Ok, I've seen the "eye" in other programs, and I see nothing like that here, nor Layers. You are talking about Vue Easel, right?

Maybe "strengths and weaknesses" was too loaded a term for objectivity. When I was writing that, I was thinking along the lines of things like "Good for Amateurs", "Pros Only", "Better for Modeling", "Better for Set Design", "Imports and Exports Easily", "Detailed User's Manual", "Supported Well by Publisher and Community", etc. There's judgement values, yes, but a lot of it is fairly easy to agree on, within a statistical margin.

You could HATE Daz3D, for example, but still say that it's a good starter program for beginners, not so good for building original models in, and is well supported by the company.  (Assuming you're not so curmudgeonly that you can't say nice things about anything. ^_~)

Well, Consumer's Union (the lovely people who print Consuper Reports) work fairly hard at trying to be neutral, but on the other hand they often stress the usefullness of one feature over another and your particular needs might involve the reverse. (They might go nuts over a carrying handle when you intend to use the product in one place, ever.) Individual biases I can live with, as long as the effort to be honest and fair is made.

If I knew how to code I might try whipping something up myself, Because I have a fairly clear idea of what I want to see on such a product comparison... Maybe I'll dig up my HTML software and see what I can come up with. ^_^

Ah, now, that's advice I was hoping for... I was originally going to head over to the 3D modeling forum and troll for suggestions, but when I saw the "We can't decide for you" disclaimer at the top of the page I knew that it would be the same question asked ba-zillions of times before, and therefore would probably not be well received again. ^_^

I have not done much that could even remotely be considered complicated (I haven't done anything that outstrips the sample files, even), so the renderer has yet to be disappointing, or even challenged. Ergo, no complaints.

As for ZBrush, the price is daunting and the demo is very limiting (well, for me anyway... exporting is disabled and half the point of trying the program is seeing how well it interacts with the other programs I want to use, for example), but I may be able to give it a look. Basically I'm at "interested amatuer" level, $500 is more in the intermediate range, if you see what I mean. But thanks for offering the idea. ^_^

Short answer: Simplistic monsters and people, and even more simplistic trees and such. I'm working on a style that involves heavy use of primitives: Balls, cones, cubes, etc. I've been using trueSpace (an OLD copy of tS... 4.3) to do my modeling and excluding some deformations and boolean-ing they're not going to be very complicated, math-wise, at all. I tried to use Poser to assemble the models but the interface felt too clunky for me (so does tS, I hasten to add... It took me half as much time in Vue Easel as it did in tS to do the same amount of work) and I didn't get very far. Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance, I may try again at a later date.

As far as rendering, my eye isn't experienced enough to be able to tell the difference yet. Vue Easel may not be able to model like I'd wanted, but at least I can still use it as a Stage-Setting-Up program.

Ok... I guess I have enough info to let Vue Easel go as a model-maker. Like I said before, I do have options-- including a copy of trueSpace 4.3, which does do more or less everything I need it to, it's just that the interface is uncomfortable (unlike Vue) and it's generally unsupported, even in the fan community... I've seen Wings and Blender before, but not recently, so I will give them a try.

I appreciate the offer to convert the model, but I couldn't keep asking for that generosity and besides, the model(s) in question were just arranged primitives at this point, I can rebuild them in pretty much any program there is.

Upgrading is, of course, my eventual plan, but simply not an available option at this point. I will, at least, still be able to use Easel as a stage-setting-up program, so it' won't be completely lost to me at this point.

Okay... I'm not normally obtuse but that's not something I really wanted to hear, so I will keep at it until I'm convinced there's no other way. ^_^

All righty, I get that only Vue programs make use of the VOB format, and that the only way to import these models as such into a 3D program is to use Vue. I can't import a VOB into Poser for example. (That's where my particular models are headed, if that matters.)

Using P3dO Explorer I can see the thumbnail that was assigned to my VOBs when I saved them in Vue Easel; a program like that that can manage the files and possibly convert them (not edit, just convert) would be sufficient for me.

All I want to do is use the Objects I assmble in Easel to be used in Poser-- On the face of it that doesn't seem like an unreasnoable request. If I am doomed to fail in this, is there another program, one that compares to Easel in ease of use and price range, that is designed to allow object exporting to other programs?

Yeah, I'd like to hear about these myself!

That does help... I was expecting to et the discount with my compy of Poser 2, but if I can get hold of Poser 3 in the meantime, I'll be able to get along further. I'll look for it tomorrow. ^_^ Dave III

Good! Just the answer I was looking for! ^^ (I like you people, you tell me what I want to hear! ^^) Now all I need to do is actually put my models together!

As for Poser 3, yeah, I heard about that, but was a wee bit too late to find the magazines on the stands. It's no biggie, I'd rather be up with the pack than left behind when the NEW version comes out.

As for Vicki, since Lo Res Vicki is a wholly new OBJ model with CR2 and RSR info, manually editing those should yeild satisfactory results. Double Layered UV output (what th' heck does UV mean, anyway?) might be a bit much, you'd have to play with it. I would probably find it easier to export a posed model and import it into a more generic 3D graphics app, but I'm lazy and lazy people tend to do twice as much effort to avoid half as much work. ^_^

Thanks for taking the time to answer me, Stay tuned for my next question, how to rotate UV maps to create a kind of "Davey and Goliath" effect!

Dave III

Y'all have been kind, informative, and gave me the answer I actually wanted to hear. ^^ I appreciate your taking the time to give me straight info and not making me feel like a "poor cousin" as has happened on other lists. (Bitter? Oh, a tad. !!>

T'ain't funny, McGee! Dave III

Ah... so P4 Default will be different. OK, let me make sure I got it- A prop/morph/pose/etc. for Vicki WON'T- upon first importing- fit the default correctly. BUT, with tinkering and editing, they can be made satisfactory, yes? It's just that there's so many cool prop/morph/pose/etc. 's for Vicki, Mike, Stephanie, and all, I'd hate to miss out on 'em just 'cuase I can't afford them just yet... Dave III

So, the world doesn't end if you try to put a Vicki related thingy (A morph, a prop, clothing, whatever) onto a Not Vicki body? This was something that concerned me... Dave III