Quote - We are in developing new system, but not enogh time.
Any one want join, who now PHP and AJax, more then welcome to help.

That type of indexing would help, but you could do something in the mean time that may be of some benefit. Have you considered revamping the menu layout of the site and breaking down the tutorials into more categories? You have ones now for "Beginning", "Landscape" and "Light in Vue" but those headers can be expanded upon with sub menus in each breaking it down even more. Example "Lighting>Outdoor>Scenic", "Lighting>Indoor>Interior", etc.

You could also setup just basic alphabet links with letters A-Z. That way you can find the video tutorials by title name easier.

Quote - I have 6 Gig of DDR3 ram in triple channel. I have read on forums that 12 Gigs does not make even the slightest difference... please correct me if I am wrong. Although my CPU maxes out at 100 % all the time the ram usage doesn't go further than 5 gigs

I can not give you an answer for certain on this question, but I do know that my 10GB using Boot Camp on my Mac Pro does provide VERY nice render times. There was an article in 3D World Magazine and a no holds barred PC they do annually in Maximum PC magazine. I will try to find those and see what they say. Right now, I think your GPU and RAM are highly important and things are changing under Windows 7 and Mac "Snow Leopard" very soon for 64bit RAM usage and limitations being put to rest. I do know that Windows XP 64 bit is different in it's RAM utilization over Windows 7 so I will see what I can find out. In the mean time, check out Maximum PC web site and others like Toms Hardware and ArsTechnica for more.

Quote - In support of E-On, I would like to point out that also other applications, like Hexagon, work well with Windows and, at the same time, are plagued by bugs on Macs.

I am starting to think that creating portable advanced graphic applications for Windows and Macs from a common code base is "quite complex".

I understand that this is no relief for Mac users here.

Sorry...

The "code base" is quite different between the two platforms and the problem stems typically from programmers not knowing how to code properly for it and not having the resources to do so. All NEW programs for the Mac OS should be 64 bit and written in Apple "CoCoa" language. Developers have known for awhile about "CoCoa" and yet it was not until Apple pulled the plug on the old codes they forced developers to comply.

It takes a large company like Adobe, which now has a full team of programmers and help from some Apple people working on Photoshop CS5 64 bit which had to be re-written from the ground up for "CoCoa" (see the Adobe press announcements and blog for details). Few 3D/Art companies have the resources Adobe does to dish out, which is why the Mac OS seems to lag behind the curve.

Other companies don't have that kind of issue at this time and have written in CoCoa. The C4D and Modo programs are well supported and should be how others like Vue are done. You can tell C4D programmers know their coding and I have spoken with Modo and was impressed with them too. It is unfortunate Vue/e-on does not seem to have that support team in place like the others.

The only real hope is the re-write it like Adobe is for true "CoCoa" and go from there. In the mean time you can use it like I am in Boot Camp Windows 7 RC or for smaller projects under Mac OS.

Quote - yep got four threads selected have posted question in poser forum. Thanks for settling my mind about the procossing usage!

Processor usage is fine, but just be sure you have an EXCELLENT power supply in your PC and make sure there are plenty of case fans venting the air, not just a CPU/GPU fan. I have built many systems and prefer to use a cooling system for a machine that stays on that long running intense processes.

The other thing you may want to consider is getting at least double or more your RAM. With Windows 7 and Vue 7.5 for Widnows 64 bit you can use much more than what you have and do your scenes faster.

Quote - Try merging it with a new scene. Saved my pants a few times...;-)
The only thing is you will loose your atmosphere that way.....

Cheers!

Thanks for the tip, I never thought of that and tried it today. It works fine now and does not have a problem. I do have to re-do all my atmosphere as you say, but at least it is saved now. I wonder what causes this sort of issue to begin with, must be a save issue or bug I guess? Anyway, thanks I will use this again if it happens, which I hope is not often.

Quote -  No sooner had I pressed the "post" button, I received an e-mail from E-on advising of a Vue 7.5 xstream PLE download.  I will give it a try and report back ... fingers crossed that it does not nefariously interract with any other software on my 8core, up to and including C4d.

I got that same notice today too about the 7.5 PLE. Hopefully that will help you and I would be interested in knowing myself. Right now, I use Modo and Poser Pro on my Mac Pro and soon plan to add "Mudbox" from Autodesk Mac version as well. I can say that it works fine with those programs but I do not own C4D yet.

Let me know what you find out and best of luck.

