The very first beta of Vue 4.05 has just been released. It's actually our first update for the Mac version! Here is the list of fixes included in the update:

• Objects disappear in locked layers.
• Views were not refreshed when dragging and dropping objects between layers with different status.
• Mac: now possible to add extra vegetation species.
• Mac: Nudge keys not working.
• Mac: problems with wireframe draw (OpenGL disabled).
• Mac: doesn't memorize the last selected item in the browsers.
• Only one try was accepted instead of five when adding extra vegetation species
• Now displays a warning when stopping a render and the render cannot be resumed later (Final or better modes only).
• The render mode would stay set to Preview when resuming render, resulting in the message "You are about to save a Preview picture..." when saving the picture (Final or better modes only).
• In Fractal Terrains Options dialog, pressing Cancel would not cancel the modifications made to the filters.
• Pasting or loading a material via the menu onto a group of objects made out of different materials would not apply the material.
• Materials mixed with other modes than "Full blend" would not exhibit bumps properly.
• Crash when removing all members of a Boolean Difference.
• Problems when rendering Boolean operations involving 3D Mesh objects.

Please note: The update works for version 4.03 and up only.

You can download the update here:
Vue 4.05 Beta 1 Update for Mac
Vue 4.05 Beta 1 Update for Windows

Keep in mind that this is a beta version of the update, so it may not perform as expected... You can revert to the previous version by copying the files in the Back sub-folder (created by the updater) into the root folder of Vue.

Enjoy!
Steve

Awesome list of fixes, Steve! ::crossing fingers:: Thanks for keeping up up to date! :D

"Objects disappear in locked layers"

"Pasting or loading a material via the menu onto a group of objects made out of different materials would not apply the material" (it was happening all the time with Poser imports)

that's the fixes I was waiting for !

But what does "it may not perform as expected" really mean ? should I be afraid ?
Well I won't try it first... go ahead my friends, and tell me if it's running fine ! (especially if your OS is WIN2K)

I had many problems updating to 4.03 (even using the Back folder)...

Eric

Guitta,

Did you tweak Vue to use a language that is different from your OS language?

Try pressing OK. Vue should start, although parts of the interface will be in your current Vue language, and other parts will be in your OS language...

Steve.

Ok... I guess I won't try it. Patience...patience..

BOY, am I glad I waited! I have had soooooo many headaches with vue, you would not believe it. The last time, it took me at least 5 times of install,reinstall to get it to work, so.....I think for now........I will let sleeping dogs lie, and not worry about the update. (: Thanks everybody, and I am sorry that you are having problems...........hopefully, you will be able to fix them soon. genny

It's late, but my little VUE must work properly before tomorrow morning...

I did a total re-installation :

1. launch the application from the CD
2. launch the veg.exe update
3. launch the VUE 4.03 update, after removing the Biosphere4.dll and the "back" folder
4. replace the VUE4.erd, VUE4.erm, VUE4.ers because the language was wrong.
5. remove the Biosphere4.dll and the "back" folder again
6. launch the 4.05beta1

The update process worked but I had the same message as Guitta "incompatible language". After pressing "OK" the interface was indeed in 2 languages (french and english). This is strange...because my OS is in english !

1. I could revert the application to its previous state by using the files in the "back folder".

I won't try anything else, I'll stay with VUE 4.03 for a while...

For the following update I would really like a nice little CD-rom with ONE totally updated application in ONE language ! I'm even ready to pay for it ! Since I have VUE4 (2 months) there has been too much downloading, launching, replacing, removing, updating, uninstalling, etc.
How old is VUE4 ? 5 months ? and it's already update n5 ?!?!?!?!?!

Eric

OOOHH, a genuine challenge again! Call me masochistic, but I'm genuinely beginning to enjoy this. Really. :) And after I d/l it, I'm gonna get some sleep so I can enjoy it later at full strength. ;) OK, If I don't make it back, it's been nice knowing y'all. ;)

Hey, just curious, but how did we go from 4.03 to 4.05? maybe that's a European thing, but I would sort of doubt it. ;)

Mike, the VUE version numbers were converted to Euro's then rounded up to the nearest decimal point.

