Vue 9 Reference Manual

Vue 9 Infinite & xStream Reference Manual

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Vue, Vue 9, Vue Pioneer, Vue Frontier, Vue Esprit, Vue Studio, Vue Complete, Vue Infinite, xStream, Vue 9 Pioneer, Vue 9 Frontier, Vue 9 Esprit, Vue 9 Studio, Vue 9 Complete, Vue 9 Infinite, Vue 9 xStream, Mover, SolidGrowth, Dynamic Motion Reaction, Solid3D, RenderCow, SmartCow, NewCow, Hybrid 2.5D, AccuShadows, EasyGI, SmartGraph, EcoSystem, Cornucopia, Cornucopia3d, "The Natural 3D Studio", "Natural 3D", "The Art of Natural 3D", "Solutions for Natural 3D Environments" are trademarks or registered trademarks of e-on software, inc. Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 are registered trademarks of Microsoft, Inc. QuickTime, QuickTime VR, Mac, OS X, OS 9 are registered trademarks of Apple, inc. Flash and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe, Inc. Maya, Softimage and 3ds Max are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. LightWave is a registered trademark of NewTek, Inc. Cinema 4D is a registered trademark of Maxon, Inc. Poser is a registered trademark of Smith Micro Software. RealMovie is a registered trademark of RealNetworks, Inc. All other product and brand names mentioned in this manual are used for identification purposes only. They may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and, as such, remain the exclusive property of their respective holders. Copyright Vue 9 Infinite/xStream Program 2010 e-on software, inc. All rights reserved. Vue 9 Infinite/xStream Documentation 2010 e-on software, inc. All rights reserved. This manual, as well as the Vue 9 Infinite/xStream software described in it is furnished under a license agreement and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license agreement. Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent product specification or commitment on the part of e-on software, inc. Algorithms used inside this software were developed for visual performance only, and may not constitute a precise simulation of real phenomena. Warning: This software and the accompanying documentation are protected by U.S. copyright law as well as by international intellectual property conventions. Any reproduction, sale, transfer, transcription, storage in a retrieval system, translation into any language in any form or distribution by any means whatsoever of this software or accompanying documentation, in part or in full, without the prior written permission from e-on software, inc. is strictly forbidden. Any such act shall constitute a copyright violation and shall be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Printed October 2010

2


ContentsGetting StartedWHAT'SEW I

VUE 9

27

EcoSystem 4 ..................................................................................................................... 28 HyperBlob Technology ..................................................................................................... 28 Terrain Technologies ....................................................................................................... 29 Relighting ......................................................................................................................... 30 Inverse Kinematics ........................................................................................................... 30 Custom Interfaces ............................................................................................................. 31 Auto Saving and Scene Snapshots .................................................................................... 31 Rendering Improvements.................................................................................................. 32 Real-World Units.............................................................................................................. 33 Catmull-Clark Subdivision ............................................................................................... 33 Improved Texture Management........................................................................................ 33 Cloud Radiosity ................................................................................................................ 34 ew Interface Design ....................................................................................................... 34 ative Cocoa .................................................................................................................... 34 Other Artistic Control Improvements ............................................................................... 34 NEW FEATURES IN VUE 8.5 .................................................................................................. 35 Cloud Layers as Objects .................................................................................................. 36 Global Gamma Control .................................................................................................... 36 Diagnostic Render Pass Information ............................................................................... 36 EcoSystem Enhancements ................................................................................................ 36 ew Features in the Terrain Editor ................................................................................. 38 ew Planetary Scene Features......................................................................................... 38 Easier Pose/Motion Handling .......................................................................................... 39 Improved Color Map and Filter Editors .......................................................................... 39 Auto-Exposure and Gamma Setting Reflected in OpenGL Views .................................... 39 ew Material Control ...................................................................................................... 39 Multi-Materials ................................................................................................................ 39 Rendering Improvements.................................................................................................. 40 Other Artistic Control Improvements ............................................................................... 40

3


I

TRODUCTIO

42

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS .......................................................................................................42 INSTALLATION .......................................................................................................................42 Installing Vue 9 Infinite.....................................................................................................42 Installing Vue 9 xStream ...................................................................................................43 Default Folders .................................................................................................................43 TECHNICAL SUPPORT.............................................................................................................43 Included Support ...............................................................................................................43 Complimentary 30 Day Maintenance................................................................................44 Advanced Support Options ................................................................................................44 Per-Incident Priority Support ...........................................................................................44 Standard Maintenance ......................................................................................................46 Premium Maintenance ......................................................................................................46 When Is The Best Time to Get Under Maintenance? ........................................................46 WELCOME DIALOG ................................................................................................................47 Activating Your Product....................................................................................................47 Feeling "At Home" ............................................................................................................47 Kickstart Tutorial ..............................................................................................................47 Integrated Flash Player ....................................................................................................48 CHECKING VIDEO BOARD COMPATIBILITY............................................................................48 UPDATING VUE 9 ...................................................................................................................48 Automatic Updates ............................................................................................................49 Canceling Updates ............................................................................................................49 ewCow etwork Updates............................................................................................49 IMPORTING FILES FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS .......................................................................50 Importing Locked Content.................................................................................................50 MEMORY MANAGEMENT AND FAULT PROTECTION ...............................................................50

