Fuzzy,

ASFAIK, the only practical difference between 3DS and OBJ is that OBJ doesn't keep it's scale from SU, which is annoying. Other than that, it keeps materials and groups just the same as 3DS.

However, now I'm really confused. I used to export as 3DS as it was what I was used to, but it didn't support smoothing in Vue and this was confirmed by other SU/Vue users. On someone's advice I switched to OBJ and voila- smoothing worked perfectly, albeit at the expense of weird scaled imports. But you say you export/import 3DS files and they ARE smoothed in Vue- WTF?

It MUST be an import setting in Vue, but I swear I've been through every menu, setting, option and preference and I'm stumped. I guess the fact that almost no-else is replying to this thread suggest that this isn't a common problem, but I've even done 2 fresh reinstalls of Vue 5 and SU5 in the last couple of months so I know the presets are clean.

Regards,

Jackson

p.s. I actually missed your email- it got caught in my junk filter for a couple of days. Have read and replied now.

Unfortunately, using more segments isn't really an option as many of my and my client's  models have been in constant development for months and would take almost as long to remodel them with more facets.... and as you say, they really bog down a system.

As you can see from this very curvaceous interior :) , Vue used to import my smoothed SU objs with no problem, regardess of number of segments.

Thanks again for all your help (assuming you are who I think you are- have you seen my PM on the SU forum?),

Jackson

I'm in regular old Vue 5 (fully updated). I'm stumped whether this is an SU export or Vue 5 import issue- I'm suspecting Vue.

Thanks again,

Jackson

Intel Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz, 1.5Gb RAM, NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400

Thanks guys,

I've tried every setting for smoothing angle, from 0 to 90 degs and nothing works. I've tried welding and splitting objects in Vue 5, grouping and ungrouping them in SU5, smoothing inside groups, smoothing outside groups. I'm simply baffled why this used to work effortlessly and now it totally evades me. I guess I'll have to try e-on's support.

Thanks again,

Jackson

See my post at the end of this thread:

http://market.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2644601

It solved Vue 5's constant crashing for me!

Jackson

I was cursed with Vue 5 crashing constantly when I bought it. The following advice from "surveyman" on this forum almost completely solved Vue's problems for me:

"Check your 'Swap File' size and location. 'Right-Click' on 'My Computer' and select 'Properties'. Select the 'Advanced' tab and select the "Settings" button in the 'Performance' section. In the 'Performance Options' dialog box, select the 'Advanced' Tab. At the bottom there should be a "Virtual Memory" section, select the "Change" button. Swap File is properly called Virtual Memory in Windows.

In the 'Virtual Memory' dialog box, look at the "Paging File for selected Drive". That will tell you where the Swap File is located. Ideally, your Swap File(Virtual Memory) should be 2.5 times your physical memory. Change your Swap File size by specifying the drive your Swap File is on, clicking on the "Custom Size" radio button, and typing in the 'Initial Size' and 'Maximum Size' as "3000mb" (close enough to 2.5x). Yes - they should both be the same number - this prevents the Swap File from constantly re-sizing itself and chewing up memory and HD time. When done, click the 'Set" button."

I then defragged my HDD and ran Registry Mechanic and since then (over a year ago)  Vue has only crashed a couple of times and never at the expense of losing any work. I agree e-on's support is crap- the Vue 5 "manual" in particular is absolutely pathetic. It should have the above Swap File Size advice printed in BOLD dayglo letters on the front cover.

Jackson

Agiel & GP,

I know what is causing it now and how to fix it (although I don't understand why).

I closed the file without saving and reopened it. I didn't alter any materials, I just deleted the ground plane and the sky displayed correctly. I then inserted a new ground plane and the sky still displays correctly. So the original ground plane was causing the problem, although why it should is beyond me.

Many thanks for your help, if you hadn't sent me hunting for "fade out" colours I wouldn't have tracked down the ground plane as the culprit (even though the new ground plane has the original blue "fade out" colour anyway!)

Jackson

Message edited on: 04/04/2006 06:53

Message edited on: 04/04/2006 06:54

I just changed the "fade out" and "light" colours of the ground plane to black and the sky turned black! I deleted the ground plane and the sky remains black. Jackson

Agiel, Thanks so much for your VERY prompt response! Unfortunately it doesn't solve the problem- I tried changing "fade out" and "light" colours to black as you suggest (and also white) and loading a flat white material rather than the imported white material, but I still get the same effect. Regards, Jackson

That did it! Now I'm only limited to physical memory. Many thanks, Jackson

Mark- you've hit the nail on the head! I was about to reply that Vue is fully updated (it's set to autoupdate anyway), but having checked Vue's site I can see it's way out of date (Version 5.01-02 Build 272590). Even when I instruct Vue to check for updates it says it's up to date- how annoying. I'll try downloading the update manually and see if that fixes the problem. Many thanks, Jackson

Oreo- sorry, this forum won't allow Vue files to be posted. Jackson

Hi all, Sorry to be so late in replying and saying thanks for all your advice- I was off sick and I am the last person in Britain without internet at home! Typically, shortly after posting I had a bit of a breakthrough- see attached image. There's no "artificial" lights- just the sun, sky and ambient light. JC and Agiel- strangely I've found checking "indirect reflections" doesn't seem to affect the image and as render times are looooong for this image I unchecked it. Nevertheless I'll try checking it again to see if it improves my results. Oreo- thanks, the Vue model to follow. Pentamiter, Bruno and MDT- thanks, your advice has helped me understand the settings a lot better. Chipp- great images! The general brightness while maintaining contrast between highlighted edges and dark corners is exactly what I've been after. I've especially found it hard to render flat white surfaces without a patchy result. I'll check out your link. Many thanks for all your advice, Jackson