Vue 8.5 Infinite - Feature List |
Following is the complete feature list of Vue 8.5 Infinite. Those features in RED indicates a new feature based on a comparison with Vue 8 Infinite. This list is taken from the E-on Software website. On the E-on Software website, new features are listed as "NEW." A more detail rich feature list from the E-on Software website can be found here.
Lighting
- Global Illumination.
- Global Radiosity.
- Fast in-depth computation of reciprocal object lighting for accurate indoor lighting.
- Radiosity engine optimized for: Indoor or infinite scenery.
- Global ambiance.
- Ambient occlusion with user definable occlusion range.
- HDRI support.
- Image based lighting.
- Background and environment mapping.
- Sub-Surface Scattering: Absorption.
- Sub-Surface Scattering: Multiple Internal Scattering.
- Easy GI single slider Global Illumination render quality setting.
- Illumination baking.
- Illumination baking quality adjustable on a global or per object basis (adjustable map resolution and quality boost).
- Adjustment of Global light intensity.
- Indirect lighting can be ignored on specific objects.
- Influence of specific lights can be ignored from the Radiosity solution.
- Advanced control over the indirect lighting engine.
- Show illumination samples in final render.
- Separate map option for background, IBL and global reflection map channels.
- Shadow and volumetric light optimization for dramatic increase in rendering speed.
- Light gels with realistic projection modes.
- Adjustable light shadow density, negative lights.
- Enable diffuse and highlight on a per-light basis.
- Custom light intensity vs. distance profiles.
- Lights can affect specific objects only.
- Variable light color based on distance to light.
- Area light panel for soft, natural lighting.
- Light emitting objects.
- One-click conversion of objects into light sources.
- Fast, fake caustics in the shadows of transparent materials. Caustics realistically depend on the Index of Refraction.
- Accurate computation of caustics in the shadows of transparent objects.
- Realistic optional "spreading" of the light spectrum in caustics (rainbow-prism effect).
- Per-light adjustment of the quality of soft shadows.
- Complete lens flare system.
- Controllable lens flares per light.
- Lens flare editor.
- Lens flare reflections editor.
- Polygonal reflections.
- Point light, Quadratic point light, Spotlight, Quadratic spotlight, Directional light.
- Lens Glare effect simulates internal lens diffusion.
- Lights can be disabled with a single click.
Atmosphere
- Atmosphere presets: Over 160.
- Ultra-realistic spectral atmosphere model.
- Choice of 4 different types of atmosphere models.
- Volumetric clouds, lights, materials (visible rays, with optional dust).
- Spectral Volume Cloud layers for extremely realistic cloudscapes.
- Extremely detailed Spectral 3 cloud system (for cloud layers and MetaClouds).
- Realistic cloud shadowing on objects as well as internal shadowing.
- Automatic detail refining for very close-up clouds.
- Cloud anisotropy setting for advanced control of internal light scattering.
- Fast indirect lighting in Spectral and Spectral 2 clouds.
- Create spherical cloud layers at the surface of your planets.
- Import real-world cloud density data to recreate existing cloudscapes.
- Add tornadoes using your favorite paint tool.
- Use animated planetary cloud density maps.
- God rays in clouds.
- Fly through clouds.
- Cloud layers near ground simulate fog.
- Realistic "peaking" of mountains through clouds.
- Create multiple layers of overlapping clouds.
- Efficient model for cross-shadowing of objects on clouds.
- MetaClouds individual cloud formations.
- Library of MetaCloud models.
- Predefined cloud shapes: Over 140.
- Unlimited cloud layers.
- Customize the shape of MetaClouds.
- Stars, rainbows, ice rings.
- Individual lights can illuminate spectral cloud layers and MetaClouds.
- Position, scale and rotate cloud layers using the standard manipulation gizmos.
EcoSystems
- EcoSystem patented technology to easily distribute millions of objects in scenes.
- Use preset EcoSystem materials to automatically populate your scenes with millions of objects.
- Create EcoSystems from multiple objects.
- Create entire forests of trees.
- Create forests of trees blowing in the wind.
- Scatter millions of animated objects.
- Mix EcoSystems with standard materials.
- Mix several EcoSystems together depending on environment (slope, altitude.
- Automatic placement of EcoSystem population according to a user defined SmartGraph density function (that can depend on position, altitude, slope.
- Advanced coloring control to vary the colors of the population over the EcoSystem.
- Accurate control over the orientation of the EcoSystem population.
