Nice

Where are the stars from? Background image?

Quote - Do you have to run XP mode to get your 32 bit apps to run? I have Vue Pro Studio 7.5 32 bit....and would like to upgrade to Win7 64 bit but have concerns about Painter IX.5 and Vue....

Thanks kindly...

Of course I can't make a general statement, but the 32 bit graphic programs I use all run well and stable:

• Gimp (I need the 32 bit version because I use a commercial plug-in for which I would need the pay again to get the 64-bit version)

• DAZ-Studio

• the RealFlow Demo

Feel free to add to that list if you have first hand experience.

Quote - What file format do you export from Daz to import into Vue?

Wavefront .obj.

DAZ Collada works, too, but I've sometimes visible errors in the rendered result, so obj is (for me) the better choice.

Quote - Windows 7 is smoother than Vista and a massive improvement over XP (still get the same crashes on all versions though!) .

Do you mean crashes of applications of crashes of the OS?

I know of at least one way to crash Vue 7.5 that is OS independent :rolleyes:,
but so far I didn't succeed in crashing Windows 7.
And telling this after about one week of usage means a lot in the Microsoft world :tongue2:

There is this post-render-options  pop-up which lets you adjust gamma settings and stuff.
Maybe the settings there are different for internal vs. network render.

I have absolutely no differences between local vs. network renders.

Quote -
1) It's not what happens in real world. Let me explain: It's true that in real world, the shadows are not pitch black, but this is surely not because the sun change its properties. This is because there's light bouncing from other objects and from difused light in the atmosphere, which makes the shadows lighter. So, that's what we should aim at in Vue as well. There are many ways of doing this, here's some from the top of my mind, which can (should) be combined for a better effect:

• increase sky dome lighting gain (which simulates light that indeed comes from the sky dome in real world)
• make light balance at 30% (or any other value you like) (which simulates overcast skies)
• use glow in sky, fog, haze tab (which simulates diffuse light in real atmospheres)
• use radiosity gain (this is not a real world equivalent)
• use secondary directional lights (fairly dark) (could happen in real world, depending on circumstances)

2) Second reason for not using anything less than 100% in shadow density is that this is a source of noise in the shadows, in certain conditions. To compensate for this, you have to increase the quality boosts in several places, which increases render time.

Hope this helps! :-)

Very valid points, thanks a lot.
Actually, besides the overall better illumination, the car itself looked better in the first render because of the higher local contrast, but I didn't want to add even more fill-lights because I already use a ton of them.

I'll try your suggestions next weekend (too much work during the week).

Quote - *
*Does anyone render using SSD's is there any difference and if so how much?

I do, and depending on your system configuration and RAM it makes a difference.

• swap/pagefile on SSD is much faster

• all those little object and texture files are loaded much faster

• Vue creates a folder in the systems temp folder where it saves a lot of temporary  files (at least for network rendering. Dunno if this is the same for local renders). Placing the temp folder on a SSD speeds things up.

But, as others already said, investing the same money in RAM (if you're system isn't maxed out already) is the better solution.
Doing both is the best solution

Attached Link: Audi A5 Add V2

Oh, and here's a link to the first original one to  compare: Old version
You've probably to refresh your browser's cache to see the new version.

ligt: cold and wet 3 Points

Thunderstone:  Hole in the Wall 2 Points

Marie-Anne:  Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho 1 Point

Quote - You switched from Vista 32 to Windows 7 64 right?

How much memory does it use from your 8 Gb at startup, with the default services loaded and no other process selected?
I am considering upgrading too (from Vista 64).

Nope, from Windows XP.

Disclaimer: the first step I did after installation was to change Windows to the 'Optimized for speed' setting, so my RAM usage values are without all those visual gimmicks Aero offers.

After normal start-up, with a running local RenderCow service, about 1.200 MB were used.

After removing some unnecessary services the value decreased to about 900 MB used.
I guess there's some more room for improvement, but I'll wait until the Windows experts find out more before I render my computer useless by removing an essential service.

Just in case no-one noticed this: the 3D view display quality now has an "OpenGL 2.1" setting, that means that ATI users are now officially supported (just in case you shouldn't know, ATI only supports OpenGL 2.0 and 2.1) and won't get this annoying message at start-up anymore.

I've changed to Nvidia some weeks ago, though.

Quote - Are you using a sky backdrop or are they glass panels behind the car?   It seems odd if it's adding shadow to glass that it would effect the sky.

There are semi transparent glass panels behind the car. Of course in daylight you can't see anything behind it so it looks more or less like a simple mirror, so what you see is the reflection of the sky behind(!) the camera. The roof is from the same material as the columns. It should protect against rain and wind, but shouldn't block much light.
It makes sense if you'd look at a scene where it was included, but as it is now the viewer wonders where this shadow comes from, so I'll exclude it in the next render.

Quote -
If you have any object that you don't want to receive shadows (including a plane if you're using a photograph for the sky) open the material to edit it and UNCHECK 'Receive shadows' - that'll fix it

Hey, that's cool. I already knew that I can configure light to not CREATE any shadows, but it's new to me that I can have objects which do no RECEIVE any shadows.
Learning something new each day. Thanks a lot

Quote - Hm, it's not the preview winwow...damn, I can't recall that area's name! :p "Object window"?
for most items it's where the material is, for lights it's where you get to edit their properties ;)

For ease of communication lets call it 'Twtidoyssawpeaootrsotlpw' ( "The window that is, depending on your screen's size and workspace partitioning, either above or on the right side of the little preview window").

Easy to remember, isn't it?

Good morning,

first of all, thanks a lot for the feedback. It's mucho appreciated

@ gillbrooks: the shadow comes from the roof of the building above the glass colums. I guess I'll better remove that for this scene.

@ ShawnDriscoll and silverblade: I've changed the atmosphere to GR and dialed in about 50% Shadow density in the light editor. I still have to keep the fill-lights for the car and the girl, but the result is much better.
I didn't like the floor with 5% reflection, so I'll leave it as it is (20% reflection). Goes better with the car.

One question: where's the "light softness" setting? Is this what's called "Shadow smoothing" in the Atmosphere editor? I couldn't find any setting with this name and this value range.
Or did you mean the "Softness quality" slider in the light editor? It's always disabled.

**
Edit:** found it. It's for whatever unknown reason NOT in the light editor but in the preview window on the right side. That was, I must admit, the very last place I would have searched for it.

Aargh...UI designers...Urge to kill someone...

Quote - Did they fix the disappearing ecosystems? Checking the list of fixes now.

Is there a simple way to test this?