[deadalvs]

@ tyrone ..

is there a significant difference for the definition of DOF when compositing vue and maxwell cameras ? how would you synchronize them ?

for example in mental ray, one of the DOF nodes is driven only by a distance and a radius value (like a scalar factor of the focus region). in maxwell, of course all that is defined by f-stop and shutter time (plus filmback, ...)

the difference of the different appoaches leaves me a little puzzled ..

-->

[deadalvs]

it's available now !

with a early-bird rebate till february 2nd 2009

a free learning edition will be available shortly..

http://www.e-onsoftware.com/

[Mattia Sullini]

I got it, i got it!
For the upgrade the price is not that high: Xstream6 --> Xstream7 is 390€ VAT excluded...when they showed the preliminary price tab i almost got a stroke, with Xstream going up from 900€ to 1450€ or something like

[deadalvs]

i'm jealous ..


which host app are you using ?

[Mattia Sullini]

Lightwave.
But i use it mainly as standalone...i got it since there was a very little difference in price between Infinite and Xstream and now makes no sense to downgrade....
...i really hope i will be able to export decent HDRIs from the Atmosphere editor

[LesliePere]

I'm gonna get it.

[deadalvs]

@ Mattia ..

hmm, i gave lightwave up after version 7.5b .. well, on mac os, but it was buggy and unstable as hell. otherwise, the app is kinda cool btw !

* * *

question 1:

about the fact that ecosystem painting is not yet available for maya, lw and xsi:
http://www.e-onsoftware.com/products/vu ... e=overview

can anyone tell me if it's possible to bounce the host app's 3d-geometry like for example a house with modeled yard back and forth between vue standalone and the host app just for this painting ?


question 2:

what does ozone do additional when there's the vue environments available .. ?

question 3:

can the lighting and sky be set only by vue ? without mental ray lighting or the other host app renderer?

[Leonardo]

This is very cool,
http://www.e-onsoftware.com/products/vu ... cking.html
and although I imagine is nothing new... it's news to me that it's so easy to match a video to an animation

[deadalvs]

well, Leo .. it's not THAT simple...

the tracking process is not just always loading in and hitting a button ..

* * *

just for example the matching of the lighting or the compositing of the shadow on the ground is not automatically generated. that's all hand work and usually takes many hours of work.

or getting all the film back data (ccd size, ...) is a pita.

but the main point of being able to import a tracked camera into vue is cool !

[Mattia Sullini]

1: You can import in Vue standalone the mesh of the part you want to paint onto, then use the brushes, save the scene and import it in your host app running Xstream. All elementes you created in the standalone app should be then active in your "hybrid" scene

2: Ozone is nothing but the atmosphere editor module of Xstream, then if you get the complete app, you will get ozone's features as well

3: The environmental part of the lighting is actually handled by Vue, while all other kind of lights are the ones of the host app, and if you created a scene inside the standalone version, all the lights should be properly translated into the ones of the host app

[deadalvs]

grazie, Mattia !

this all seems very cool organized !

and finally i'd be able to properly control the size of the scene. that was always a little weird in vue.

should i get it ... should i not .. hhmmmmmmmmm ..

[Mattia Sullini]

I got it because i'm hoping mainly in a faster interface, then a real HDR export capability and the ecosystem painting usable even in other views than top view... but you have time until February for upgrading with the special prices!

[Leonardo]

well, Leo .. it's not THAT simple...

the tracking process is not just always loading in and hitting a button ..

* * *

just for example the matching of the lighting or the compositing of the shadow on the ground is not automatically generated. that's all hand work and usually takes many hours of work.

or getting all the film back data (ccd size, ...) is a pita.

but the main point of being able to import a tracked camera into vue is cool !

well, lighting and reflections could be done with HDRI

[wr1nkles]

my question is, are the tree models in xstream believable with maxwell render?


Cheers,

Nik

[deadalvs]

let me set this straight.

1)
the vue trees are not really convincing for close-ups. they're using a highly efficient system (solid growth) that creates instances of trees but no tree looks the same (procedural approach)
so for «hero-trees», you'll want something a little more natural.

2)
vue trees/forests are rendered only with vue's engine. every component of the environment is totally non-maxwell.
so for the tandem of vue with for example cinema4d, xsi or maya, a second renderer is needed to actually render the geometry of the host app. for example a house that you created.
e-on now chose those 5 main host apps and programmed a bridge between vue and each host app to communicate reflections and shadows that interact between both renderers.

of course since there's no bridge created for maxwell (yet ... ?) vue environments can only be combined with maxwell by the process of 2d-compositing.
so for example, a camera rotating around a house in the forest logically will produce NO visible forest reflections in the windows with maxwell and compositing.

what also has to be considered is that matching DOF and motion blur is quite a task when wanting to use maxwell animations composited into vue environments. in the new version of vue, those effects are specially synchronized for perfect results.

3)
if you want to use vue trees, just export them and create instances in your 3d app.