I

TERFACE OVERVIEW

53

DIALOG BAR..........................................................................................................................54 CUSTOMIZING THE INTERFACE ..............................................................................................54 3D VIEWS ..............................................................................................................................54 DOUBLE ACTION ICONS .........................................................................................................59 UNFOLDABLE ICONS ..............................................................................................................60 TOP TOOLBAR .......................................................................................................................60 LEFT TOOLBAR ......................................................................................................................61

4


SCENE INFORMATION BAR .................................................................................................... 62 OBJECT PROPERTIES PANEL .................................................................................................. 62 Aspect Tab ........................................................................................................................ 63 umerics Tab ................................................................................................................... 66 Animation Tab .................................................................................................................. 67 CAMERA CONTROL CENTER ................................................................................................. 69 Render Preview ................................................................................................................ 69 Camera Controls .............................................................................................................. 70 WORLD BROWSER ................................................................................................................ 71 Objects Tab ...................................................................................................................... 72 Materials Tab ................................................................................................................... 77 Library Tab ...................................................................................................................... 79 Links Tab .......................................................................................................................... 80 Status Bar ......................................................................................................................... 83 ANIMATION TIMELINE .......................................................................................................... 84 The Main Timeline ........................................................................................................... 85 The Properties Timeline ................................................................................................... 87 The Animation Graph ....................................................................................................... 88 The Animation Preview .................................................................................................... 89 VISUAL BROWSERS ............................................................................................................... 90 Collections........................................................................................................................ 90 CORNUCOPIA3D ............................................................................................................... 92

U

DERSTA DI G VUE

95

OPERATIONS ......................................................................................................................... 95 Clipping Plane ................................................................................................................. 95 Drag and Drop ................................................................................................................. 95 Popup Menus .................................................................................................................... 96 3D COORDINATES ................................................................................................................. 96 World Space ..................................................................................................................... 96 Object Space..................................................................................................................... 96 Material Mapping Coordinates ........................................................................................ 97 RAY TRACING ....................................................................................................................... 98 Render Engine .................................................................................................................. 98 Soft Shadows .................................................................................................................... 99 Blurred Transparencies and Reflections ........................................................................ 100 Reflection Maps .............................................................................................................. 101

5


Depth of Field .................................................................................................................101 Motion Blur .....................................................................................................................102 Hybrid 2.5D Blurring ......................................................................................................103 Lens Flares ......................................................................................................................104 Glow ................................................................................................................................105 Volumetric Effects ...........................................................................................................105 Caustics ...........................................................................................................................107 Ambient Occlusion, Global Illumination and Radiosity..................................................108 HDRI and Image Based Lighting ....................................................................................110 Illumination Baking.........................................................................................................111 Sub-Surface Scattering ....................................................................................................112 Displacement Mapping ...................................................................................................113 ADVANCED EFFECTS QUALITY ............................................................................................113 RENDERING INFORMATION ..................................................................................................114 G-Buffer and RLA/RPF File Formats .............................................................................114 Multi-Pass, Masks and PSD File Format .......................................................................115 ECOSYSTEM TECHNOLOGY .................................................................................................116

FRAMI

G A D PICTURE COMPOSITIO

118

MAKING BETTER PICTURES .................................................................................................118 CHOOSING THE VIEWPOINT .................................................................................................118 PICTURE FORMAT ................................................................................................................118 CENTER OF INTEREST ..........................................................................................................119 BALANCE .............................................................................................................................119 LIGHT AND SHAPE ...............................................................................................................120 PATTERNS, COLORS AND TEXTURES ....................................................................................120 THE POWER OF LINES ..........................................................................................................121 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................121

Building ScenesCREATIG OBJECTS

125

PRIMITIVE OBJECTS .............................................................................................................125 INFINITE PLANES .................................................................................................................125 ALPHA PLANES ....................................................................................................................126 TERRAINS ............................................................................................................................127 PLANTS ................................................................................................................................128

6


POLYGON MESHES .............................................................................................................. 129 Rigged Meshes ............................................................................................................... 129 3D TEXT ............................................................................................................................. 130 ROCKS ................................................................................................................................ 131 PLANETS ............................................................................................................................. 131 METACLOUDS .................................................................................................................... 131 LIGHTS................................................................................................................................ 132 Simple Light Sources ...................................................................................................... 132 Area Lights ..................................................................................................................... 133 GROUP OBJECTS ................................................................................................................. 134 Boolean Operations........................................................................................................ 134 Metablobs ....................................................................................................................... 134 Hyperblobs ..................................................................................................................... 134 Working with Group Objects .......................................................................................... 135 VENTILATORS ..................................................................................................................... 135 CAMERAS ........................................................................................................................... 136

