double next year (heaven forbid) you'd be longing for the affordable days of today.

Perspective is the key.

I now relinquish the little soap box for others to step on and pontificate to their hearts delight.

Michael

I hope I didnt give the impression that I dont like Vue becouse I do, and I am not blaming E-on for their price, but the fact that there is nobody out there competing with em.
I picked up V5I for free with Lightwave a year or so ago, the thing is many 3d apps are going down in price, LW was an example in point.
But thats becouse there are at least a dozen competing applications snapping at their and the others heels.
Software is worth as much as people are willing to buy it for, and while Vue has the field to itself these prices are going to stay high.
AGAIN my gripe isnt with Vue its the limp wristed competiters.

Quote - DAZ just announced Carrara 7, but that concentrates mainly on DS rather than Poser from my understanding, I wonder how much work it would take to have a Poser import feature added to it, some of the outdoor scenes I've seen with it look pretty spectacular!

What on earth are you talking about? Carrara  has had Poser Import ability since version 4 at least and Cararra 5 & 6 Pro read Poser runtimes natively just not dynamic hair or clothes.

Looking at the DAZ forums, there appear to be some problems with Poser imports.  I can't say because I don't use Cararra myself

Quote - I only use Vues rendering engine for poser scenes - nothing else. To get the best out of it you need phyton scripts and that only comes with the Infinite versions. So yes, that's a high price to pay.

My understanding is that ALL versions of Vue, from the cheapest to the most expensive, will be able to run Python scripts. 

Also, now you'll be able to update the lowest Vue product all the way to Complete, which is basically the same as Infinite minus a few pro features which aren't used by many. And certainly Complete is more affordable than Infinite or xStream. I think this covers a lot of groud...of course the  proof is in the final product..whenever it comes out.

Quote - Looking at the DAZ forums, there appear to be some problems with Poser imports.  I can't say because I don't use Cararra myself

I use both and as I already stated, Poser stuff imports just fine for me except for Dynamic Hair and Cloth which aren't supported and some shaders don't transfer but usually I can find a better shader in Carrara for the ones that didn't make it through the import. People who are having problems are probably trying to use V4 or M4 without their morphs already saved into their CR2. I don't use them that much.

Quote - My understanding is that ALL versions of Vue, from the cheapest to the most expensive, will be able to run Python scripts.

I hope you're right. I also hope it can run on 64bit systems because those who use Poser scenes in Vue can´t have enough ram - I atleast always run into that problem with Vue6 Esprite and also with Vue7I even on a 64bit system. But I guess it will take some time before we see those products as I understand it, they have to fix the problems with Vue7I first. And 7.1 Beta was a step back instead of forward when it comes to Poser scenes.