LOL Hein! That explains it all. :) Folks, remember this patch is a beta. "May not perform as expected" means now that the fixes have all been implemented and the most outrageous patch bugs have been squashed, it's time to check for additional bugs that might've sneaked through. If you try it and run into problems, post the details here as Guitta and Eric have done. It helps all of us stay "on top" of what's happening, and it helps E-on find the nasties and eliminate them. :)

Sorry folks..I won't be participating in this latest beta trial..have uninstalled and re installed vue more times than I care to remember.....however, I do have one question for E-On.... Q: When will the BUM files issues be addressed?

oooopsie ;-) think Ill wait a while on this one too as theres only 1 phrase I know in French :-)

To Steve and all, First thing I did this morning was to fire up Vue 4.05 beta again. I got the same message about incompatible language. My OS (Windows 98) is is french. When I click OK, Vue opens fully in english language, but freezes immediately, I cannot create a new scene or open any existing one. I cannot do any thing on my computer either, because every thing is frozen (Windows). I had to shot down my machine (with the button) and restart it again. Also I have put back all the files and folders from the backup into the Vue root and it worked fine. But as I'm curious, I have done the whole thing again (installed the 05 beta) and got the same result as yesterday. Now I'm back to my Vue 4.03 and will wait for a better update. I'm lucky it works again. Guitta

I installed the beta update tonite and the program started up OK without a hitch. (sigh of relief). This is running under WinXP Pro. Haven't fully tested the program; but it all appears well

LOL, hein! Sorry to hear about all the troubles. :( I opened it too, and at first glance it seems to be doing well, but I haven't really tried anything yet....

Well I may have spoken too soon. Can't open application after aopening it up the first time. Might have nothing to do with Vue so I'll have to reboot my machien and see.

OK, well now, the first thing I wanted to do was to test the boolean fix. I can't even import anything now. I go to the Object menu>Import Object. The screen flashes and then all the viewports disappear, and no import browser opens. Note that that's just for Importing objects, and the Load object dialogue works..as long it's a VOB from the library. Clicking on File in the library window has the sanme effect as trying to import, only the screen doesn't go blank, ut rather simply nothing happens except I can't move my pointer around for about 20 seconds.

Ok..this is weird! I installed the beta update and the program ran fine. Closed program and tried running it again later and WinXP brought up error message. Thought something had gone screwy with my system and rebooted. Tried to run Vue again..got an error. Program will NOT run. Decided to reapply the update on a whim. And guess what..now the program ran. BUT the screwy part is that it only ran the first time; casing an error upon trying to run it again. Reinstalling the upgrade allowed the program to run. So what's up? Is the program now screwing up some file everytime it runs??

I will not be experimenting with the "beta" version either. Besides, the main issue I wanted to see resolved it not listed... transparent materials showing white when illuminated by volumetric lighting :( Oh well, maybe in another 3 months.... meanwhile, I have 5 Vue renders just sitting waiting on a "real" patch. Greg aka Reddog3d

Guitta: It seems that the language resources are not being transferred correctly - that's one of the (numerous) problems that are caused by having updates available in all languages at the same time. On the other hand, I'm sure our international users appreciate not having to wait for the release of localized updates.
Anyway, you said your OS is in French. What language was Vue 4.03 before you installed the update? French also?

Audity: the program is not going to run if the update failed part way through. We are currently modifying our updater so that if it fails for any reason, the program being updated is automatically restored to its previous state.

Sacred Rose: we have found that some BUM files referenced by PZ3 scenes are actually not read correctly by Poser either, although Poser doesn't complain. In such cases, Vue will stupidly report an error... That is, for instance, the case with "P4 woman bump" and "P4 man bump" in the "Poser 4 textures" folder.
Is that one of the files that isn't loading in Vue 4?

MikeJ: does the same thing happen when you press "File" in the other browsers? (say, the atmosphere browser?) What about loading a picture into the material editor?

Uroboros: can you do the following for me:

• run the update
• make a backup copy of the "Environment" sub-folder before running Vue
• run Vue, close it, and try relaunching.
• if that fails, copy the contents of the Environment backup to the current Environment. Try launching again. Does it work?
  If it does, then it means that Vue is corrupting one of its own files. If it doesn't then it could be XP messing around with the Vue dll's.

