After a recent rash of unfounded accusations, I though I had to clarify a few points as the moderator of this forum. 1) Renderosity's staff (including coordinators and moderators) is NOT paid by vendors to defend their products. The reason moderators defend a particular software is that they happen to enjoy that software (or they wouldn't spend their spare time moderating a forum about it) and they are willing to look past software problems and work with them instead of only venting about them. Last time I checked, I had to pay for my own license of Vue and Vue Pro. 2) Renderosity is NOT censoring forums. My first job as a moderator is to make sure the forum remains welcoming and helpful for everyone who may happen to visit it. I am open to pretty much any discussion about Vue as long as it is done in a civilised and argumented way. If you want to discuss Vue's bugs - no problem - explain your bugs in details and maybe, someone will notice and do something about it. I can garantie you that WILL delete insulting or abusive posts and I WILL remove images from the gallery that violate the Terms of Service. This has nothing to do with censorship - it is called 'moderation of a forum'. I can also make mistakes. If you feel I have abused by privileges, feel free to take that offline and let other mods know about it. It would be nice to start by letting me know I have crossed the line so that I can repair things if possible. 3) Vue has bugs Big deal. So does 90% of the software I know of. I don't see why anyone would pay for an upgrade, and then spend every waking moment complaining about it. If it is working that badly on your system, and nothing can be done to fix it, there is always the possibility of asking for a refund and try something else. I had to wait a year and 4 patches before Poser 5 worked fine for me. You won't see me screaming murder on their forum (although I may have complained once or twice to their technical support). Vue Pro still crashes with very complex scenes, lots of materials and when I try to click too fast between menus. So... I save more often, work a little more slowly and make sure I keep track of the latest patch. 4) Vue Pro is too expensive for an upgrade. True - because, repeat after me, it is NOT an upgrade :) It is a different product line. The licensing fees to support importing and exporting scenes to and from other formats justifies the price increase. If it is too expensive, compare with similar software packages and chose what works best for you. Maya and 3DS Max are too expensive for me - I just don't buy them :) Look at it this way... - if you are doing 3D as a hobby, then all you have to do is find a software that is both affordable and enjoyable. Try demos before you buy. And remember that there is no such thing as a bug free, 100% stable and 100% reliable software. - if you are using 3D as a profession, chose what brings you the most value for the least cost. Talk to fellow professionals. Check your hardware configuration before you buy. Look at the quality of support and the frequency of upgrades. You are not just buying software - you are also buying a partnership with the company developing and supporting that software.

• agiel - www.linfa.net