EDITI

G OBJECTS

137

SELECTING OBJECTS ........................................................................................................... 137 Inside the 3D Views ........................................................................................................ 137 Inside the World Browser ............................................................................................... 137 By Category .................................................................................................................... 138 Walking through a Selection of Objects ......................................................................... 138 Deselecting Everything .................................................................................................. 138 MOVING OBJECTS ............................................................................................................... 138 ROTATING OBJECTS ............................................................................................................ 138 Inside the 3D Views ........................................................................................................ 139 RESIZING OBJECTS.............................................................................................................. 139 Inside the 3D Views ........................................................................................................ 139 TWISTING OBJECTS ............................................................................................................. 140 Inside the 3D Views ........................................................................................................ 140 Using the umerics Tab ................................................................................................. 140 GIZMO MANIPULATORS ...................................................................................................... 140 Selecting the Appropriate Gizmo ................................................................................... 140 The Position Gizmo ........................................................................................................ 141 The Rotation Gizmo ........................................................................................................ 141 The Size Gizmo ............................................................................................................... 142

7


Gizmo Coordinates .........................................................................................................142 Customizing Gizmo Behavior ..........................................................................................143 CHANGING OBJECT MATERIAL ............................................................................................143 CHANGING OBJECT PREVIEW COLOR ..................................................................................144 EDITING LIGHTS ..................................................................................................................144 Lens Flare .......................................................................................................................146 Light Gel .........................................................................................................................147 Volumetric Light .............................................................................................................148 Shadow and Lighting.......................................................................................................149 EDITING TERRAINS ..............................................................................................................149 USGS Digital Elevation Models (DEM) .........................................................................150 EDITING BODIES OF WATER ................................................................................................150 Changing the MetaWater Material .................................................................................152 EDITING PLANTS ..................................................................................................................153 Applying Wind .................................................................................................................153 Editing Plant Geometry...................................................................................................153 EDITING POLYGON MESHES ................................................................................................154 Polygon Mesh Options Dialog ........................................................................................154 Published Parameters .....................................................................................................157 Importing Objects ...........................................................................................................157 Import Options ................................................................................................................158 Poser Import Options ......................................................................................................159 Re-Posing ........................................................................................................................160 Rendering Using the Poser Shader Tree .........................................................................161 Direct Re-Posing of Rigged Meshes................................................................................162 Decimating Imported Objects .........................................................................................164 Baking Objects To Polygons ...........................................................................................165 EDITING THE TORUS ............................................................................................................166 Torus Options Dialog ......................................................................................................166 EDITING 3D TEXT ................................................................................................................166 EDITING ALPHA PLANES ......................................................................................................166 Alpha Plane Editor..........................................................................................................167 EDITING PLANETS ................................................................................................................168 BOOLEAN OBJECTS ..............................................................................................................169 Boolean Union ................................................................................................................169 Boolean Intersection .......................................................................................................170

8


Boolean Difference......................................................................................................... 170 METABLOBS ....................................................................................................................... 171 Metablob Options ........................................................................................................... 172 HYPERBLOBS ...................................................................................................................... 173 Hyperblob Options ......................................................................................................... 173 VENTILATORS ..................................................................................................................... 174 REPLACING OBJECTS .......................................................................................................... 175 SAVING OBJECTS ................................................................................................................ 176 EXPORTING CONTENT ......................................................................................................... 176 Exporting Objects........................................................................................................... 176 Exporting Skies............................................................................................................... 177 Exporting Entire Scenes ................................................................................................. 178 Export Options ............................................................................................................... 178

FRAMI

G A D RE DERI G

183

FRAMING ............................................................................................................................ 183 Using the Camera........................................................................................................... 184 Camera Target ............................................................................................................... 186 Camera Backdrop Options ............................................................................................. 186 Camera Manager ........................................................................................................... 187 Advanced Camera Options............................................................................................. 188 Frame Guides ................................................................................................................. 192 RENDERING ........................................................................................................................ 193 Bucket Rendering ........................................................................................................... 193 Render Options............................................................................................................... 194 Advanced Effects Options............................................................................................... 205 Anti-Aliasing Options ..................................................................................................... 207 Sub-Ray Options............................................................................................................. 210 Blur Rendering Options ................................................................................................. 211 G-Buffer and Multi-Pass Options................................................................................... 212 Post Render Options....................................................................................................... 218 Exporting Pictures.......................................................................................................... 219 Printing Pictures ............................................................................................................ 220 Batch Rendering ............................................................................................................. 221