Thanks to all for trying the update. It's only with your help that we can get them to work right...

Steve.

"does the same thing happen when you press "File" in the other browsers? (say, the atmosphere browser?) What about loading a picture into the material editor?" It sure does, Steve. I tried it with the atmosphere browser and the material browser, and it happens in them the same as in the object browser. Aside from that, the OpenGL shaded preview looks different...better, actually, unless I'm imagining it. And yeah, since Greg brought it up, that volumetric problem sure would be a nice one to have fixed. :)

Steve, my Vue 4.03 was always and is in english, because I want to have it in english and not in french. But anyhow, the 0.5 Beta update freezes my computer, I will not try it again. I'm always ready to try what's new in Vue, but here is no solution for me. Guitta

Well. It says nice and clearly "beta" and what that means in software terms is "we think it'll work but it needs testing by lotsa peeps". Personally, there's no way I'd run up a beta on my only, essential, money-earning copy of an app this complex. I have two advantages though. I am only a hobbyist renderer; and I have nice natty swappable hard disk trays with differnt play OS installations on. So I will try it out on a cack installation and see what happens. Doesn't look hopeful though! :~ Poo! (can I check Adult Content now?}

Right, I've loaded the beta and it installed fine. Here are a few things I have noted so far. More details will be sent to e-on. 'import object' crashes the program. -------------- In terrain editor, reset the terrain to all zero, went into options and altered seed and an amplitude, clicked ok and still got a flat terrain. If I do this without reseting, using options does alter the terrain, but If I reset, I can't generate a terrain, it just stays flat. no other apparent problems in terrain editor.

I can't load plant materials, vue reports it cannot read the .prv files.

Steve, concerning the .BUM problem. I been unable import any .PZ3's without the .BUM error popping up. It does not seem to matter what .PZ3 or .BUM file I choose to use, Vue always throws up the .BUM error message. I'm wondering if it may be something to do with file name conventions and/or program installation locations? Martin

Yup, like zoon I have the same problem with the plant materials. Most come up with an "unable to read file ...plantsfern1.prv" message. Although, a few of the plants, like Red Corel, will load without a complaint. -Irene-

Steve I did what yyou suggusted and it didn't help. Still had to reinstall unpdate to run program. So perhaps WinXP is doing something screwy to Vue. And it it means anything... Event Type: Error Event Source: Application Error Event Category: None Event ID: 1000 Date: 1/24/2002 Time: 3:11:18 PM User: N/A Computer: VBUTTARO Description: Faulting application vue4.exe, version 0.0.0.0, faulting module ntdll.dll, version 5.1.2600.0, fault address 0x00003741.

Red Dog: I know we have fixed some problems with volumetric spotlights, but I'm not sure it is the problem you are talking about, because I couldn't reproduce that problem. If you'd care to get me a scene I can check it out for you (make sure you include all the maps, especially the transparent ones).

Guitta: I can see now why you are getting the problem. The installer is setting some of your resources to your OS's language, while others are untouched, thus remaining in English. This problem has been addressed in Vue 4.04. We will fix it for people updating from 4.03.

MikeJ: what OS are you running?

Zoon: yes, I see that the amplitudes are not being kept between two openings of the Options dialog. I wasn't able to reproduce the problem with the plants, though... Re/ the import object crash, is it the same problem as MikeJ (does it happen each time you get to select a file using the explorer)?

Martin: to fix this problem we need it to happen here; unfortunately, it works fine on all our computers... The only other option would be to have someone who has the problem and would be willing to spend a lot of time installing test versions for us, and trying them out to see what goes wrong.

Uroboros: you mean that after restoring the Backed-up Environment files the program still crashes? Any chance you could be installing on XP without having administrative rights?

Steve.

Steve, it happens just like with MikeJ. Crashes when I click the menu item 'import object'. I haven't tried it through the vob browser file button - I'll try this tomorrow, but it sounds identical.

Attached Link: http://cybervue.multimania.com/trans.jpg

Yeah Guitta, that's it. Same thing here when I try it. Moving the light sometimes helps, but it never solves the problem completely.

