Thanks for the replies guys (and Grrrls :) ). To summerise: it seems that overall stability is a tad better with all SRs applied (though it may depend what other programs you have running... nothing new there). IDL is not really an issue for me as I usually render in Vue; I never really liked the Poser lighting system.... sliding those sowing pins around on a pin-cushion... ugh).

Cheers,

Isaac

I set Ambient down to 0% for both torso skin and hand skin and the result is much better.
(see attached image)
You will notice that the effect is not completely gone; there is still some glow around the thumb and the little finger. I wonder if there is another variable somewhere that adds Ambient or Luminous light?

Thanks again for your help; this is one step further towards solving this problem.

I finally find out why Vue was so stubburnly refusing to use any materials in the Preview windows. The answer is simple because the default setting is set to use grey. At least on my system it was set to default grey.
This option is not in the Options menu window as far as I can see but in the top panel of the tool panel on the right of the screen.
When an object is selected and the Aspect tab (left most tab) is selected in the top panel there is a small pull down menu for selecting the colour you want objects to be in the preview window. This was set to grey. There is an option A which I assume stands for Automatic. When I selected this all objects in the scene suddenly appeared in full colour with the correct materials applied. This setting is remembered for other scenes that may be loaded.
Problem solved.

Now, what amazes me is that E-ON did'n't know about this option. If they had then surely they would have told me to check it. Also, why on earth was the default set to grey and not automatic??

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions guys :)

regards,
Isaac

I hope what you say is true Mazak. However, the problem of the preview display not using materials is present in Vue 7.2 which is supposed to be the present stable version.
This does not give me much hope for the final version of Vue 7.4!
Unless of course E-ON can say to me "Silly boy, you need to check this option in this tab!"

That's nice of e-on, they sell 7.4 which doesn't work and then you have to buy maintenence to get 7.5 which might work.

I just loaded the beta upgrade on top of the previous one and indeed it does say:
Vue7.4-04 Build 42554
The problem remains.

Is Vue 7.5 a free upgrade? I don't see it on the e-on site either way?

Sorry to see you have had the same problem Mazak, but it is also something of a relief.

What I find strange is that I bought Vue7inf and downloaded the latest upgrade (Build 40761) [which btw I can't even find on the e-on site now!], and my version of Vue still says:

Vue7.21-04 Build 40761   NOT Vue7.4

I did also try the beta upgrade available from e-on (Vue 7 Infinite 7.4 - Build 42554) but if I remember correctly, that also says Vue7.2xxxxx)

In either case, the problem remains the same.

Since not all Vue7 users are shouting at E-ON about this issue, I can only assume it is related to the video card or Vista itself.
If that is the case then I am frankly surprised E-ON has not identified and dealt with the problem before.
I know that they cannot test their software on every possible hardware/software combination, but neither Vista 64 bit or GeForce 8800 series cards are unusual or uncommon.

It seems that the materials of any object, even Vue primatives are not being displayed in preview windows, however they do appear when rendered.

Hi Wabe,

In Options:General Preferences I found the following option:
"Disable automatic material preview rendering"
This was checked. I just unchecked it and restarted Vue7 and reloaded a file. However, the result is the same; grey materials on all Poser objects.

By the way on the Poser Import Options popup window when importing an object, I have the option: "Render materials using Poser shader tree" checked.

More suggestions welcome :)

Isaac

Hi,
Sorry to be so slow responding to this:

I have Vue6inf 64bit with Vista; using the "Render Materials using Poser Shader Tree" does cause Vue to crash on my system :(

It's a new system with very little installed on it so I am surprised/disappointed at this odd behaviour. I have noticed that having Poser and Vue open together can sometimes cause either to crash.
It should not be a RAM shortage, there is 8GB.

I wonder if it is the video card, it is an Nvidea GeForce 8800GT with the latest drivers installed.

I know programmers can't predict every possible error, but you would think that they would put more effort into error trapping and giving useful error messages that can lead to identifying the problem; instead we get the usual useless message; An error has occured.
(no kidding, I wondered why the program had stopped working... an error... yes, that must be it!)
Sorry for the vitriol, but one can get very frustrated when thing don't work as they should :/

Hi FrankT,

Thanks for your reply.

I have Vue 6 Infinite and SkinVue.

I just tried checking the Additive box in the transparancy panel (no idea what it does, but hey I'm willing to try anything :) ) That gave a "highlight line" across the whole eye, so perhaps there are some settings to change the size of the highlight spot. (Currently highlight size is set to 100%, shiny, which should give small bright highlights)

I also just tried  checking the Render materials Using Poser Shader Tree box in the import dialog.
The first time Vue just crashed, as you said. The second time the character was invisible in the rendering view. I did a quick render and Vue crashed while rendering!!
The third time (I'm fairly persistent!) was a repeat of the second time, exactly. (so much for Poser and Vue being compatible!)

I'm still open to any further suggestions :)

Isaac