Check out my system specs in my sig below. I have Vue 7i 7.4 right now because I can live until 8.0 comes out. I can say mine works fine for my Vue 7i but not about 7.5x or C4D, sorry.

Quote - I too am tesing windows 7 RC1, its nicer than xp, and more stable I would say, and when something does go wrong it sorts itself out.

grand tutorial also silverblade :)

Yes, I was a Beta tester too and have been using Windows 7 for some time now. As mentioned, RC is out now and is FREE from Microsoft to use until next year. Then I am sure SP1 will be out sometime in Summer or late 2010 most tech writers are saying.

I am a BIG Mac user and use Boot Camp with Windows 7 RC right now. It works just fine with Vue 7.4 with no issues I have seen so far. I must note however that I have not gotten some of the issues with Vue 7 others have had under Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. In fact, their latest build, 10.5.7 is solid for me so far.

Either way, you are good to go and Windows 7 RC now and then you can decide to buy the retail version this year or wait until next year when the RC license runs out and closer to the SP1 (or at least updates).

Quote - new lighting tutorials added

Thanks guys, you sure keep things interesting and fun to learn. Now I just need to find the time to wade through all the great new material. :)

Keep up the good work, I like them a lot.

dburdick,

Thanks for the continued help on this. You may be right, it may just be that I am new to Vue and was more use to the way Poser did things. Perhaps the lighting you state is better in that image of Vue over Poser. I am still learning many things on Vue and that is why this helps so I can understand the lighting and looks more.

I will try to post some links later today as well, but I wanted you to know that your one link is almost exactly what I am looking for in Vue for skin realism. This is the one you did I am referring to:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1603268

If I could replicate this look in Vue for my imports I would be quite happy. Do you think that one is well done? Reason I ask is you said some look fake, but this one looks real good to me and about the best I can maybe refer to. Basically, I just need to fine tune this to show a scene with a V4 figure like this in the background, say a beach or something so there are 2 render versions of it: 1 that is the FULL scene and the 2nd that is a close up of the V4 model(s). The link above is really what I am after for most of my scenes. If you could help by letting me know some settings for SkinVue 7 and other tips to achieve this it would help a lot. Do you think I would need to adjust the lighting in the scene if I want to do 2 renders like mentioned above, one that is the full scene and the other a closeup render focused on the character(s)?

Thanks again for all the help and others too, I am more optimistic it will work out now for me as I continue to learn about achieving this realism.

dburdick,

I took a look at the other image with the progression and saw the results a little better on that one. However, if you look at the Poser render and the last figure on the right, **Karlin, you can see what I am sort of referring to. To me, the Poser render still looks better. Also, I do not know what lighting or if any "skin realism kit" for Poser was used on the V4 figures, but when I do mine, I get VERY nice detailed closup skin that looks even better, near human like.

Like I said, not sure really how to replicate this or even if you can inside Vue 7 compared with Poser Pro. For realism, it may just be better at it than Vue, but I am not giving up yet. Surely if Poser Pro can do it then there must be a way in Vue one would think. However, this sure is getting complex in Vue compared with Poser and it's skin realism.

Thanks.

P.S. Ignore the bold, it's a browser issue right now and all my posts are coming out in bold here at this time. :(

**

Quote - Here's a "G"-rated version of a quasi-finished product to share a couple of tips on character rendering postwork:

1. It's usually a good idea to add some softening to the image to remove harsh details.  The Vue post options lens glare can sometimes work for this but the Photoshop/PSP softening filters are usually better.

2. Employ something which helps to separate the characters from the background to give it some depth such as DOF blur, adding background point lights, etc. 

3. Adjust the brightness-contrast levels in photoshop or alternatively, the Vue post options "Gain" slider can sometimes work for this as well.

Thanks, this and the above info has given me some ideas and something to work on. I do have SkinVue 7 and have been working on the settings some trying to get the skin to look like it does in Poser.

The postwork is something I can try in Photoshop CS4, but it is not needed and looks GREAT in Poser Pro render with no postwork so that is what I am aiming for.

On your image - PG version, I can't tell too much from the skin detail realism due to the bright light glare of the image and non closeup. When I render with the Poser Pro lights setup it looks very REAL and not artificial. The image you posted still does not have a "realism" look to the figure skin as much as a general Poser render I can achieve with it's lights and "V4 Skin Realism Kit" here in the marketplace.

