Thanks for the tips on the 'key to rendering good Vue scenes'.

Perhaps you don't mind enlightening us with one of your masterpieces? Here's a little something from one of my rendering toolkits:

This one seems pretty photoreal: (picture by Eran Dinur) 

Quote - The real message is that the best things real professional application can do are so far above Vue capabalities (even in the hands of the best Vue-ers) that E-On quest for competition in that field is a textbook example of wishful thinking, componded with the negative fallouts that this strategy has for the mass of Vue users.

I'm sorry someone at e-on somehow kicked your dog and you've felt it your challenge to talk down Vue ever since. 

Wikipedia describes a troll as:

Quote - An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response[1] or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

Quote - Those images are missing the jaw-drop factor.  Read the CGsociety comments again.

It appears you missed my point.

If one of these Vue artists (links below) agreed with that premise, I might be inclined to go along with your opinion. I tend to take more seriously those who have the skill to push Vue to the max.

[ http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1092797&member

](http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1092797&member)http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1758999&member

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=398922&member

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1782571&member

 Hi Dick. Wow, wonderful stuff! Looks like you already have a great command of the function editor.

I remember Eric Wenger from the early Bryce days. Not being a Mac user anymore, I didn't know about ArtMatic Voyager. Fun browsing your site and seeing what you've done with it.

Welcome to our community! :-)

 That guy used paint effects for Maya to create the landscape. They're basically photo clip maps applied to 'tube' 3d geometry. Sorta like how Vue creates leaves. I've seen the same done many times using other non-biased renders. They work great at a distance, just don't zoom up on them. I can only imagine the howl the Vue community would make if all our plants were created in the same manner.

Silly comparison actually. More like associating the skill of a great water color painter to the kind of brushes he uses.

Alexcoppo, most of us here know this simple fact: it's not the tool, it's the artist. There are a number of photoreal images (and animations) done with Vue by terrific artists. One only needs to look in the gallery here or at e-on to see many of them.

 Giorgio,

As Mari-Anne said, UNLOCK the auto Height for your camera. It will automatically move the camera up and down based on even the smallest of object artifacts in your scene. IMO, this should default to unlocked.

 Also,

Here's a good Pioneer tute:

http://blog.chipp.com/2009/01/listening-to-my-daughter-and-her.html

 I know you're probably a died in the wool Mac guy (I was too a long time ago). You'd be surprised how much a Vista computer you can have for under a grand. I suspect it would run Vue close to a magnitude (10x) faster than what you have now. And, one of the best things about e-on (and least noticed) is the fact if you own a license to Vue, you can run it on any platform they support. Try doing that with SketchUp (you can't).

Anyway, I'm sure times are tough, but it's a thought as you make your plans on someday moving forward.

best,
Chipp

 Oh, so you're not using one of the newer intel Macs? Sorry, can't help you there as I don't even know if the Ruby plugins run on it. I sorta think not.

 I just installed a fresh copy of SketchUp 7 on my MacBook and the plugin loads and runs just fine. Are you sure you know how to install a SketchUp plugin on Macs? Are you sure you're using the correct plugin?

 Check out the video. Try the other plugin. It might work for you.

Like Walther, I started using 3D apps back when there weren't any: circa 1980's. The first application which one could actually model in and render reasonable images on the PC was called Cubicomp.

At that time, I was a Mac user and the Mac offererings were slim to none: Easy3Da nd Pro3D were very primitive solid modelers and rendered only B&W on Macs 512 x 384 screen. Soon Super 3D from Silicon Beach came to the Mac and the programmer and I became good friends. This was important as I had a direct conduit to answering questions and even adding the occasional feature I needed. Shortly thereafter I developed a 3D mockup of our implementation of the Initial Lunar Habitat for NASA using the very first version of Electric Image (called "Spotlight") to render. Some renderings done way back then (~1988):

I learned a lot about modeling and mapping during that time. Later, Kai Krause asked me if I'd test a beta version of his soon to be released program, Bryce and I said 'sure!' We both had known each other for awhile and he knew I had a lot of experience with 3D and Macs and wanted to see what I thought. I instantly fell in love with the program and started modeling directly in it with terrains, which is probably why to this day I enjoy modeling directly in Vue.

A couple early Bryce renders using terrains as models:

I then did a startup company, and started using Newtek's Lightwave-- always has been a favorite. We used 3D a lot at Human Code. I created a skunkworks division and we created the first 3D cell-shaded animated TV show pilot and marketed it to Hollywood. It was called "Avalon" and was focused on kids and ecology in a huge torus sized spaceship. We finally found a publisher for 26 episodes but was derrailed when the financier was critically injured in a car wreck. So, Avalon was never made :-(

Kinda quit 3d for quite awhile after the disappointment. Then one day many years, surfing the web came across some incredible Vue images at http://www.shiftedreality.com/ and ordered Vue 5 Infinite right then. It had the ease of use and instant gratification of Bryce, but could do oh so much more. Plus it didn't have Bryce's crazy material editor (though Bryce still has a better brush terrain editor).

It's fun reminiscing. Took me awhile to dig up some of the old images-- I hope they were as fun to view now as they were to make then.

:-)

Quote - I wonder why I got 17$ even after all my complaints. Maybe the real reason is that this is the first effect of Terragen2 having gone Gold.

Bye

P.S.: do you know the amusing part? there is nothing I am interested in buying...

alexcoppo, once again finding the glass half empty. Sad for your pessimism.

Marque, perhaps a quick note to webmaster@cornucopia3d.com mentioning your free voucher must've got lost in the mail might do the trick!

Myself, I think I'll use the voucher for some of Pam (forrester's) fine products :-)