9


The EditorsTERRAI EDITOR 225

TERRAIN TYPES ...................................................................................................................225 Standard Terrains ...........................................................................................................225 Procedural Terrains ........................................................................................................226 SPHERICAL TERRAINS ..........................................................................................................228 Creating and Manipulating a Spherical Terrain.............................................................229 Basic Spherical Scene .....................................................................................................229 Planet Spherical Scenes ..................................................................................................229 Planetary Mapping Mode ...............................................................................................230 Objects in Spherical Scenes ............................................................................................230 Atmospheres in Spherical Scenes ....................................................................................230 TERRAIN EDITOR .................................................................................................................231 Terrain Map ....................................................................................................................231 Top Toolbar.....................................................................................................................232 Predefined Terrain Styles ................................................................................................234 Sculpting Terrains ...........................................................................................................238 Brush Editor ....................................................................................................................240 Painting Materials ..........................................................................................................241 Procedural Altitudes .......................................................................................................242 Zones ...............................................................................................................................243 Effects ..............................................................................................................................244 Exporting Terrain Geometry ...........................................................................................247 HINT ....................................................................................................................................248

TEXT EDITOR

249

Toolbar ............................................................................................................................249 Text Preview ....................................................................................................................251 Text Tab ..........................................................................................................................251 Bevel Tab ........................................................................................................................253 Extrusion Tab ..................................................................................................................254 Materials Tab ..................................................................................................................255 Text Styles .......................................................................................................................255

PLA

T EDITOR

256

Plant Preview ..................................................................................................................256

10


Toolbar ........................................................................................................................... 257 EDITING PLANTS ................................................................................................................. 258 Trunk and Branches ....................................................................................................... 259 Leaves and Petals ........................................................................................................... 261 Creating Variations of the Same Plant........................................................................... 262 Creating ew Species..................................................................................................... 263 Exporting Plants............................................................................................................. 263 LEAF EDITOR ...................................................................................................................... 263 RESPONSE TO WIND OPTIONS ............................................................................................ 264

EDITI

G ECOSYSTEMS

265

ECOSYSTEM PAINTER ......................................................................................................... 265 Painting Tools ................................................................................................................ 266 EcoSystem Population .................................................................................................... 269 Global EcoSystem Object ............................................................................................... 270 Global EcoSystems vs. EcoSystem Materials ................................................................. 271 ECOSYSTEM SELECTOR ...................................................................................................... 272 Selecting EcoSystem Instances ....................................................................................... 272 Manipulating Selected Instances .................................................................................... 273 EcoSystem Display Options............................................................................................ 274

ATMOSPHERES

275

LOADING AN ATMOSPHERE ................................................................................................ 275 SUN TAB ............................................................................................................................. 276 LIGHT TAB .......................................................................................................................... 277 SKY TAB ............................................................................................................................. 282 CLOUDS TAB ...................................................................................................................... 283 Simple Cloud Animation................................................................................................. 285 Cloud Layers as Objects ................................................................................................ 285 Volumetric Clouds .......................................................................................................... 285 Spectral Clouds .............................................................................................................. 285 FOG AND HAZE TAB ........................................................................................................... 286 Fog ................................................................................................................................. 286 Haze ............................................................................................................................... 287 SKY, FOG & HAZE TAB....................................................................................................... 288 WIND TAB .......................................................................................................................... 291 Adjusting Breeze............................................................................................................. 291

11


EFFECTS TAB .......................................................................................................................294 SAVING AN ATMOSPHERE ....................................................................................................298

LIGHT EDITOR

299

LENS FLARE TAB .................................................................................................................299 LENS FLARE REFLECTIONS EDITOR .....................................................................................302 GEL TAB ..............................................................................................................................305 VOLUMETRIC LIGHT TAB ....................................................................................................306 Volumetric Light Controls...............................................................................................306 SHADOW TAB ......................................................................................................................307 LIGHTING TAB .....................................................................................................................311 INFLUENCE TAB ...................................................................................................................312

MATERIAL EDITOR

314

COMMON MATERIAL CONTROLS .........................................................................................315 BASIC MATERIAL EDITOR ...................................................................................................319 Simple Materials in Basic Editor ....................................................................................319 Mixed Materials in Basic Editor .....................................................................................321 Layered Material in Basic Editor....................................................................................322 ADVANCED MATERIAL EDITOR ...........................................................................................323 Driving Material Settings with Functions .......................................................................323 Published Parameters .....................................................................................................324 SIMPLE MATERIALS .............................................................................................................324 Color & Alpha .................................................................................................................324 Animated Texture Options...............................................................................................327 Bumps ..............................................................................................................................328 Highlights ........................................................................................................................331 Transparency ..................................................................................................................332 Reflections .......................................................................................................................335 Translucency ...................................................................................................................336 Effects ..............................................................................................................................338 Environment ....................................................................................................................341 MIXED MATERIALS .............................................................................................................342 Materials to Mix ..............................................................................................................342 Influence of Environment ................................................................................................344 VOLUMETRIC MATERIALS ...................................................................................................346 Color and Density ...........................................................................................................346