- Accurate control over the size and variation in size of the EcoSystem population.
- Automatic decay of EcoSystem density near foreign objects.
- Optional size reduction and color decay at low EcoSystem densities.
- EcoSystem 2 technology: paint instances directly onto objects.
- Add, remove and resize EcoSystem instances interactively.
- Select individual instances or groups of instances and move/rotate/resize them interactively.
- Paint size, color or density of EcoSystems using a pressure sensitive tablet.
- Convert EcoSystem instances to real objects for editing, move them back to the EcoSystem later.
- Paint EcoSystems as individual material layers or on a global basis.
- Paint EcoSystems using standard EcoSystem population rules.
- Adjust the population rules of the Global EcoSystem: Optional.
- Layered EcoSystems to control individual EcoSystem populations.
- Control "affinity" between EcoSystem layers.
- Refresh dynamic EcoSystem population previews anytime with Preview button.
- Paint EcoSystems from all sides, in any view.
- EcoSystem 3 Technology dynamically populates EcoSystems for potentially unlimited populations.
- Dynamic EcoSystem 3 density adjustments for improved control of density on slopes.
- Easily control the intensity of the coloring applied to EcoSystem populations.
- Control the intensity of the EcoSystem coloring through the function graph.
- Multi-processor EcoSystem population.
Vegetation
- Ultra-realistic SolidGrowth vegetation: 170+ species.
- Compatible with modified plant species.
- Easy-to-Use Plant Editor for plant customization.
- Instantly create variations of existing plants.
- Plant Editor and Leaf Editor let you modify existing plants or create entirely new plant species.
- Create and save new plant species as stand-alone files for future use in your scenes.
- Support for new, extremely detailed plant species.
Terrains
- Solid3D real-time terrain modeling.
- Sculpt terrains in all directions.
- Create overhangs and grottoes.
- Sculpt, inflate, free form and smooth brushes.
- Pinch, Plateau, Flatten and UniSlope brushes.
- User definable brush tip profile.
- Automatic subdivision of terrain geometry when sculpting.
- Adaptive subdivision adds polygons only where needed.
- Edit terrains in context (view entire scene in editor).
- Option to view terrain clipping planes in editor.
- Option to display the terrain with a shiny surface to enhance details.
- Constrain painting and effects to clipping zone.
- Option to display the terrain in wireframe mode to view polygons.
- Create edition "zones" to modify procedural terrains locally.
- Create nested "zones" to build massive detail where needed.
- Paint material distributions at the surface of terrains.
- Paint material distributions with unlimited number of materials.
- Use material masks to constrain painting to existing distribution masks.
- Material distribution masks independent from material mapping mode.
- Import, view and edit distribution maps in the Terrain Editor.
- Terrain effects optionally affect material distribution map.
- Preset terrain styles: 8.
- Erosion types: 9.
- Geological algorithms: 12.
- Glaciation, alluvium and dissolve erosion effects.
- High definition data in standard terrains.
- Procedural terrains with infinite details.
- Infinite procedural terrains.
- Planetary terrain rendering.
- Flat, spherical and planetary procedural terrains.
- Switch between flat, spherical and planetary terrains (geometry may be affected).
- Combine image data with procedural functions using dedicated blending nodes.
- Ability to switch from one form of terrain to another easily.
- Skin terrains.
- Symmetrical terrains.
- Extract parts of procedural terrains into new terrains.
- View bitmap textures in terrain editor to sculpt from photo references.
- Pressure-sensitive tablet editing of terrains.
- Reset 2D and 3D painting independently.
- Customizable brush shape for terrain editing.
- Control distribution of materials on terrains from within the procedural terrain altitude function.
- Control procedural terrain altitudes based on relationships with other objects.
- The altitude of procedural terrains can be dynamically affected by other objects.
- Realistic procedural terrains thanks to new dedicated natural effects noise nodes.
- Infinite and local procedural terrain style presets to easily create each-time-different terrains of the given style.
- Library of procedural terrain presets with associated materials.
- Create your own procedural terrain style presets.
- Efficient displacement mapping of infinitely detailed procedural terrains.
- Procedural terrain preview in function editor.
- Multi-processor procedural terrain construction.
- Stratified terrains thanks to the recursive strata filters.
Modeling
- Primitive and Boolean modeling.
- 3D Text edition tool.
- Customizable text beveling, extrusion... and material effects.
- Import Postscript and Illustrator data into the text editor.
- Optimized memory management for handling large polygon meshes.