Right now I am just playing around some with the settings some more and the lighting to see if I can get close, but I am beginning to wonder if Poser Pro is just not better at rendering REALISM for Daz figures. BTW, have you seen some of the renders being done with "Daz Studio" newest version and the "realism" kits over at Daz? They render VERY realistic and don't have a doll look at all. Just thinking this may not be something that can be achieved in Vue 7, though you and others with more experience I am sure would know better.

I will continue to work on this and hope to get it at least as good as Poser Pro renders if not Daz Studio eventually, unless it's just not possible in Vue 7.

Thanks for the replies and info.

Rutra,

I know what you mean about the trial and error and having to work with each scene a little different depending. SkinVue is nice, but it still does not give the same look as one rendered inside Poser for some reason.

One of the main issues I am having trouble with is working with the different body mats for V4/M4. They are VERY detailed and look real nice in Poser plus it is clear the difference between the characters skins. However, in Vue it does not seem to translate over well even when trying to tweak the light and materials in combo with SkinVue. The figures look about the same for their skin which is sort of hard to explain.

What I am seeing is if I use say 3 different purchased V4/M4 characters, each with unique skin mats that look different and very good in Poser and the Poser Light, it looks nearly the same inside Vue and all of the uniqueness of each V4/M4 skin mat is not really there. Compared to Poser, the Skin mats seem to have the same basic look for some reason.

Maybe I just need to figure out more lighting or something in Vue, but i have tried Point lights, Quads, etc. and even adjusted the "Sun" light to about 85% and softness for shadows at about 1 still to little avail. The whole Poser > Vue for V4/M4 skin mats is really something tedius I find and does not seem to translate well with loss of the unique texture of skin that shows up in Poser.

I'll keep working on this and may find something else to tweak. Don't know if there may be anything specific anyone can suggest but any input is nice to have.

Quote - Go for a new Mac Pro with 2 i7 Nehalems. Run Bootcamp on an added HD with Vista Business 64 bit. I have a 2nd generation Xeon 8-core (the newer, 3rd generation Mac Pro with the 2 i7 Xeons, multithreads like 16 cores -- 8-cores + 8 Hyperthreaded, simulated cores).

I own several quad-core, a few dual-core (1st generation) PCs, and 4 laptops. This is my first Mac. It's the highest quality, most stable PC I've ever owned.  Just add your own memory and HD, as Apple charges a reasonable -- almost bargin price for the basic box, but charges an arm and a leg for upgrades -- which are very easy to do (just slide the HD in, just pull out the memory trays, and plug in the memory).

Also, Apple's mouse stinks, and the keyboard is almost solid aluminum, but has chiclet keys. The Mac OS is lovely, and I prefer it to Vista, but alas, Vue runs only 32-bit on the Mac! Hence the Bootcamp option. Per Consumer Reports, Acer ain't so hot in the reliability dept., and Apple is # 1.

Quality should count., and my Mac has that in spades!

I would agree. Also as I said in my last post, don't forget that Microsoft will give you Windows 7 RC 1 for FREE right now and it's good until next year. I'm running it just fine with my Mac Pro and "Boot Camp" and it is stable so far. :)

Quote - Gday!

Gonna Get Vue7 Infinite soon! :)
I've got $10,000AUD to spend on getting a Godly PC To Render Animations FAST

Any onke Got Any Idea on Ram, Cpu prosessor (s) Hard drive I should be looking at getting to
Render Large Vue Scenes?

Thankz.

by the way Vue7 Infinite Imports poser Right? Don't need to get Vue xTream for the "intergration of programs.

Thankz.
:)

I would recommend with your post above to certainly check out the Mac Pro for your specific use.

1. The Mac Pro can run BOTH Windows 7 AND Mac OS in native mode now. Meaning you can duel boot. It is also the fastest right now with the latest Intel CPUs.

2. You will get the best of both worlds for all computer needs, like video editing, photos, etc.

3. For the apps you want to run outside the Mac OS in 64 bit, such as Adobe Photoshop CS4 or Vue 7, just duel boot. With the new "Snow Leopard" coming out it will allow you to read the Windows 7 OS just fine from "Boot Camp".

4. It is the best of both worlds for both Mac and PC plus don't forget you do NOT have to buy right now Windows 7 and can download the RC1 for FREE from Microsoft. That way you have both.

With that money I would HIGHLY recommend at least 12 GB RAM and look into something like a "Drobo". Not only will it give you data backup, but you can also netowork it like I do with their network add-on device and read/write with both Mac and PC file formats so you can duel boot without much to deal with at all in your work flow.

Best of luck and happy shopping.