Vue 10 Reference Manual

Vue 10 Infinite & xStream Reference Manual

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Vue, Vue 10, Vue Pioneer, Vue Frontier, Vue Esprit, Vue Studio, Vue Complete, Vue Infinite, xStream, Vue 10 Pioneer, Vue 10 Frontier, Vue 10 Esprit, Vue 10 Studio, Vue 10 Complete, Vue 10 Infinite, Vue 10 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 10 Infinite/xStream Program 2011 e-on software, inc. All rights reserved. Vue 10 Infinite/xStream Documentation 2011 e-on software, inc. All rights reserved. This manual, as well as the Vue 10 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 2011

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ContentsGetting StartedWHAT'S NEW 27

NEW FEATURES IN VUE 10 ................................................................................................... 27 New Objects ..................................................................................................................... 27 Rendering ......................................................................................................................... 27 EcoSystems....................................................................................................................... 28 Material Editor Changes.................................................................................................. 28 Terrain Editor .................................................................................................................. 29 Other Improvements......................................................................................................... 30 NEW FEATURES IN VUE 9.5 .................................................................................................. 30 GPU-Accelerated Anti-Aliasing ....................................................................................... 31 Fast Hybrid Depth of Field .............................................................................................. 31 Matte Shadow / Reflection Materials ............................................................................... 31 MDD File Format ............................................................................................................ 31 Velocity Pass in Rendering Buffer.................................................................................... 31 World Browser Accessibility ............................................................................................ 32 Atmosphere Relighting ..................................................................................................... 32 Improved EcoPainting...................................................................................................... 32 Localized Cloud Layers.................................................................................................... 32 Advanced Cloud Control.................................................................................................. 32 Texture Manipulation Dialog........................................................................................... 33 Custom Star Maps ............................................................................................................ 33 Information Strips on Renders ......................................................................................... 33 Multiple UV Layers .......................................................................................................... 33 Other Artistic Control Improvements............................................................................... 33 Other Scenery Creation Improvements ............................................................................ 33 Other Interoperability Improvements............................................................................... 33

INTRODUCTION

34

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS....................................................................................................... 34 INSTALLATION ...................................................................................................................... 34 Installing Vue 10 Infinite.................................................................................................. 34

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Installing Vue 10 xStream .................................................................................................35 Default Folders .................................................................................................................35 TECHNICAL SUPPORT.............................................................................................................35 Included Support ...............................................................................................................35 Complimentary 30 Day Maintenance................................................................................36 Advanced Support Options................................................................................................36 Per-Incident Priority Support ...........................................................................................36 Standard Maintenance ......................................................................................................38 Premium Maintenance ......................................................................................................38 When Is The Best Time to Get Under Maintenance? ........................................................38 WELCOME DIALOG ................................................................................................................39 Activating Your Product....................................................................................................39 Feeling "At Home" ............................................................................................................40 Kickstart Tutorial ..............................................................................................................40 CHECKING VIDEO BOARD COMPATIBILITY............................................................................40 UPDATING VUE 10.................................................................................................................40 Automatic Updates............................................................................................................41 Canceling Updates............................................................................................................41 NewCow Network Updates............................................................................................41 IMPORTING FILES FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS .......................................................................42 Importing Locked Content.................................................................................................42 MEMORY MANAGEMENT AND FAULT PROTECTION ...............................................................42

INTERFACE OVERVIEW

45

DIALOG BAR..........................................................................................................................46 CUSTOMIZING THE INTERFACE ..............................................................................................46 3D VIEWS ..............................................................................................................................46 DOUBLE ACTION ICONS .........................................................................................................51 UNFOLDABLE ICONS ..............................................................................................................52 TOP TOOLBAR .......................................................................................................................52 LEFT TOOLBAR ......................................................................................................................54 SCENE INFORMATION BAR.....................................................................................................55 OBJECT PROPERTIES PANEL...................................................................................................55 Aspect Tab.........................................................................................................................56 Numerics Tab ....................................................................................................................59 Animation Tab...................................................................................................................60 CAMERA CONTROL CENTER ..................................................................................................62

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Render Preview ................................................................................................................ 62 Camera Controls .............................................................................................................. 63 WORLD BROWSER ................................................................................................................ 64 Objects Tab ...................................................................................................................... 65 Materials Tab ................................................................................................................... 70 Library Tab ...................................................................................................................... 72 Links Tab.......................................................................................................................... 74 Status Bar ......................................................................................................................... 77 ANIMATION TIMELINE .......................................................................................................... 77 The Main Timeline ........................................................................................................... 78 The Properties Timeline ................................................................................................... 80 The Animation Graph....................................................................................................... 81 The Animation Preview .................................................................................................... 82 VISUAL BROWSERS ............................................................................................................... 83 Collections........................................................................................................................ 83 CORNUCOPIA3D ............................................................................................................... 85