- True Metablobs organic modeling from all Vue Boolean primitives.
- Adjustable Metablob envelopes and contribution.
- Welding of multiple meshes into a single mesh.
- Random rock generator.
- Multiple planets (moon and other planets of the solar system).
- Create billboards that always face the camera (with a 'force vertical' option).
Rendering
- New radiosity algorithms that dramatically reduce low frequency blotches.
- Generate high-quality indoor and outdoor renders.
- Bucket rendering for lower memory requirements and improved spatial coherence when rendering.
- Indirect lighting calculation can be easily re-used between "tweak" renders.
- Option to update the Indirect lighting "on demand" only.
- One-click displacement mapping.
- Dynamic render-time displacement to handle extremely large "displaced" polygon counts.
- Optional dynamic geometry smoothing to avoid sharp polygonal edges.
- Automatic camera exposure option compensates for the strong variations in illumination between noon and sunset.
- Natural film response.
- Post-render exposure control.
- Use an image or animation as a backdrop for your renders.
- Rendering Presets: OpenGL, preview, final, broadcast, superior, ultra, user settings.
- Render size limitation: Limited by memory only.
- Pictures larger than screen resolution can be rendered to screen.
- Custom render size.
- Navigation inside the rendered picture using pan controls.
- Alpha and Z depth directly computed during the render process.
- Ray-traced depth of field.
- Realistic Hybrid 2.5D depth of field.
- Ray-traced [soft] shadows.
- Advanced soft shadow computation to produce perfectly smooth soft shadows.
- Ray-traced [blurry] reflections and refractions.
- Blurry reflection and refraction settings for each material independently.
- Fake [blurry] reflections using reflection maps.
- AccuShadows shadow mapping technology for faster [soft] shadows.
- Multi pass rendering (separates renders into the different rendering components - shadow, diffuse, ambient, etc.
- Create separate pictures for Diffuse, Specular, Shadows, Ambient, Refractions, Reflections, Background, Indirect Lighting, Post-process.
- Per layer, per object or per material multi-pass masks (fully anti-aliased): Color and alpha.
- Create a separate color and alpha mask of clouds.
- Generate color and alpha masks for Global EcoSystem instances.
- Create layers for additional render information such as Z depth, object ID, material ID, global alpha mask, normal vectors.
- Export all channels and masks into a convenient Photoshop PSD multi-channel, multi-mask file.
- Full support of G-Buffer compositing information.
- Store all anti-aliasing and rendering channel samples on separate G-Buffer layers.
- Render occluded objects (on a per object or global basis) to render hidden parts of the scene.
- Render export as RLA or RPF for advanced compositing options.
- Exclude ground from Alpha map option.
- Objects can be easily hidden from render.
- Hide objects from render and disable lights by clicking their icon in World Browser: Optional.
- Global and per-material reflection maps.
- Rendering in unlimited color depth.
- Optional details in render information panel.
- Panoramic rendering with adjustable rotation angle.
- Spherical panoramic rendering.
- Multi-processor panoramic rendering.
- Rendering in all views (including orthogonal rendering).
- Render in views can be set to a different quality than normal rendering.
- Stand alone renderer handles rendering while you work on the scene.
- Network rendering of animations.
- Network rendering of pictures.
- Rendering across hybrid network of computers (OS X and Windows).
- Fail-safe HyperVue network rendering.
- Number of render nodes (RenderCow) licenses included in product: 5.
- Maximum number of render nodes: Unlimited (through RenderCow pack expansions).
- SmartCow automatic node detection and activation.
- Hotplug render nodes to add/remove nodes during render: MacOS X and Windows.
- NewCow automatic updating of render nodes.
- Customizable command-line render launching sequence.
- RenderNode optional stand alone renderer for integration in large render farms.
- RenderCows can be configured to use any number of cores.
- Render area can be temporarily disabled.
- You can lock the render area to avoid accidental modifications.
- Render blow-up option.
- Geometry anti-aliasing.
- User definable geometry anti-aliasing: Up to 1024 rays/pixel.
- HyperMipMap material anti-aliasing (including procedural materials).
- User definable anti-aliasing strategies to optimize speed vs. Smoothness.
- Improved anti-aliasing strategies produce much smoother results.
- Optimized render memory management to allow the rendering of very large images.
- Post processing to adjust color, contrast, saturation, gamma.
- Ability to load/save independent post-processing settings.
- Create custom render effects using user-defined python callbacks.