12


Large Scale Density ....................................................................................................... 348 Lighting and Effects ....................................................................................................... 348 ECOSYSTEMS ...................................................................................................................... 352 General........................................................................................................................... 353 Temporary Global Settings for Quality Display of EcoSystems ..................................... 357 Density ........................................................................................................................... 357 Scaling & Orientation .................................................................................................... 360 Color .............................................................................................................................. 362 Presence ......................................................................................................................... 364 LAYERED MATERIALS ........................................................................................................ 365 Multi-Layer Materials .................................................................................................... 365

EDITI

G FU CTIO S

367

Description ..................................................................................................................... 367 The Basics ...................................................................................................................... 367 SmartGraph ................................................................................................................ 370 PRESENTATION ................................................................................................................... 371 Top Toolbar.................................................................................................................... 371 odes Toolbar ................................................................................................................ 373 Function Graph .............................................................................................................. 377 ode/Link Details ........................................................................................................... 379 METANODES ...................................................................................................................... 380 SCENE GRAPH APPROACH .................................................................................................. 382 Object Graphs ................................................................................................................ 383 FUNCTION NODE PREVIEW ................................................................................................. 385 FUNCTION OUTPUT OBSERVER ........................................................................................... 386 NOISE NODES ..................................................................................................................... 387 Common Parameters ...................................................................................................... 387 Cellular Patterns ............................................................................................................ 387 Distributed Patterns ....................................................................................................... 391 Flat Patterns................................................................................................................... 396 Line Patterns .................................................................................................................. 397 Math Patterns ................................................................................................................. 398 Other Patterns ................................................................................................................ 401 Perlin oises .................................................................................................................. 401 Square Patterns .............................................................................................................. 403 FRACTAL NODES ................................................................................................................ 404

13


COLOR NODES .....................................................................................................................420 Color Creation odes .....................................................................................................420 Color Correction odes ..................................................................................................422 TEXTURE MAP NODES .........................................................................................................424 Mapping odes ...............................................................................................................424 UV Coordinates ode .....................................................................................................428 FILTER NODES .....................................................................................................................429 Environment Sensitive Filters .........................................................................................429 Recursive odes ..............................................................................................................431 Other Filters ....................................................................................................................433 CONSTANT NODES ...............................................................................................................437 TURBULENCE NODES ...........................................................................................................438 COMBINER NODES ...............................................................................................................442 MATH NODES ......................................................................................................................445 Conversions .....................................................................................................................445 Vector Operations ...........................................................................................................445 Other Math odes ...........................................................................................................447 DYNAMICS NODES ...............................................................................................................448 EXAMPLES ...........................................................................................................................450 Creating Turbulence .......................................................................................................450 Slope Dependent Scale ....................................................................................................450 Variable Color-Texture Mapping....................................................................................451

EDITI

G FILTERS

452

Description ......................................................................................................................452 Profile Tab ......................................................................................................................454 Influence of Environment Tab .........................................................................................455

EDITI

G COLOR MAPS

457

Description ......................................................................................................................457 SELECTING COLORS .............................................................................................................459 Quick Color Selection .....................................................................................................459 Color Selection Dialog ....................................................................................................460

SUMMARY OF MATERIALS OPTIOS A D PREFERE CES

462 463

General Preferences Tab ................................................................................................463

14


Display Options Tab....................................................................................................... 468 Units and Coordinates Tab ............................................................................................ 475 Operations Tab............................................................................................................... 477 INTERFACE COLORS ............................................................................................................ 479 GAMMA OPTIONS DIALOG .................................................................................................. 481

SCATTER/REPLICATE OBJECTS

483

Scatter Objects Tab ........................................................................................................ 483 Replicate Objects Tab .................................................................................................... 484

MACROS

485

Recording Macros .......................................................................................................... 485 Playing Macros .............................................................................................................. 485 Macro QuickLaunch ....................................................................................................... 485

Animating ScenesAIMATI G FROM SCRATCH

489

ANIMATION PROPERTIES TAB ............................................................................................. 489 Types of Motion .............................................................................................................. 489 ANIMATION WIZARD .......................................................................................................... 491 Step 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................ 491 Step 2: Selecting a Motion.............................................................................................. 492 Step 3: Global Animation Settings ................................................................................. 492 Step 4: Advanced Effects ................................................................................................ 494 Step 5: Object Path ........................................................................................................ 496 Step 6: Animation Setup ................................................................................................. 498 Step 7: Animation Preview ............................................................................................. 498 Step 8: Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 498

A

IMATI G WITH THE TIMELI E

499

avigating Inside the Animation .................................................................................... 499 Keyframes ....................................................................................................................... 500 Animation Properties ..................................................................................................... 500 ANIMATING OBJECTS .......................................................................................................... 503 Creating the Animation .................................................................................................. 503 Working with Keyframes ................................................................................................ 504 Editing Paths in 3D Views.............................................................................................. 508