UNDERSTANDING VUE

88

OPERATIONS ......................................................................................................................... 88 Clipping Plane ................................................................................................................. 88 Drag and Drop................................................................................................................. 88 Popup Menus.................................................................................................................... 89 3D COORDINATES ................................................................................................................. 89 World Space ..................................................................................................................... 89 Object Space..................................................................................................................... 89 Material Mapping Coordinates........................................................................................ 90 RAY TRACING ....................................................................................................................... 91 Render Engine.................................................................................................................. 91 Soft Shadows .................................................................................................................... 92 Blurred Transparencies and Reflections .......................................................................... 93 Reflection Maps................................................................................................................ 94 Depth of Field .................................................................................................................. 94 Motion Blur ...................................................................................................................... 95 Hybrid 2.5D Blurring....................................................................................................... 96 Lens Flares....................................................................................................................... 98 Glow ................................................................................................................................. 98 Volumetric Effects ............................................................................................................ 99

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Caustics...........................................................................................................................101 Ambient Occlusion, Global Illumination and Radiosity..................................................102 HDRI and Image Based Lighting ....................................................................................103 Illumination Baking.........................................................................................................104 Sub-Surface Scattering....................................................................................................105 Displacement Mapping ...................................................................................................106 ADVANCED EFFECTS QUALITY ............................................................................................106 ECOSYSTEM TECHNOLOGY .................................................................................................107

FRAMING AND PICTURE COMPOSITION

109

MAKING BETTER PICTURES .................................................................................................109 CHOOSING THE VIEWPOINT .................................................................................................109 PICTURE FORMAT ................................................................................................................109 CENTER OF INTEREST ..........................................................................................................110 BALANCE .............................................................................................................................110 LIGHT AND SHAPE ...............................................................................................................111 PATTERNS, COLORS AND TEXTURES ....................................................................................111 THE POWER OF LINES ..........................................................................................................112 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................112

Building ScenesCREATING OBJECTS 115

PRIMITIVE OBJECTS .............................................................................................................115 INFINITE PLANES .................................................................................................................115 ALPHA PLANES ....................................................................................................................116 TERRAINS ............................................................................................................................117 PLANTS ................................................................................................................................118 POLYGON MESHES...............................................................................................................119 Rigged Meshes ................................................................................................................119 3D TEXT ..............................................................................................................................120 ROCKS .................................................................................................................................121 PLANETS ..............................................................................................................................121 METACLOUDS .....................................................................................................................122 LIGHTS ................................................................................................................................122 Simple Light Sources.......................................................................................................123 Area Lights......................................................................................................................124

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GROUP OBJECTS ................................................................................................................. 124 Boolean Operations........................................................................................................ 124 Metablobs....................................................................................................................... 125 Hyperblobs ..................................................................................................................... 125 Working with Group Objects.......................................................................................... 125 VENTILATORS ..................................................................................................................... 126 CAMERAS ........................................................................................................................... 126

EDITING OBJECTS

128

SELECTING OBJECTS ........................................................................................................... 128 Inside the 3D Views........................................................................................................ 128 Inside the World Browser............................................................................................... 128 By Category.................................................................................................................... 129 Walking through a Selection of Objects ......................................................................... 129 Deselecting Everything .................................................................................................. 129 MOVING OBJECTS ............................................................................................................... 129 ROTATING OBJECTS ............................................................................................................ 129 Inside the 3D Views........................................................................................................ 130 RESIZING OBJECTS.............................................................................................................. 130 Inside the 3D Views........................................................................................................ 130 TWISTING OBJECTS ............................................................................................................. 131 Inside the 3D Views........................................................................................................ 131 Using the Numerics Tab ................................................................................................. 131 GIZMO MANIPULATORS ...................................................................................................... 131 Selecting the Appropriate Gizmo ................................................................................... 131 The Position Gizmo ........................................................................................................ 132 The Rotation Gizmo........................................................................................................ 132 The Size Gizmo ............................................................................................................... 133 Gizmo Coordinates......................................................................................................... 133 Customizing Gizmo Behavior......................................................................................... 134 CHANGING OBJECT MATERIAL ........................................................................................... 134 CHANGING OBJECT PREVIEW COLOR ................................................................................. 135 EDITING LIGHTS ................................................................................................................. 135 Lens Flare ...................................................................................................................... 137 Light Gel......................................................................................................................... 138 Volumetric Light............................................................................................................. 139 Shadow and Lighting...................................................................................................... 140