- Ability to resume an interrupted render.
- Generate detailed network rendering logs.
- Real-life camera aberrations (cushioning and barreling).
- Abort rendering on mouse-click in render area: Optional.
- Easy-to-use camera mapping for retro projection of renders onto simplified geometry.
- The total amount of RAM allocated to displacement mapping is adjustable.
- Images can be saved to disk at regular (user definable) intervals during render.
- Dual destination render option (e.g. display to screen while rendering to disk).
- Generate detailed log files during network rendering.
- Generate render diagnosis buffers to optimize your renders and avoid bottlenecks: Optional.
- Display per-pixel render time, number of sub-rays, anti-aliasing samples, shadow rays, recursion, final gather samples, etc.
- Render displacement on arbitrarily large terrains.
- Improved rendering of indirect lighting in preview mode.
- Automatic adjustment of render buckets to optimize rendering of small images on multi-core systems.
- Full input, output and display gamma control.
- Customize input gamma on a per-texture basis.
- Easily override default output gamma.
- Quick calibration tool to easily adjust the display gamma setting.
- Anti-aliased Z-depth buffer: Optional.
Materials
- Material presets: Over 550.
- Level(s) of material Edition: 4.
- Basic material editor with possibility of importing images as textures and bump maps.
- Advanced procedural material creation/mixing.
- Advanced Material Editor.
- SmartGraph function Editor.
- Control all material parameters via function graphs.
- Advanced SmartGraph input nodes: screen position, angle of incidence, distance to camera, distance on ray, depth in object, distance to object below, incident light angle, light direction, light color, reflected direction, etc.
- Time dependent noises (including animated 'Open Ocean' water node).
- Browse material hierarchy inside material editor, with direct access to sub-materials and layers.
- Layered material system.
- Add names and comments to SmartGraph nodes.
- Individual access to identical material zones.
- Change material settings for several materials simultaneously.
- Stack layers according to alpha, slope, altitude and orientation.
- Alpha (non refractive) transparency channel.
- Color and alpha map editor.
- Rendering of Poser characters using the Poser shading tree.
- Perfect blending of lighting and GI with Poser shading tree.
- Optional texture mip-mapping.
- Global control over the level of mip-mapping.
- 16 bit texture support.
- >Materials can be mixed seamlessly.
- Mixed material can be set to react to environment properties (slope, altitude and orientation.
- Material mapping modes (World and Object mapping): standard, cylindrical, spherical, parametric .
- Easy access to all materials in scene.
- Direct access to all materials inside multi-material objects.
- Direct access to all texture maps and imported objects.
- Rotoscoping (Use animations as texture maps).
- Detailed function output observer.
- Detailed node previews in function editor.
- Baking of procedural materials as texture maps.
- Adjustable maximum ray depth and Total Internal Reflections.
- Anti-aliasing can be disabled for given materials.
- Receive shadows material option.
- Shadow only material option.
- Backlight option (for one-sided materials only) for realistic backlighting of opaque materials.
- Mixed/Layered materials displayed as hierarchies in World Browser.
- Volumetric materials.
- Volumetric materials with internal volumetric color and shading.
- Hypertextures.
- Luminous and Glowing materials.
- Easy highlighting of sub-materials and layers to visualize the influence of each material in the final render.
- Ability to map textures only once, controllable independently for each axis.
- Control materials based on the properties of other objects.
- Highly realistic natural material effects thanks to dedicated noise and coloring nodes.
- Easily control bump or displacement amplitude based on slope.
- Option to re-evaluate contribution of materials based on displaced surfaces.
- "Foam" output in Open Ocean node to easily control the distribution of foam on water surfaces.
- Separate bump and displacement channels.
- Constrained displacement (horizontal, vertical, etc).
- Ability to control the direction of displacement through the material graph.
- Displacement smoothing to eliminate noisy displacement artifacts.
- Normal mapping.
- Recursive strata and constrained strata filters for stratified effects.
- Direct access to the alpha channel in the Advanced Material editor.
- Per material texture anti-aliasing quality boost.
- Per material simplification of sub-ray effect calculation.
- Planetary mapping node with ability to set location of origin (latitude and longitude).
- Material mapping can be absolute, relative to sea, by object or by material.
- Sea level input node in graphs.
- External dependency inputs can provide dimensions in real-world units.
- Multi-materials let you change all the materials of an object in one single operation.
- Drag-drop and copy-paste multi-materials between objects.
- Move groups of keypoints in the color map and filter editors.
