i have Vue 6 pro studio... and i've been seeing some excellent portraits using poser most likely for the figure pose etc... when you import it into vue - do you create a alpha plane behind the figure so that there is no horizon going on and on and on?

I use a plane or a cube, rather than an alpha plane,  also I have a backdrop that came with a set of  poser lights  which I converted to a VOB and use a lot.  It's like a proper studio infinity cove.  I can't remember exactly which set of lights though.

[Edit] Found it -
http://market.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?ViewProduct=33019

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Sometimes I just delete the ground plane and use a sky back drop!!

Injustice will be avenged.
Cofiwch Dryweryn.

thanks guys much appreciated.

Yep,I to delete the ground.Might want to do that before setting up your lighting as it changes without the ground plane(;

"Many are willing to suffer for their art. Few are willing to learn to draw."

what about a large sphere instead of a cube?.... gives a rounded background, no chance of a "corner" accidently showing, etc.

and ive never posed my figures in vue (at least not yet LOL) - i use poser, get 'em lookin like i like, then switch to vue, import, and continue on my merry way =D

heck, i havent even figured out how to edit a solidgrowth thing yet.  (except leaf color LOL)

have fun playing with portraits =D

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

< o > < o >    You've been VUED!    < o > < o >
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thanks everyone!!

You can save Vue file size, shorten render time and save resources by saving your imported Poser figures in Vue native .VOB object format, deleting the Poser figure and loading the VOB in it's place - once you are satisfied with the Poser figure, You can still edit the VOB materials.

To do this, select the Poser figure in the object hierarchy list, right-click and choose "Save Object". In the little preview panel for the save, you can use Ctrl + Mouse, etc. to rotate, zoom, and such. (At least in my Vue 6 Infinite).

This is also a handy way to keep your Poser models for future use in Vue.

_jc  'Art Head Start' e-book: Learn digital art skills $19.95
'Art Head Start.com Free chapter, Vue tutorials, models, Web Tutorials Directory.

great!! thanks for the tip!!

Yeah jc thats a cool tip for sure.I was wondering if there was a way to zoom into your saved .vob some are just so bloody small.Cool tip!

"Many are willing to suffer for their art. Few are willing to learn to draw."

Attached Link: http://www.sharecg.com/v/20111/3d-model/Infinity-Curve

I just made a quick and dirty infinity curve in Hex and saved it as a VOB file if anyone wants it - no textures or anything.  Free for both commercial and non commercial etc. etc.

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awesome thanks!!! this will come in handy!

Thank you, I grabbed it as well.

yw - let me know how you get on with it

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Thanks FrankT, folks!

I think a lot of the expert Vue users scale up everything (including Poser figures) by 5X to 10X.
This gives much better control over materials, displacement, lighting and model detail.

Another tip on keeping scenes lean and render time down for VOB models is that you can right-click on them and then "Decimate" them (remove many polys) - if they won't be used in a close-up POV where all the detail is needed.

_jc  'Art Head Start' e-book: Learn digital art skills $19.95
'Art Head Start.com Free chapter, Vue tutorials, models, Web Tutorials Directory.

Just wanted to say thank you to FrankT for making the curved studio - I  haven't tried it yet, but hopefully this week i'll get that chance.
Question:  I'm wondering what IS the very best way to use a picture as a backdrop/background in Vue.  I have Vue 5 esprit right now.  I USED to know how to do this, but i've forgotten =(  bleh!
Could someone help me out? 

I tried loading a painting I did in the Painter program, mapped onto an alpha plane, but it looked Baaaaad. - actually, a large HOLE appeared in the center of the painting - so i know i did something wrong lol*    I've been looking through the tutorials here - but haven't yet found anything that explains it.  My Vue book has a tutorial in it for using alpha planes and pics to create things like signs.
I know this is probably very basic - but hope someone will help anyway =)
Thanks everyone!!  (OH, and Merry Christmas! happy holidays! )
Suzi (aka sprryte)

The alphaplane has two components: the color image and the alpha image. If you saw a hole in the alphaplane, probably you have a wrong alpha for that image. The alpha image is only necessary if you want to control transparency, otherwise just delete it.
If you use alphaplanes for backgrounds, you probably want to deactivate cast shadows and receive shadows in the material editor.
One thing you must have in mind with alphaplanes is that the distance they are from the camera is important. If they are very far away, effects like haze and fog have a influence in it.
Another method for putting an image as background is to use backdrop directly in the camera. Just double click on the camera, activate the backdrop and put an image there. Using this method has the problem that partial transparent objects aren't dealt very accurately, at least in my tests. So, if I have those, I use alphaplanes, not camera backdrop.
Hope that helped! :-)

If you want to use something like a nice sky for a backdrop turn everything off in the effects tab except for the luminance.Works very well for V5.I did an image a while ago where I used a photograph as a background.You have to really match the lighting,but it is a nice excersise for thought:D You can see it here for referance(; And as Rutra said,you HAVE to turn off cast/recieve shadows and also specualrity.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1258785&member

"Many are willing to suffer for their art. Few are willing to learn to draw."

Backdrops

Before ecosystems were available in Vue, some people built distant forests or other such scenes, rendered those to 2D images, and them used them as backdrops in future Vue projects.

For those who do aerial scenes, getting realistic backdrops of the earth from thousands of feet in the air is a problem. I found that you can use aerial views from Microsoft Flight Simulator.
 
MSFS version X supports good photographic scenery add-ons from 3rd parties. So, if you happen to be a flight simulator fan (or know one) and have added photoscenery to MSFS, you can navigate to a good view and do a screen dump to use as a Vue background. MSFS-X lets you control the time of day, the weather and cloud system parameters. Clouds in MSFS-X are very nice. 

Thanks so much for the help! I haven't used Vue in about 4 yrs, and i've forgotten A LOT lol*
thanks again everyone =)