One trick I found doing a project before Christmas - the necklace turned upside down and with a little bit of moving works wonderfully as a tiara.

A nice addition to Vue in the future would be a "level of detail" (LOD) option where different models are used for the same object based on their distance from the camera. That way a tree when in the distance can be made with less detailed meshes than when it is close up. Ideally there would be a way of having Vue's plant's LOD configurable. This is especially useful if you want to build a scene that you want to render from several view points or are building animations.

My only thought on this is that there may be other challenges that fall outside the four suggested. Should they be excluded simply because we didn't think of them now? This problem can easily be avoided by allowing the person selecting the challenge to have a bit more of a free hand in their selection. If the type of contest must be classified into one of a number of choices simply add an "Other" category. It may never get used but at least we wont be making problems for ourselves later if someone with a good idea comes along that wont fit into the other 3 or 4 suggested categories. Mark

I was involved in a similar project using 3DS Max a few years ago. It took quite some time to produce the map we used because, at the time, we had to create a grid based on the map data by working out the height of each point and then reshaping the surface to match it in Max. This took a few days to get just right. I recently reproduced the surface model creation part of the project in Vue just to see if I could. First I scanned the map into Paint Shop Pro. Then I went through the map and removed the none topological bits - if you can get hold of the topological layer of the map without anything else you can avoid this step. Then I filled in each of the contours with a stepped series of shades of gray. This dropped into Vue produced a reasonable, if a little stepped version of the terrain. To improve the model I took the image into Expression 3. Then I got expression to trace it, ungrouped the resulting vector image and tweaked the edges of each of the areas to get a smoother gradient. I reexported it as a graphic and brought it back into Vue where it now had nice smooth contours. Hope this gives you some ideas that might help. Mark

A few useful tips: Poser cannot be running when you import the .pz3 into Vue. If you want to import an animation you need to buy Mover 4 to go with Vue 4. To ensure the best results from the import use the latest version of Vue (4.11). Mark

I think its a good idea for a challenge. I'm not keen on making reproductions of pictures for a whole year though. I think it will get boring quite quickly. It also makes vue look like a one trick pony even if the pictures are quite different. As to post work - while I try to achieve everything in Vue sometimes I do a little bit of post work to tidy up something when I don't have time to re-render. One of these days I'll finish a challenge entry in time for the deadline. I still enjoy doing them though.

I've found a simple solution to getting illustrations published that were done in poser and vue. Don't tell the publisher how you did it until they have accepted the work. I've been asked what medium I'm using, had pieces mistaken for airbrush work and had one editor convinced I was telling him fibs when I said that it was entirely CG without any post production. I'm not even using custom models most of the time. Just the Daz figures, hair and cloathing with a few props and scenery I've built myself. I tend to tweak the textures which helps to give them an original look. I do spend quite a lot of time making each figure look like an individual so they don't suffer from looking like the same old Mike and Victoria models straight off the CD.

Attached Link: http://www.daz3d.com/pages/faq/answers/victoria/eyebrows.html

The mini would be my first choice. Then the Jag. But I'm working on projects that they would be useful for so I'm biassed.

Oh and I really want the DB5 as well...

I'd be prepared to buy this. I've actually made my own model of a mini for an animation I'm working on but I'd love to have a highly detailed model to use for close ups and character work. If this came up throught Daz at a similar price to your other work I'd definitly buy it.

I'm sat in what was until a few years ago the Royal Liverpool Infirmary. A highly influential architectural design as it was the first to include Florence Nightingale's ideas on hospital design. It now houses the office I work in which was once the TB ward. While the tiles have been cleaned up as part of the restoration they are either original Victorian or modern replicas where replacements were required. The tiles are brick shaped and are roughly the dimension of a standard brick (240mm x 90mm) Working from floor to ceiling: Rounded brown tiles at floor level lead into 9 courses of brown tiles. Then there is a course of half brick sized tiles. The another 3 courses of brown tiles. A single row of lighter, half thickness yellow/brown tiles top this level with the bottom of the windows. Above this a row of square decorative tiles sits in a speckled light brown. This is topped by a second row of the lighter, half thickness tiles. Then there is a row of dark brown tiles. Above this run rows of creamy/yellow tiles for several meters. Then a row of green tiles, another row of cream/yellow tiles. These two types of tile form a pattern for four rows before we reach another cream/yellow row and finally a row of the green tiles. The chapel downstairs has some really ornate Victorian tiles. If people are interested I could bring my digital camera in next week and try to gets some pictures. Cheers Mark

Orio, Thanks for taking the time. I'm not really looking for a refund just concernted about how Digit damages potential relationships between software vendors and consumers in order to increase its circulation. A number of other magazines give free software - that was how I first got to try Vue, Poser, Paint Shop Pro, Page Plus and a variety of other packages that I have bought full versions of. The other magazines seem just a bit more honest about the version that is being sold having weaknesses compared to the current main release. Cheers Mark

Hi Orio, I've installed X-frog and had a bit of a play with it last night. I really liked it and will seriously consider buying it once I get paid. But and here is the big but I do feel like I've been had. The front cover or Digit said "Free Full Software X-Frog worth 150" or words to that effect. It was only on opening shrink wrap on the magazine after I bought it that I discovered that in fact it was only useful if I had recent versions of four programs which I don't have. Digit also says "Pixel 3D Studio 3.7 free software worth 400" and doesnt mention thats it can only be used on a Mac - the only OS mentioned on the CD is PC. The magazine cover is deceptive through ommision rather than telling a lie. I would hope that neither of the software vendors is reponsible for the behaviour of Digit. That behavious makes them look bad by association though. If the magazine had said "Free Full Software Greenworks Xfrog 3.0.2 For Cinema 4D v7, Maya, LightWave and 3DS Max v4 worth 150 (PC)" and "Pixel 3D Studio 3.7 (Mac)" I would feel less like Digit had pulled the wool over my eyes. This is the first time in 20 years I have bought a magazine where I felt I had been deceived about what was on the cover CD. I know that sometimes the software wont be great or that its an old version. However the feeling I'm left with is that I've been had. In marketing perception is ultimately the only thing that maters so this is poor marketing as people who have been had are far less likely to trust a company. Like I said earlier - I'll probably buy X-frog but if the packaging on Digit had been more honest I think I'd probably be saying I'd definitly be buying it. Cheers Mark

New Features: 1B 5A 5C 6F 12A 13A Improvements: 4E 6C 6D 7B 14K 12A Plants: Any on the list will do me just fine