- Invert entire color maps or filters.
- Copy paste keypoints in color maps or filters.
- Control the hue, saturation and brightness of entire color maps or groups of keypoints.
- Assign colors to graph nodes for improved readability.
Animation
- Animation output resolution: Limited by memory only.
- Camera animation.
- Animate objects, materials, atmospheres, clouds, waves.
- Import animated Poser characters.
- Intuitive Animation wizard for easy animation setup.
- OpenGL rendering of animations for quick proofing.
- Dynamic Motion Reaction™ easy secondary movement setup.
- Option to ignore time spline when computing motion (e.g. to look forward even when moving back).
- Customizable Dynamic Motion Reaction effects.
- Easy setup of cloud movement using direction and speed of movement controls.
- Rigged Mesh support.
- Animated post-processing effects.
- Camera switcher lets you switch cameras during render (ideal for storyboarding).
- Spin and vibration effects.
- Twinkling stars.
- Automatic synchronization of cameras and lights: With 3DS Max, Cinema 4D, Maya, LightWave & Softimage XSI.
- Synchronization data incorporated into scene for easy retrieval.
- Save synchronization data to file for manual loading into Vue.
- Animation export as AfterEffects.
- Import motion tracking information.
- Dynamic Motion blur anti-aliasing reduction.
- Timeline with animation preview.
- Easily change the duration of an entire animation.
- Allow clipping of time slider to animation duration.
- Animation properties in the Timeline.
- Spline time control.
- Field interlacing, non-square pixels, flicker reduction.
- Enhanced time spline editor.
- Advanced flicker reduction options.
- Indirect lighting evaluation mode that reduces pulsation effects.
- Automatic keyframe creation.
- Auto-keyframing can be disabled.
- Copy-pasting of animation keyframes.
- Keyframes can be created for single properties only.
- Graph display of animated parameter values in Timeline.
- Accurate control over tangents and tension of animated parameters curves.
- High precision animation curve control.
- Access to individual coordinates in animation graph.
- Step, linear and smooth interpolation modes.
- Automatic ease-in/ease-out keyframe option.
- Animate rotation using quaternions or Euler angles.
- Action safe and title safe frames and field grids (user configurable).
- Motion-blur on animated mesh deformations.
- Fast Hybrid 2.5D™ motion blur.
- Accurate dithered motion blur.
- Adjustable and animatable amount of motion blur.
- Separate animation channel for camera exposure.
- Automatic simulation of breeze on plants.
- Strong wind effects defined on individual plants or groups of plants.
- Advanced breeze customization with OpenGL preview.
- Animated wind intensity and direction.
- Omni and directional ventilators for local modifications of plants.
- Ventilators can be made to influence EcoSystems.
- Plant geometry key framing for spectacular animated life cycles.
- Ability to mark objects as never becoming animated.
- Object linking and tracking - forward dynamics.
- "Scene graph" approach allows advanced relationships between objects.
- Access and control object properties using SmartGraph.
- Save and reload entire object graphs in a single file.
- Object graphs can express dimensions in real-world units.
- Loose forward dynamics for "real world" linking and tracking.
- "PID" and "Delay" controllers in SmartGraph for improved realism in object interactions.
- Option to output temporary images when network rendering an animation as independent frames.
- Optional display of time code on frames (on a separate layer when rendering as multi-pass).
- Automatically hide time code when rendering to final or better.
- Option to disable or customize padding of frame files.
- Time display as: SMPTE, frame #, time.
- Optional automatic illumination baking of meshes.
- Motion blur on tree deformation.
- Separate animation range and render range.
- EcoSystem populations can be made to evolve over time.
- Create custom rigged mesh animations.
- Animate cloud layers using the standard animation tools.
User Interface
- Productive, uncluttered interface layout.
- Flat interface design (with optional standard Vue 5-style interface).
- Customizable interface colors.
- Adjustable panning, rotation, etc shortcuts in editors.
- Re-posing of Poser meshes directly inside Vue.
- Direct re-posing of rigged meshes.
- Support for mesh morphs.
- Select and manipulate bones directly in views.
- Manipulate bones numerically using the Skeleton editor.
- Support for wired helpers.
- Highly optimized mesh skinning for fast refresh during animation scrubbing.
- Efficient memory management: multiple instances of identical objects are stored only once in memory.
- Automatic object instantiation.
- Interactive alignment tool.
- Accurate alignment and drop operations.
- Quick color selection tool with customizable color presets.