15


Changing Rigged Mesh Motion.......................................................................................509 Multi-Spins ......................................................................................................................509 Animating Terrain Geometry ..........................................................................................509 Animating Plants .............................................................................................................510 Animating Torus Thickness .............................................................................................511 Camera Switching ...........................................................................................................511 Animated Post Processing and Motion-Blur Length .......................................................512 ANIMATING MATERIALS ......................................................................................................513 Material Surface Animation ............................................................................................513 Material Velocity Animation ...........................................................................................514 Complete Material Animation .........................................................................................515 SmartGraph Material Animation ....................................................................................515 Published Parameters for Animated Materials ...............................................................515 ANIMATED ECOSYSTEM POPULATION .................................................................................516 ANIMATING THE ATMOSPHERE ............................................................................................516 Atmosphere Keyframes....................................................................................................516 Animating Clouds ............................................................................................................517 Animating the Sun ...........................................................................................................517 WORKING WITH ANIMATIONS..............................................................................................517 Pasting Animation ...........................................................................................................517 Destroying Item Animation .............................................................................................518 Shifting the Start of an Animation ...................................................................................518 Changing the Duration of an Animation .........................................................................519 USING TIME SPLINES ...........................................................................................................519 Editing Time Splines .......................................................................................................519 ANIMATION TOOLBOX .........................................................................................................523 Motion Options Dialog ...................................................................................................524 LINKING AND TRACKING .....................................................................................................526 Loose Linking and Tracking............................................................................................527 Forward Dynamics Options ............................................................................................527 Camera Mapping ............................................................................................................529 RENDERING THE ANIMATION ...............................................................................................530 Animation Render Options ..............................................................................................530 Advanced Animation Options ..........................................................................................535 Animation Preview Options ............................................................................................537 Recovering TMP Files from an Aborted Render .............................................................538

16


TECHNICAL NOTES ............................................................................................................. 538 SYNCHRONIZING CAMERAS AND LIGHTS ............................................................................ 538 Installing Plug-Ins .......................................................................................................... 539 Generating Synchronization Data .................................................................................. 539 Synchronizing Objects .................................................................................................... 539 Importing Motion Tracking Information ........................................................................ 540

TutorialsITRODUCTIO

545

QUICK REFERENCE HOW-TOS ........................................................................................... 545 Rendering and Saving a Picture ..................................................................................... 545 Rendering a Full Screen Picture .................................................................................... 545 Rendering a High Resolution Picture............................................................................. 546 Creating a Rock Material ............................................................................................... 546 Mapping a Material Using a Picture ............................................................................. 546 Creating Fog at Low Altitudes ....................................................................................... 547 Making a Custom Canyon Terrain ................................................................................. 547 Creating Terrains with Snow Covered Tops .................................................................. 548 Adding a Sense of Depth to Scenes................................................................................. 549 Mixing Materials with Tilted Stratum ............................................................................ 549 Creating Undulated Furrows ......................................................................................... 549 Adding Color Variations to Materials ............................................................................ 550 Modifying a Terrain ....................................................................................................... 550 Modifying a Terrain Externally ...................................................................................... 551 Importing Multi-Part DEMs ........................................................................................... 551

ELABORATE FEATURE TUTORIALS

552

BOOLEAN OBJECTS ............................................................................................................. 552 Building a Simple House ................................................................................................ 552 CLIPPING TERRAINS ............................................................................................................ 553 Making a Stone Arch ...................................................................................................... 553 FUZZY MATERIALS ............................................................................................................. 554 Modeling Clouds ............................................................................................................ 554 ADDITIVE MATERIALS ........................................................................................................ 556 Faking Volumetric Lights ............................................................................................... 556 USING PICTURES INSIDE SCENES ........................................................................................ 557

17


Making a Road Sign ........................................................................................................557 Glowing eon Lights.......................................................................................................558 DISTANT PLANETS ...............................................................................................................559 UNDERWATER SCENERY ......................................................................................................560 SIMULATING RAIN ...............................................................................................................561 CONVINCING IMAGE BASED LIGHTING ................................................................................562 VARYING MATERIALS ON ECOSYSTEM POPULATIONS ........................................................563 CREATING A PISTON RIG .....................................................................................................564 INTERACTIVE PROCEDURAL TERRAIN MODELING ...............................................................567 PAINTING MATERIALS ON TERRAINS ...................................................................................569 CAMERA MAPPING ..............................................................................................................570 ANIMATED DYNAMIC ECOSYSTEMS ....................................................................................573 CREATING A PLANET ...........................................................................................................576

BUILDI

G A COMPLETE SCE E

579

SHAPING OUT THE FOREST ...................................................................................................579 ADDING A DISTANT BACKGROUND .....................................................................................580 TUNING THE ATMOSPHERE ..................................................................................................580 ADDING VEGETATION .........................................................................................................581 IMPORTING THE SUBJECT .....................................................................................................582 TUNING THE LIGHT ..............................................................................................................582

