Vue 7 Infinite

hombre · 28 Oct 2009, 01:21

Thank you for the sample grass objects Sliner.

hombre · 3 Dec 2009, 02:08

Back with another question.......

How does one go about making brick soldier coursing, rowlock and arches ( for use above windows etc. ) in sketchup and then translating that into vue?

I have been making individual bricks to represent this in sketchup, which is nuts enough, but translating that into vue becomes a monster which I don't seem to have the brain muscle to figure out...does anyone know how to do this?

Thanks in advance for showing me the magic button.

LOL

solo · 3 Dec 2009, 02:24

It comes down to UV mapping, no matter how you skew or distort a texture in SU it will render accordingly in Vue.
The problem here is SU, there is a few UV tool that Thomthom has created which may assist you in mapping the textures as you need (I just cannot remember the names to search it), anyway once you have them orientated in SU as you need then they will import into Vue no problem, and without creating millions of unique textures.

hombre · 3 Dec 2009, 15:49

@solo said:

It comes down to UV mapping, no matter how you skew or distort a texture in SU it will render accordingly in Vue.
The problem here is SU, there is a few UV tool that Thomthom has created which may assist you in mapping the textures as you need (I just cannot remember the names to search it),

That was what I thought...if you remember the tool that you are speaking of, please post it.

I had a similar issue about a month ago using a SU tile pattern, and found that the pattern was also height specific. That is to say, if I started the pattern at a point which was unequal to the multiplied nominal dimension of the particular tile size the tile would be interrupted instead of starting with a clean coursing. EX: if the individual tile size is 12" and I start the tiling at 30" above FF level, then I end up with my first row cut in half.

The other issue is that it seems a bit absurd to have to individually draw each brick in something as common in architecture as rowlock or soldier coursing. It makes sense to manufacture a picture to fit a particular space, and I understand that Vue imports the picture very well.

@solo said:

anyway once you have them orientated in SU as you need then they will import into Vue no problem, and without creating millions of unique textures.

...that was the only other solution that my brain revealed to me and why I asked the question...LOL

Thanks for your effort and quick response.

BTW: I see that you are using the UK equivalent of the Commodore 64......very funny!
I waited for the big guns: a Commodore 128...LOLOLOL

hombre · 4 Dec 2009, 21:00

Next question.

Is there a good source for 3D people for use in Vue?

I got Vue bundled with Poser, but to be perfectly honest, I don't have the desire of the Radiosity enthusiasts to learn it and play with costuming them...and obviously the flat face-me people from Sketchup don't work, dittos for the 3D offerings within the program. The notable exception is the guy who seems to have spent the last year of his life developing 'real life heroes' that has posted these wonderful, but mostly unusable types of figures in the 3D warehouse. If only he had made regular people...he could very well sell them in a bundle. I don't have much call for astronauts and deep sea divers.

solo · 4 Dec 2009, 21:24

Animated or not?

hombre · 5 Dec 2009, 18:40

...well, both would be great....animated people in vue would be icing on the cake....animated vehicles would too. I'm primarily doing stills, but motionless people/cars in a walkthrough/flyby are a bit static.

Daniel · 7 Dec 2009, 19:12

Hombre: if you use ACME brick's masonry designer, you can get create soldier and header courses. Rotate the headers 90 degrees to get rowlock. I've done quite a few historic buildings with brick arches, and have yet to find a decent way to duplicate them other than creating them from scratch; however, once you know the number of bricks needed, and the angle, you need to create just one and rotate and copy it (I wish some programing guru would create a masonry arch designer to go with the masonry designer program).

Cornucopia3D has a number of 3d figures, as well as motion files for them, for use in VUE. They aren't detailed enough for close-up shots, but good for middle ground.

hombre · 7 Dec 2009, 21:44

Thanks Daniel, unfortunately, Acme doesn't have a MAC platform at this point...and thanks for the Cornucopia tip.

solo · 7 Dec 2009, 21:57

http://www.axyz-design.com/axyz-design-3d-humans-characters-methd-evo2.php

hombre · 18 Dec 2009, 05:00

@sliner said:

Try this grass-objects .vob

How does one populate an ecosystem with an object like this?

Chris Fullmer · 18 Dec 2009, 07:11

If you can find the populate area, you will want to add objects. That lets you use .vob files. I used those grasses and they turn out very good on a little test project. Kind of high poly count though. I was able to fill an entire small section, but I could not imagine filling an entire park with lawn. Maybe I did something wrong?