- Custom previews can be used to represent saved items.
- Perspective camera view.
- Drag items (e.g. objects, materials...) into your scene from the non-modal browsers.
- Unified light editor.
- Place an image in the background of the OpenGL views for reference.
- Change axis conventions.
- Change order of rotations.
- Change the size of the animation preview in the Timeline.
- Merge scenes.
- Repeat last operation to create an array (extend or subdivide).
- Alt + move object creates a copy of the object.
- Customizable view navigation shortcuts.
- Gizmo object manipulators (optional).
- Adjustable gizmo size.
- Spherical abstraction gizmos.
- Dynamic spherical terrain unwrapping allows easy object placement.
- Local, global, camera and parent manipulation modes.
- Multiple object renaming.
- View option menu commands with optional shortcuts.
- Gizmo option menu commands with optional shortcuts.
- Animation option menu commands with optional shortcuts.
- Quick Render option menu commands with optional shortcuts.
- Fully multi-threaded interface for fast response.
- One view/4 view layout.
- Real-time scene preview.
- World Browser scene management.
- Organize objects in layers: Unlimited layers.
- Enhanced World Browser with direct access to materials, texture maps and imported objects for efficient management of complex projects.
- Display material hierarchies with direct access to sub-materials.
- Easy replacement of textures throughout the entire scene.
- Library tab in World Browser shows all objects used several times.
- Easily modify all instances of a reference object using the Library tab.
- Scatter-replicate tool.
- Scatter replicate tool creates variations of plants, terrains, rocks.
- Replication tool with configurable position/size/orientation offset.
- Random scattering and replication of objects.
- Automatic instantiation of scattered/replicated objects.
- Summary of materials to quickly access all materials in the scene.
- Resizable material summary.
- Drop button to easily set objects on the surface of underlying objects.
- Smart drop rests the dropped object on the surface of the underlying object.
- Undo-Redo: Multiple undo-redo.
- Ability to reorganize the view panes.
- Resizable viewports.
- Dockable Timeline.
- Access to all G-Buffer channels and layers in interface.
- Save individual G-Buffer channels directly from the interface.
- Access to all render passes and masks.
- Access to vertical and horizontal camera fields of view.
- Trackball-type camera operations and advanced camera management grouped into Camera Control Center.
- Each camera possesses a target object for easier aiming and setting of focus point.
- Camera targets can be linked to other objects in the scene (e.g. to automatically keep that object in focus).
- All cameras can appear on screen.
- Camera group manager in World Browser.
- Resizable World Browser and Scene Preview.
- Sort objects by size, name or type.
- Lock or hide entire layers.
- Python scripting.
- Run Cornucopia3D third party Python scripts.
- Directly access frequently used scripts.
- Python console for direct input of Python commands.
- Python functions to add, modify and remove EcoSystem instances.
- Python nodes that can execute Python code inside graphs, with user definable inputs and outputs.
- Picture printing with user definable DPI resolution.
- User-definable startup scene.
- Real units for object sizes.
- Display measurements as real-world units (metric or Imperial).
- Coherent display of real-world units.
- Set internal units to change the overall scale of scenes.
- Centered or relative to opposite corner object resizing.
- Mesh splitting by material.
- Object decimation for faster scene setup.
- Spotlight view through for accurate aiming (OpenGL only).
- Full-screen mode.
- List of default folders when searching for texture maps.
- Option to recursively search for texture maps in texture folders.
- Optional independent panning and zooming of views.
- Non-modal object editors.
- Objects can be locked or hidden individually in OpenGL views.
- Baking of objects to polygons (including Boolean operations).
- Incorporation of texture maps in scenes.
- User-definable keyboard shortcuts.
- "Only show active layer" preview option.
- Object replacement by other objects.
- When replacing plants, use the geometry of the replaced plants to generate the new plants.
- Automatic detection and creation of new browser collections.
- Ability to lock browser collections to avoid accidental modifications.
- Cloud layers can be easily hidden/restored.
- Linear and angular snapping grids when moving and rotating objects.
- Customizable linear and angular grid snapping when moving and rotating objects.
- Multiple scene file backup tool.
- Macro recording and playback to automate repetitive tasks.
- Easily access frequently used macros using Macro QuickLaunch dialog.
- Easily access recently created macros.
- Content files accessible from all system accounts.
- Easily change the location of your content folder after installation.
- Rename individual render passes (e.g. "Maple Tree 527" -> "Hero Tree").