A

IMATIO

TUTORIALS

584

A PURSUIT ...........................................................................................................................584 GETTING A SPIN ...................................................................................................................586 OPENING A WINDOW ...........................................................................................................587 MORPHING TERRAINS ..........................................................................................................588 ANGULAR PATHS .................................................................................................................589 DROP AND BOUNCE .............................................................................................................590 FLICKERING LIGHTS ............................................................................................................592 ANIMATING A FISH ..............................................................................................................594 A STEAM POWER TRAIN ......................................................................................................596 MAKING WAVES..................................................................................................................598 ANIMATING CLOUDS ...........................................................................................................600 MOVING CAUSTICS ..............................................................................................................601 STONED FROG......................................................................................................................602 ANIMATING GROUPS AND BOOLEAN OBJECTS ....................................................................603

18


USING SPIN AND VIBRATE EFFECTS.................................................................................... 604 DYING PLANTS ................................................................................................................... 606 ANIMATING AN OCEAN ....................................................................................................... 607 USING ANIMATED BILLBOARDS TO CREATE A FIRE ............................................................ 608 DYING FLESH...................................................................................................................... 610 LOOSE DYNAMICS .............................................................................................................. 611 CRASHING METEOR ............................................................................................................ 612

AppendicesMOUSE AD KEYBOARD OPERATIO S

617

Mouse Operations .......................................................................................................... 617 Mousewheel Operations ................................................................................................. 619 Keyboard Operations ..................................................................................................... 619 Inside the Terrain Editor ................................................................................................ 621

VUE 9 XSTREAM

622

Standalone and Integrated Modes .................................................................................. 622 Vue 9 xStream Licenses .................................................................................................. 622 Vue 9 xStream Installation ............................................................................................. 622 Supported Versions of the Host Applications ................................................................. 624 Adding the Vue xStream Menu and Toolbars ................................................................. 624 XSTREAM INTEGRATION ..................................................................................................... 628 Vue 9 xStream Commands.............................................................................................. 628 Vue Dialogs .................................................................................................................... 630 Proxy Objects ................................................................................................................. 630 xStream Proxy Objects ................................................................................................... 631 Editing the Vue Elements ............................................................................................... 632 Special Case for Lights and Cameras ............................................................................ 632 Animating Your Vue Elements ........................................................................................ 633 Further Edition of the Vue Scene ................................................................................... 633 Display of the Proxy Objects .......................................................................................... 634 Editing Proxy Objects .................................................................................................... 635

ABOUT XSTREAM I

TEGRATIO

636

Where is the Vue Interface? (Vue 6 xStream Users) ...................................................... 636 Scene Updates ................................................................................................................ 636

19


Versioning .......................................................................................................................637 XSTREAM DIALOGS ............................................................................................................. 638 xStream Options Dialog ..................................................................................................638 General Tab ....................................................................................................................638 Render Options Tab ........................................................................................................642 xStream Light Options Dialog.........................................................................................644 Vue Scene Options Dialog ..............................................................................................646 xStream Render Options Dialog .....................................................................................647 Export Animation to Vue .................................................................................................647 XSTREAM ECOSYSTEM PAINTER ......................................................................................... 648 RENDERING WITH VUE 9 XSTREAM .....................................................................................649 Render Quality ................................................................................................................650 G-Buffer and Multi-Pass .................................................................................................651 Post-Processing ..............................................................................................................651 Advanced Rendering Effects............................................................................................652 SAVING YOUR WORK WITH VUE 9 XSTREAM ......................................................................654

E-O LICE

SE SERVER

657

ode-Locked vs. Floating Licenses .................................................................................657 About the License Server .................................................................................................657 Using a Floating License from Vue.................................................................................657ETWORK RE DERI G

659

RenderCows vs. Render odes.........................................................................................659 DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................................................659 HyperVue etwork Rendering Manager .....................................................................659 RenderCow ..................................................................................................................660 Additional RenderCow Licenses .....................................................................................660 Installing RenderCow Packs ...........................................................................................661 SETTING UP RENDERCOWS .................................................................................................661 Installing a RenderCow...................................................................................................661 Launching RenderCows at Boot ......................................................................................661 RenderCow Port umbers ..............................................................................................662 RenderCow Processor Count ..........................................................................................662 Installing a RenderCow on the Computer Running Vue .................................................662 RENDERING WITH HYPERVUE .........................................................................................663 Configuring HyperVue ................................................................................................663

