E-on Vue

This is the logo of the up and coming Vue 6 taken from e-onsoftware.com

Vue from E-on software is a line of 3D products which aims to create highly realistic natural 3D environments. The various versions of Vue are (in order of decreasing range of abilities)

• Vue xStream
• Vue Infinite
• Vue Pro Studio
• Vue Esprit
• Vue Easel

The Vue 6 range of products was unveiled at SIGGRAPH 2006 in Boston, running from the 1-3 of August. The pre-release of the Vue 6 suite became available in October 2006.

Features

Digital Art created by using Poser 7 and Vue 6 Infinite.

Vue's range of features include:

• Advanced lighting and atmosphere creation
• Realistic environment creation
• 480 material presets and the ability to create more with the material editors
• Optimised rendering technologies with ray traced reflections and refractions
• Camera and object animation
• One view/four view interface layout with organized workspace
• Real time preview options
• Ability to import and export in a multitude of file formats including Poser characters
• Multiple processor rendering

Plants

Vue is also known for its ability of creating plants with relatively convincing realism, and one of the things that helps this is e-on's SolidGrowth plant technology. SolidGrowth gives you over 50 different plant species that you can use to populate your scenes, and the ability to animate the plants so that they appear to sway and bend in variable wind conditions. SolidGrowth is based on random growth technologies so no two plants generated will ever be the same. It also simulates the different colour tones found in nature for even greater variety. A plant editor is included in the software which lets you edit any of the original plants or create an entirely new species. Whether working on individual subsets (such as the leaves, trunk, or branches) or on the plant as a whole, you will still be able to edit textures for every aspect or use your own. You can then save the plant and use it like any other.

Animation of plants brings extra customization letting you use sliders to adjust the overall wind effect on vegetation or to focus on smaller areas or even individual plants. Time lapse effects can be achieved by changing the characteristics of plants over time so a plant (or forest) can be seen to grow or die over the course of the animation.

Atmospheres

Vue atmosphere example

Vue Infinite comes with a high quality standard volumetric atmosphere model that simulates the interactions of light and air as it travels through the atmosphere, which in turn lets you create fog, haze, rainbows, twinkling stars, etc. The software comes with 160 preset atmosphere models which you can load and then edit in the atmosphere editor. In the atmosphere editor, there is the ability to change many different aspects for the sun, light, sky, and clouds, with options for fog and haze, wind and various effects. Amazing spectral cloud effects can be created. From true to life thunder storms to photo-real cloud fly-throughs.

Procedural terrain

Procedural terrain creation in Vue Infinite exhibit an unlimited amount of detail, meaning if you were to move the camera closer the terrain, the image would not become blurry or pixelated, because more detail is added as the image comes closer. For deep level editing of terrains, there is a function graph editor where various filters and noises can be combined to create elaborate geological features.

Real Time Terrain Modeling with Solid3D

e-on's real time terrain modeling technology Solid3D lets you sculpt terrain interactively in full 3D. Using the various brush tools available you can 'paint' one of 16 different effects (such as erosion, terraces and fir trees, etc.)

Users

• Industrial Light and Magic used Vue 5 to create some island exteriors in Pirates of the Caribbean 2.
• Weta Digital
• Walt Disney Pictures
• Boeing
• Nasa
• BBC
• Fox Television
• U.S Air Force
• Sony Pictures Image Works

External links

• E-On Software