Chris

sliner · 18 Dec 2009, 08:52

I also encountered this problem and try to solve it. One option is to use distribution objects depending of distance to camera with Function editor, that they were not in the background. The second option to use bump-displacement.

hombre · 18 Dec 2009, 19:27

@chris fullmer said:

If you can find the populate area, you will want to add objects. That lets you use .vob files. I used those grasses and they turn out very good on a little test project. Kind of high poly count though. I was able to fill an entire small section, but I could not imagine filling an entire park with lawn. Maybe I did something wrong?

Chris

Perzactly.

I have a client who has asked me about rendering up 5 miles ( that's FIVE MILES ) of highway, with interchanges, landscaping and the attendant necessary buildings. Obviously he's never seen the man hours or never ending rolling screen credits for the computer artists who take years to complete those sorts of things, but nevertheless, I have made a sample of a mile of roadway to attempt to wrap my arms around this concept and figure out the main issues. Populating a mile of roadway with grass and trees, I have a 4+ BILLION polycount.

I've tried the 'dynamic population' idea, but it slows down the render time so dramatically that it's near impossible to get even a preview within less than an hour and a half to see if you've located something properly.

What's amazing to me, is to note all of these wonderful HUGE landscapes that I see with Vue samples....going on endlessly, yet populating a mile of highway with grass edges and medians is a big deal.

I've decided that for now, I'll have to settle with a light dispersal of the grass and brushstroke it heavily in the foreground, since as it vanishes, it appears to look thicker anyway by virtue of overlapping instances..that'll work OK for stills, but animation is another animal.

Does anyone have any ideas?

hombre · 28 Dec 2009, 18:53

@solo said:

I see you use 3DS MAX and SU Podium as well.
Yup, I use a few other apps too like Z-brush, C4D, Hexagon, Maya, Shade, Bryce, Silo, (learning Modo), etc.

Solo, ...what would you use Bryce for that Vue cannot do?

solo · 28 Dec 2009, 18:58

Bryce was my stepping stone to Vue, unfortunately Bryce has not been updated and advanced at the same rate as Vue, I blame DAZ for that, same way as they let Poser advance beyond them.
But every now and again it's fun to play with, it is fast and easy, that's about all.

Horseman04 · 29 Dec 2009, 16:40

Well, this seems to be the place to ask questions about Vue so...

I've browsed these forums for some time, but this is my first Post here. I work as an Architect and have been using Artlantis for about 2 years now. I recently got Vue and have used it to make various scenes and interesting backdrops, but as far as anything architectural I have done nothing, mainly due my fondness of Artlantis. I have dabled in 3DS Max and found it to be overwhelming, but I do love the vast array of Shaders that can be used in it. I'm growing increasingly aware of my program's shortcomings, the inability to do complex landscapes, and am looking to bridge the gap with VUE...

So my Questions to the more experienced people

What Format are VUE Shaders in?

Can I Use .max Textures from 3DS?

If so, how and where do I install them to?

pugz1983 · 5 Jan 2010, 12:13

Hi Everybody,

I'm looking into Vue because i've always loved the way Vue renders. I was wondering if there are any tutorials of Vue in combination with sketchup? Is it possible to use ecosystem on a specific part of a plane. For example only ecosystem on grass patches of the plane?

Greetz from Holland.

hombre · 5 Jan 2010, 14:34

@solo said:

Bryce was my stepping stone to Vue, unfortunately Bryce has not been updated and advanced at the same rate as Vue, I blame DAZ for that, same way as they let Poser advance beyond them.
But every now and again it's fun to play with, it is fast and easy, that's about all.

Thanks Solo!

I saw that Bryce was on sale over the holidays but I didn't see anything there that I didn't already have with Vue.
I see that you also use Podium. Have you used IRender or Twilight yet? If so, how would you compare them with Podium?

solo · 5 Jan 2010, 14:49

@unknownuser said:

I see that you also use Podium. Have you used IRender or Twilight yet? If so, how would you compare them with Podium?

I have indeed got Twilight, Irender, Podium, and a bunch of others too. It's difficult to make comparisons, firstly as a moderator it would show a bias and secondly they all have their strong and weak points.
It depends on what you are looking for in a render solution, being a Vue user I would assume you are in need of a good interior render solution right?

I suppose the best way and the only way one can make comparisons is by features, ease of use, etc. But this alone is only academical which will give you facts but not answer the question, so I will maintain what I have always said, try before you buy, they all have demo/trial versions so play and see which one works best with your workflow and your needs.

Sorry I cannot give a definitve answer.