*"E-on software's new EcoSystem technology is patented (patent pending). You will not find comparable technologies in other 3D applications!"

This is entirely untrue, as there are a number of other software products that can achieve ecosystem distribution more powerfully than Vue 5 Infinite. In addition, they have (in some cases) been available since before Vue was even publically released in '95...*

Hi Adam,

I am also wondering why this "Ecosystem" deserves a patent pending. From the description at e-on software and the examples, this "system" seems to be an advanced instancing tool. There is nothing special about that.

Placing clones of an object on a surface according to procedural noises, elevation, proximity of objects or any other "input data" is something that can be done in many applications (it's even a standard feature in pro particles engines). Modulating the density, color, scale or rotation of the instances with the same kind of data is also a very common feature.

The DiCloner plugin for Cinema 4D, the Placer Deposit plugin for Electric Image are just two examples of similar tools. Cebas' Thinking Particles (a rule-based particle systems for Cinema 4D and 3DS max) is also capable of doing this (and much more!). There are dozens of other examples, from crowd simulation engine to fur system, etc...

Unless there are some hidden features in this "EcoSystem", the sentence "You will not find comparable technologies in other 3D applications!" is for me a mystery...

Anyway, I'm sure that VUE users will find this cloning tool very useful :)

"To come into a Vue forum and make accusations and claim knowledge on a product that has not even been released seem morally dubious to me and has hidden agenda written all over it."

Sorry Vance, I don't agree with you. Adam's concern is valid. It's e-on software statement that is rather strange... "You will not find comparable technologies in other 3D applications!". Well, I can do with other 3D applications everything that is written in the "Breakthrough EcoSystem Technology" feature list. So, I think we have the right to ask ourselves questions.

:) Eric

PhotoImpact is an image editing software, just like PhotoShop or PaintShop Pro. Like I said earlier it doesn't support the high dynamic range format, in theory and in practice! You won't be able to read/edit/write .hdr file with it.

Download the demo and try...

:) Eric

Hi Orio,

PhotoImpact doesn't support high dynamic range image. It can't load .hdr file or .OpenXR, neither any image encoded in floating point units.

Its "high dynamic range" tool is just a way to automatically mix together images with different exposure into a single 24 bits image (8 bit per channel). It's a totally low dynamic range process!

If you're looking for a true floating point high dynamic range image editing software, try PHOTOGENICS from Idruna softwares.

:) Eric

Hi Folks!

a lot of free maps here:

kelsolaar.3dvf.net

3dweave.com (for IBL only)

www.cs.kuleuven.ac.be

(don't forget that "free to download" doesn't mean "copyrights free"!)

Enjoy!

Hi Dee Marie!

You should really submit ggdesigner's suggestion to Tommy. Replacing this table of 27 small images by ONE image map is a good idea.

Using sliced image doesn't increase the browsing speed, it's actually the opposite. Downloading a single 10 KB image from a server takes less time than 27 small ones.

Cheers,

:) Eric

"an excellent example of this maxim is at www.belino.net , where Phoul hangs his hat. Check out his demo's and you can see just what Poser 4 and Vue 4 can do....and I have had the extreme pleasure of having a Lightwave snob waxing about what 'his' app could do...and seeing the look on his face when he found out that the apps actually used weren't LW, and cost less than many plugins for his 'baby'. Revenge is sweet, and shriveling a twit is pure enjoyment...." (Dale_B)

Dale, the model that Phoul uses are made with Lightwave (like most DAZ models). The statement "made with VUE and POSER" that Phoul writes on all his animations is wrong. With Poser and Vue only, his animations would be cubes moving in landscapes.

Please don't forget that all the contents that you are using in Poser were created in Lightwave, Rhino, StudioMAX, etc...

:) Eric

Clik OK! the Flash Player 7 is only 400 KB big. :) Eric

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/index.ez?viewLink=481

January - 3D Studio MAX / Lightwave
February - Carrara / Cinema 4D / Strata 3D
March - 2D / Mixed Medium
April - Terragen / Bryce / Vue d'Esprit
May - Worldbuilder / MojoWorld
June - Poser
July - Photography
August - Maya / TrueSpace
September - Fractal / Imagine / Animation Master
October - Z-Brush / Digital Comics / Xfrog / Softimage XSI
November - Rhino / Amorphium / Amapi
December - All Galleries

Be patient...

