I am soooo pleased with this box. Vue 4 really flies. It should do as I specced and built the box around it! So there was no way I was going without OpenGL. Now all I need is that Innuendo program for sucking Poser animations in Vue....

Cannot believe that E-On haven't sorted this one out. GeForce cards are hardly uncommon. I've tried an GeForce, a GeForce 3 and an old ATi 8Mb card. Guess which one performs flawlessly? Yep, the old ATi. A quick and dirty fix is to toggle between full and four screen modes using the F7 key. This removes the artifacts but they reappear when an object is moved. Ho hum.

Steve, Many thanks for the quick reply. Forgotten all about Upgrade Unlimited even though I bought something from their sister company only recently. Doh! My main concern was that I buy v4, learn it then just as I become proficient with it have to climb the learning curve again for v5. However, I'll take your word that there's a fair wait for v5 and get hold of 4 and the Pro Pack. Hopefully, my Poser work will appear incorporated in to the Vue forum soon. :-)) Mark

Okey dokey. I'll stand you a beer although I can't guarantee that it will be Canadian. Just give us a shout when you're next in London, England. :-)) Mark

Most definitely yes preferably for Vue 4. Just what I have been waiting for. When, how much and what are you drinking? Mark

Colours are wonderful. The light purples around the edges give a slightly cool feel. Very, very nice. How about simplifying the composition by having just the tree in the middle and getting rid of the other two? This might accentuate the "loneliness" of the scene. Just a thought. Mark

Lovely atmosphere. Almost there as a seascape. Maybe if the waves are a little sharper on the ridges. With different colours this would make a great ice or snow scape. Mark

Not quite 3D, not quite comic book but definitely dark and brooding. Like it.

Oh no I have a sinking feeling. Just about to build a dual 1GHz PII W2K PC and I bought the latest Gainward Geforce3 board to really beef up Vue performance. Ho hum. We'll see how it goes. For those with problems: before installing the new driver, did you disable all those accursed background tasks like personal firewalls, virus checkers, whizzy taskbar programs? This has caused me problems in the past especially with graphics programs and drivers. Just a thought. Mark

Mike and Katherine, Many, many thanks for posting about Canoma. I wanted this program when it first came out but not at 450. My shrink-wrapped, fully functional, bargain of the year copy arrived from Computers Unlimited yesterday. A small spark of pleasure in a pretty crappy week. Thanks again, Mark

Thanks for this Varian. So glad to hear about Mike's family. Everyone I've met here in Hampshire UK has been touched by the events in the US this week. People mention it then go silent. It all goes beyond words. May God comfort America. Mark

Hey, chin up, Mike. So many comm lines are choca bloc full. Can't even reach a friend in San Francisco from the UK. Prayers are going up for you and your family. Mark

Jeff, Thanks for the reply. Mark

First time I've seen a model next to the "reality". All on a PC. Scary. Great images. Mark

Jon, Thanks for the input. A single Athlon processor is a good option especially as a lot of apps only use one CPU on dual systems. Trouble is most CPU tests I've seen use 3D benchmarks for gaming: it's all polygons and fps and not fpu calculations for rendering. One real world test by a post production company using a dual Athlon system highlighted problems with power supply, cooling and, worst of all, stability. I need to know that the system is reliable enough to leave rendering an animation overnight or a weekend. I don't think that the Athlons are there yet. After three cutting-edge self builds in as many years I want a break from hardware config problems to do some creative stuff! The dual ABit/PIII system is known therefore "safe". I'd be interested to know what kind of times you're getting with your current system. Maybe I should just get a G4?:-)) Mark