Guitta: Yes, please put a scene together for me so I can check it out. Don't forget to supply the maps. Thanks for your help. Steve.

Yes Steve only reinstalling the program will make it work again. I tried backing up other files and restoring them with no luck. Could the issue have something to do with the registry perhaps?? And yes I'm logged on as adminstrator here

Attached Link: http://reddog3d.crosswinds.net/volume.htm

Well, I just discovered it's not reading the .prv files on any of the plants, so they load with no leaf materials. I was going to upload a picture, but when I clicked on the thingy to save the pic, the message, "you are about to save a picture that has been rendered in preview mode...blahblahblah..." came up. I wasn't worried about the quality, so I told it to not switch to final. Then Vue just simply crashed. Sop, no ability to use plants now either. as for how they look, just picture the trees with the leaf textures removed.

Greg: can you put the files up on your account somewhere? If not, I can e-mail you our ftp details. Steve.

Sorry Greg for the Graig:-( Guitta

Steve, I have posted a private message for you. Mike rememberd to me that I used files witch could be stolen by unauthorized persons. Thaks Mike. Guitta

Steve, the BUM file issue is on any BUM file...from Hair to skin to clothing. I have tried poser 4 figures and Millenium figures and props...all with the same result : Invalid file format.

Wireframe without OpenGL works fine now. My house project no longer crashes when selecting the cylinder and cube for the door. However, droping my group is a bit unexpected, as it tries to drop the cylinder to the ground too - instead of maintaining the relative distance of the objects within the group. If I wanted the cylinder to drop, I'd select it by itself. Beside the missing branches and interface redraw issues, there is also a bit of an issue with rendering a full screen image on Mac. It doesn't seem possible to do anything with such an image after it's rendered. Actually you just have to push Escape before the menus return, but it's not obvious. And cancelling with Escape doesn't bring the menus back either - have to press Escape twice more (in 4.04 too btw). If you go back to the scene with F8 - getting back to the 3D scenes becomes difficult as F8/Esc don't do it. - n8

wow - my brand-new Vue 4.02.02 for windows came UPS today, and its so full of serious troubles that reading of hard times doing the several updates sounds thoroughly depressing when I just want to get real work done :(

Interesting nathany. In Vue 3 (and even 4 sometimes) every now and then I had the problem of it dropping all the way to the ground things that were grouped, but they didn't ned to be boolean objects--just grouped objects. But it was pretty rare to have it happen. I'm sory to hear about your problems too, roadtoad, but at least I can tell you that the 4.03 patch (Full Update) on the E-on site took away most of the problems in 4.02. I just ended up reverting to before the 4.05 patch. While I don't have the problem Guitta had with not being able to even open Vue, it's still unusable if it can't import objects, open files in the ediors, or grow trees with leaves on them. ;) OK, I'm ready for 4.05beta2....

Uhm... Guys... wouldn't it be nice if it was possible to choose what language you want your Vue to be in? My OS is german, but I do prefer my 3D-programms to be english versions, because it makes it far easier to exchange data with english applications - something I have to do quite often. Oh, another thing: The german updater still empties all your libraries and forces you to manually rename all of your materials, functions, atmospheres and so on. With about 800 user-defined materials and about 200 atmospheres in my library, there is no way I am going to rename them all manually. So please, please add a function to the updater to choose the appropriate language and do not simple take the OS language. Joerg

Oh Yes Joerg ! that language problem should really be fixed. I run some softwares in french others in english and my OS is in english. It never causes any troubles...
With VUE, for each update, I have to replace some files here and there. The program is always transformed is a french version ! Once in a while I even get "sonnenlicht" instead of "sun".

Message to e-on :
In the root directory there should be a "preference" file, where all your personnal settings (language and options) are recorded. The updater would read it before doing any modifications. Or, like Joerd proposed it, the updater shouldn't launch itself directly. A little window with "select your language" is a good idea.

There is even an easier solution : make one update application for each language !

Eric

Nathany, your "tree trunks" are not "supposed to be gray" ! They can be any color you want ! click on the "summary of materials" button. In the list the "trunk" material will appear. You can then edit it... The original "maple trunk" material is gray and not very realistic. Eric