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Putting RenderCows to Work ......................................................................................... 664 Starting a Render ........................................................................................................... 664 Monitoring the Render Farm ......................................................................................... 664 Aborting a Render .......................................................................................................... 664 MANAGING RENDERCOWS ............................................................................................. 665 Showing RenderCow Status............................................................................................ 665 Adding RenderCows During Render .............................................................................. 665 Shutting Down a RenderCow ......................................................................................... 665 Updating RenderCows ................................................................................................... 665 RENDERNODES ................................................................................................................... 666 Render ode etwork Options ........................................................................................ 666 Sample Setup for BackBurner ........................................................................................ 668 Setting Up Render odes ................................................................................................ 669 Controlling Render odes via Command Line................................................................ 669 XSTREAM NETWORK RENDERING ....................................................................................... 670 Saving ative Scenes for etwork Rendering ................................................................ 670 Vue 9 xStream Licenses for etwork Rendering ............................................................ 670 Setting-up Your Workstation for a etwork Render ....................................................... 670 Behavior without License ............................................................................................... 671 Rendering with Mental Ray Satellites ............................................................................ 671

PYTHO SCRIPTI

G

673

Python Scripts ................................................................................................................ 673 Running Python Scripts .................................................................................................. 674 Startup Scripts ................................................................................................................ 674 Running Python from Command Line ............................................................................ 674 Creating Python Scripts ................................................................................................. 675 Python Console .............................................................................................................. 675 Python Documentation ................................................................................................... 675

HOT TIPS

676

Resuming Render............................................................................................................ 676 Using Layers for Faster Display .................................................................................... 676 Resuming Animation Render .......................................................................................... 676 Using Motion Blur in Still Pictures ................................................................................ 676 Avoiding Object Detection in Wizard ............................................................................. 677 Rendering Time Dependent Materials............................................................................ 677

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Reducing Animation Render Times .................................................................................677 Compressing Video .........................................................................................................678

TROUBLESHOOTI

G

679

Scenes Take Ages to Render ............................................................................................679 Camera Moves by Itself ...................................................................................................680 Bright Fringes Appear at Wall Base in Radiosity ...........................................................680 Render Time Estimation Is Pessimistic ...........................................................................680 Long Preparation Time for Small Image ........................................................................680 Program Crashes Randomly ...........................................................................................680 oise Appears in Volumetric Effects ...............................................................................681 Atmosphere Is Different in Preview and Final ................................................................681 Undesired Lens Flares Appear on Lights........................................................................681 Missing Details ...............................................................................................................681 Vector Graphics Dont Load in Text Editor ....................................................................682 Invisible Objects ..............................................................................................................682 Unable to Select Objects .................................................................................................682 Objects Dont Render......................................................................................................682 Close-up Materials Look Like Tiles ................................................................................682 Look Ahead Objects ........................................................................................................683 Objects Overreact to Motion ...........................................................................................683 Materials Dont Move With Objects ...............................................................................683 Objects Keep Getting Animated ......................................................................................683 Animations Flicker ..........................................................................................................684 Animations Pulsate..........................................................................................................685 Dark Triangles Appear on Terrains ................................................................................685 Wrong Material Scale .....................................................................................................686 Soft Shadows Look oisy ................................................................................................686 Vue Objects Lose Relative Positions ...............................................................................686 RenderCow ot Responding ...........................................................................................686 Unable to Export Object .................................................................................................687 Maya Mental Ray Renders Black ....................................................................................687 ative Objects Dont Reflect xStream Objects ................................................................687

I

DEX SE AGREEME T

688 697

LICE

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Section 1

Getting Started

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26


What's New in Vue 9Vue 9 contains a number of major enhancements such as dynamic relighting control, streamlined terrain editing, and EcoSystems 4 along with significant improvements in overall rendering performance and more precise artistic control. New anti-flicker reduction algorithms have been added to improve results with EcoSystem rendering while reducing render times. The following is a list of new features introduced in Vue 9. EcoSystem 4 Flicker Reduction Improved Dynamic EcoSystems Animated Dynamic EcoSystem Populations

HyperBlob Technology Terrain Technologies New Rocky Mountains Fractal Terrain Retopology New Smear Terrain Brush New Sculpting and Painting Masks Extension of Terrain Canvas Customizable Terrain Brushes

Relighting Inverse Kinematics Custom Interfaces Auto Saving and Scene Snapshots Rendering Improvements Flicker Reduction Interactive Network Rendering HDR Multi-Pass Rendering

Real-World Units Catmull-Clark Subdivision Improved Texture Management Texture Resizing New Texture Management Features in the World Browser

Cloud Radiosity New Interface Design

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Vue 9 Infinite & xStream Reference Manual Native Cocoa

EcoSystem 4E-on's patented EcoSystem technology has revolutionized the way people create natural environments. Vue 9 introduces significant improvements to this cutting edge technology, and lifts some of the limitations inherent to previous versions.

Flicker ReductionBecause of the sheer density of polygons per pixel involved with dense distant EcoSystems, removing flickering in the distance used to require vast amounts of anti-aliasing. As a result, the rendering of animated shots was very long. Flicker reduction is an area of active research for e-on software. This research has resulted in the new flicker reduction algorithms of Vue 9. These algorithms produce vastly reduced levels of flickering at comparable rendering times.

Improved Dynamic EcoSy

Vue 9 Reference Manual

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