- Disable/bypass Visual Browsers completely (e.g. when browsing images).
- Intelligent re-titling of files when saving under new filename.
- Use preset MetaNodes to easily assemble elaborate SmartGraph graphs.
- Group parts of SmartGraph graphs as MetaNodes.
- "Publish" specific MetaNode parameters for easy access from the level above.
- Build your own MetaNodes library of commonly used graph snippets.
- Ability to fix the altitude of the camera above the ground.
- Press "Ctrl" to slow down the controls in the Camera Control Center.
- Dedicated water editor to easily create and adjust infinite water planes.
- Go from still to stormy waters with a single slider.
- Easily add true displacement to the water surface.
- Customize the look of water surfaces using the new MetaWater materials.
- Run several instances of Vue simultaneously.
- Support for 3Dconnexion tracking devices (SpaceNavigator, SpaceExplorer, etc).
- Automatic renaming of Standalone- and HyperVue-generated frames if overwriting.
- Automatic renaming of RenderNode-generated frames if overwriting.
- Global EcoSystem visible as proxy object in World Browser.
- Select and delete Global EcoSystem instances with one click.
- Format specific options accessible through a special button in Save file box, and no longer prompted for each time.
- Adjustable separator in Timeline to change width of animated items list.
- Material preview option which displays materials mapped onto a small terrain object.
- Name of atmosphere appears in Atmosphere editor caption.
- Name of edited function appears in Function editor caption.
- Visual motion browser lets you select rig poses or animations visually.
- Preview motions/poses before applying them.
- Typical motions directly accessible from skeleton rig editor.
- Customizable camera altitude locking (above terrains, above other objects, etc).
- Default views are automatically adjusted according to internal units.
Real-Time Preview
- High-speed OpenGL real-time preview engine.
- Choice of 3 OpenGL engines: shader based, fixed pipeline and software provide optimal quality/compatibility options.
- Shader-based OpenGL engine maximizes efficiency and visual accuracy on high-end GPUs.
- Completely threaded OpenGL architecture makes the best of multi-core systems.
- Fully customizable OpenGL previewing options.
- Realistic OpenGL preview of plants, planets, lens-flares, texture map atmosphere... with instant and detailed feedback.
- Dual-resolution OpenGL preview for faster response.
- Preview specular highlights in real time.
- OpenGL preview of EcoSystem instances as billboards, boxes or full geometry.
- Preview EcoSystem instances as shaded billboards.
- User definable radius around the camera in which EcoSystem instances appear at full resolution.
- Dynamically populated EcoSystems around the camera can be viewed in viewports.
- Control minimum size and maximum number of dynamic EcoSystem instances previewed.
- Dynamic filtering of EcoSystem shaded billboards to improve accuracy and reduce flickering in realtime preview.
- Adjust EcoSystem display quality on individual population elements.
- Control displaying at full quality of EcoSystem instances near the camera on individual population elements.
- Limit overall EcoSystem instance preview quality with a single command for faster navigation in complex projects.
- Textured OpenGL preview.
- OpenGL and Wireframe preview modes.
- OpenGL Preview of Boolean operations.
- OpenGL Preview of Metablobs.
- Threaded previewing of procedural terrains with dynamic LOD.
- Anti-aliased real-time OpenGL preview.
- Automatic selection of preview color based on procedural material color.
- Show objects as box, wireframe, shaded or smooth shaded.
- Axis preview in viewports.
- OpenGL and rendered plant preview in Plant Editor.
- Sky preview with clouds.
- Realistic MetaCloud preview.
- Realistic sun shadows.
- Colored EcoSystem instance preview.
- Dynamic plant display optimization.
- Decimated object preview for faster previewing.
- Minimum setting for preview frame rate (dynamic preview simplification to maintain frame rate).
- Control over OpenGL clipping planes.
- Selected objects appear with a red wireframe: Optional.
- Parts of selected objects that use the current material appear highlighted: Optional.
- Selection wireframe always appears on top of other objects that are in front: Optional.
- Selected objects are "ghosted" in red.
- Selection wireframe color is user definable.
- Highlighted material selection wireframe color is user definable.
- Bone highlight color is user definable.
- High quality texture and terrain previewing.
- Rendered images can be displayed in the background of all viewports.
- Camera mapping preview in real time preview.
- OpenGL viewports reflect camera exposure and gamma settings: Optional.
- Planes are visible from all sides in the OpenGL views.
- Accurate OpenGL display of materials in world coordinates.