:) Eric

a little reminder:

"Members and users are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that is constructive and respectful of others at all times. Additionally, we would hope that each member/user would do their best to facilitate a culture of collaboration and positive reinforcement, so that we can all share our passion for art while realizing our personal ambitions, and developing friendships."

:) Eric

(image copyrights: Dave Carwell/WETA digital)

@DefaultGuy: Sorry to answer you so late, I totally forgot this thread!

Like Baz pointed out, it's a Cinema4D R8.5 render. This is a basic vertex displacement on a high subdivision cube made with DiShaper. Definitely not as powerful as micropolygon displacement.

:) Eric

I agree with you DarkChilde. "3D" contests should not tolerate ready-made contents. It's simply not fair. That's why all the modelling contests that I organized here (the last one: http://www.renderosity.com/contest.ez?contest_id=239) didn't allow it. For me using ready-made models would mean that the 3D scene was not created by a single artist, is not original and was not made specifically for the contest.

However, understand that some contests are not focused on 3D modelling/texturing skills, but on the global "artistic" value of an image. If this image include 3rd party models/textures or not doesn't matter. It's not as easy as some might think to transform a few poser models and props into something aesthetically challenging. As you probably know, "money doesn't buy talent".

I must ask this question to all those people whose work is 100% their own. . ."Are we wasting our time and effort?"

Surely not! If you can make 3D scenes all by yourself, you're the winner, you have the freedom to make whatever you want!

Those who put 100% of their own work into their images, I hope, will add to this forum and hopefully we can get the rules changed for all contests.

Well, since 6 months or so I dediced to stop using models done by other people. My last scenes are 100% mine (self-made models and hand-painted textures). But I won't follow you on this track. There is room for all sorts of contests. Just as there is room for all sorts of artworks. If you don't like the rules of one contest, don't participate. It's as easy as this!

Like Carolly pointed out, there are many contests for 3D modellers elsewhere (try www.3dluvr.com), and I'm sure there will be a contest for you at Renderosity in the following months (check the modelling application forums).

:) Eric

There's no displacement on your render (or an extremely weak one). Like Stewer, I can only see a strong bump map. The polygons and the surface normals are not modified at all.

See above an example of "real" displacement.

:) Eric

Ratteler: "For this FBX system to work, it's got to have some standard ways of doing things. A superset of animation tools. If a figure is brought into say LW from Maya, does it keep it's bone structure? LW and Maya's bone structure tools are very different. How does it get around those differences?" I don't know what is the scope of the MAYA, 3DS or LW FBX exchange plugins. However I suppose that you get a similar compatibility as in Cinema 4D 8.5. Cinema 4D 8.5 can import/export the following data from/to an FBX file: - geometry, bones (C4D bones to/from Kaydara's Skeleton Nodes) - textures, material settings (color, luminance color, specular color, specular width and height, reflection, transparency and environment color). - animation, PLA (morph) and weight maps. - lights, cameras, environment color. (there's no support of subdivision surface/nurbs, soft body dynamics, particles, etc) Ratteler: "All this stuff has to be translated into the FBX format and with any translation is going to come some compromise." Yes. Some limitations also. As the FBX bone structure (nodes) is totally different than Cinema 4D 's bones (deformer), the translation is never "perfect". However, in it's current state (first release), Cinema 4D 8.5's FBX plugin works quite correctly. I could - with a minimum of effort - export my Cinema 4D character animation to Kaydara's Motion Builder 5 and the other way around. For the texture/shaders settings, the translation is very limited. As all 3D softwares have a different procedural shaders and material channel system, it's impossible to get a 1:1 translation. For me this is not a major problem. It's always better to adjust the texture/shaders in the application that will be used for lighting/rendering. :) Eric

Hi x-man,

The easiest way would be to load the Poser model directly in 3DStudioMAX using Reiss Studio's "Body Studio 2" plugin. If you need additional VUE PRO contents, export separately the vegetation in 3DS format, the terrain as elevation map and the sky as an environment map.

:) Eric