- Status bar can display poly count, free system resources, and used GPU resources.
- Ability to hide all layers in the World Browser.
- Ability to copy-paste objects into hidden or locked layers.
- When deleting all objects from a layer, the layer is no longer deleted. You need to do this explicitly.
- Easily restore default installation folders at install time.
- Optimized Full Quality Near Camera option for faster high quality previewing.
- Optimized handling of complex group hierarchies.
Import/Export
- Static Poser scene import.
- Support for Poser dynamic clothes and hair.
- Animated Poser scene import.
- Support for Poser 8.
- Convert objects from Max into Vue format (requires 3DS Max).
- NEW! Unrigged objects are now exported from Max as standard Vue meshes.
- Compatible with Cornucopia3D cost-effective copy-protected content.
- Cornucopia3D items are identified in the Visual Browsers using a small icon.
- Cornucopia3D content display options in Visual Browsers: "All", "Best Selection" or "None".
- Import options dialog to control imported object position and sizing.
- When loading objects, option to automatically drop them to the ground.
- Motion tracking import: MatchMover (RZML, RZ3), Boujou & SynthEyes (MS).
- 2D Import: BMP, BUM, DEM, EXR, GIF, HDR, IFF, Jpeg, PCX, Pict, PNG, PSD, RLA, RPF, TGA, TGD, Tiff, Vistapro DEM.
- Animated 2D import: Sequence of pictures, MOV (Macintosh only), AVI (Windows only).
- Vector data import: Postscript and Illustrator up to 3.2.
- Exposure and contrast controls in HDRI images.
- Textured model imports as: 3DS, 3DMF, COB, DAE, DEM, DXF, LWO, OBJ, PZ3, PZZ, RAW, SHD, SKP, VRML.
- Textured and animated Collada file import.
- Support for rigged Collada meshes.
- Support for Sketchup 7 (Win 32 only).
- 2D Export: Tiff, TGA, Pict, BMP, GIF, EPX, PSD, Jpeg, PNG, PCX, IFF, RLA, RPF.
- Export high dynamic range images (including skydomes).
- Export 48 bit color images.
- High Dynamic Range 2D Export: HDR, EXR.
- 32 bit resolution, floating point EXR import and export.
- Embed alpha information in Tiff and PNG formats.
- Object export (with textures).
- Optimized object and texture map exports.
- Textured object export as: 3DS, C4D, COB, DXF, LWO, OBJ, SHD.
- Scene export: 3DS, LWS.
- Sky exports as sky-boxes or sky-domes.
- Camera animation export (e.g. to After Effects): Maya MA.
- Object animation export (motion, orientation, size): 3DS, MOT.
- User-definable mesh and texture map resolution for exports.
- Automatic re-importing of externally modified texture maps and 3D objects.
- Objects can be marked as not being exportable.
- Advanced unwrap algorithms for low-distortion UV mapping.
- Optimized terrain exports.
System Resource Management
- Robust threading architecture.
- Texture virtualization allows rendering with extremely high resolution texture maps.
- Geometry virtualization allows rendering of polygon-intensive objects.
- "Purge Memory" command to cleanup memory and reduce fragmentation.
- Automatic memory monitoring system attempts to preserve scene integrity after memory allocation failures.
- Optional compatibility mode minimizes hardware compatibility issues.
- Degraded display mode (dynamic simplification of OpenGL preview when resources become critically low).
- Optional limit on OpenGL polygon count.
- Automatic suspension of mesh simplification, Boolean/Metablob preview and background draw threads when system resources become critically low.
- Automatic software updating (optional).
- Video-board compatibility checking.
- Automatic checking of OpenGL driver compatibility.
- Option to clear OpenGL data before rendering.
- Embedded error-reporting feature to help reduce time-to-fix.
- User definable maximum video board memory usage.
Miscellaneous
- Multi-processor rendering: Unlimited number of CPUs.
- Hundreds of preset atmospheres, objects, materials.
- Terrainscapes preset terrain material library.
- Optimized for PowerPC and Intel Macs: Mac Intel only.
- 64 bit version optimized for Windows XP64 and Vista 64.
- Floating licenses: With optional License Server.
- Licenses can be used as floating licenses when installed in the optional License Server.
- License Server can run as a service.
- Automatic detection of License Server.
- License valid for commercial use.
- Inline help: PDF Manual.
- Documentation: 668 page manual.
- Media: 1 Application CD + 1 Extras DVD.