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EDITING TERRAINS ..............................................................................................................141 USGS Digital Elevation Models (DEM) .........................................................................141 EDITING BODIES OF WATER ................................................................................................142 Changing the MetaWater Material .................................................................................144 EDITING PLANTS ..................................................................................................................144 Applying Wind.................................................................................................................144 Editing Plant Geometry...................................................................................................145 EDITING POLYGON MESHES ................................................................................................145 Polygon Mesh Options Dialog ........................................................................................145 Published Parameters .....................................................................................................148 Importing Objects ...........................................................................................................149 Import Options ................................................................................................................150 Poser Import Options......................................................................................................151 Re-Posing ........................................................................................................................152 Rendering Using the Poser Shader Tree.........................................................................153 Direct Re-Posing of Rigged Meshes................................................................................154 Decimating Imported Objects .........................................................................................156 Baking Objects To Polygons ...........................................................................................157 EDITING THE TORUS ............................................................................................................158 Torus Options Dialog......................................................................................................158 EDITING 3D TEXT ................................................................................................................158 EDITING ALPHA PLANES ......................................................................................................158 Alpha Plane Editor..........................................................................................................159 EDITING PLANETS ................................................................................................................160 THE SPLINE EDITOR .............................................................................................................161 BOOLEAN OBJECTS ..............................................................................................................164 Boolean Union ................................................................................................................164 Boolean Intersection .......................................................................................................165 Boolean Difference..........................................................................................................165 METABLOBS ........................................................................................................................166 Metablob Options............................................................................................................167 HYPERBLOBS .......................................................................................................................168 Hyperblob Options..........................................................................................................168 VENTILATORS ......................................................................................................................169 REPLACING OBJECTS ...........................................................................................................170 SAVING OBJECTS .................................................................................................................171

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EXPORTING CONTENT ......................................................................................................... 171 Exporting Objects........................................................................................................... 171 Exporting Skies............................................................................................................... 172 Exporting Entire Scenes ................................................................................................. 172 Export Options ............................................................................................................... 173

CAMERA OPTIONS AND FRAMING

177

USING THE CAMERA ........................................................................................................... 177 Camera Target ............................................................................................................... 179 Camera Backdrop Options............................................................................................. 180 Camera Manager ........................................................................................................... 181 Advanced Camera Options............................................................................................. 181 FRAMING ............................................................................................................................ 186 Frame Guides................................................................................................................. 186

RENDERING

188

Bucket Rendering ........................................................................................................... 188 Render Options............................................................................................................... 188 Advanced Effects Options............................................................................................... 200 Anti-Aliasing Options..................................................................................................... 202 Sub-Ray Options............................................................................................................. 206 Blur Rendering Options ................................................................................................. 206 G-Buffer and Multi-Pass Options................................................................................... 208 Rendering to Screen - The Render Display Window ...................................................... 214 Post Render Options....................................................................................................... 216 Render Display............................................................................................................... 217 Exporting Pictures.......................................................................................................... 217 Printing Pictures ............................................................................................................ 218 Batch Rendering............................................................................................................. 219

The EditorsTERRAIN EDITOR 223

TERRAIN TYPES .................................................................................................................. 223 Standard Terrains .......................................................................................................... 223 Procedural Terrains....................................................................................................... 224 SPHERICAL TERRAINS ......................................................................................................... 226

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Creating and Manipulating a Spherical Terrain.............................................................227 Basic Spherical Scene .....................................................................................................227 Planet Spherical Scenes ..................................................................................................227 Planetary Mapping Mode ...............................................................................................228 Objects in Spherical Scenes ............................................................................................228 Atmospheres in Spherical Scenes....................................................................................228 TERRAIN EDITOR .................................................................................................................229 Terrain Map ....................................................................................................................229 Top Toolbar.....................................................................................................................230 Predefined Terrain Styles................................................................................................232 Sculpting Terrains...........................................................................................................236 Brush Editor....................................................................................................................238 Painting Materials ..........................................................................................................239 Procedural Altitudes .......................................................................................................241 Zones ...............................................................................................................................242 Effects..............................................................................................................................243 Exporting Terrain Geometry...........................................................................................246 HINT ....................................................................................................................................247

TEXT EDITOR

248

Toolbar............................................................................................................................248 Text Preview....................................................................................................................250 Text Tab ..........................................................................................................................250 Bevel Tab ........................................................................................................................252 Extrusion Tab..................................................................................................................253 Materials Tab ..................................................................................................................254 Text Styles .......................................................................................................................254

PLANT EDITOR

255

Plant Preview..................................................................................................................255 Toolbar............................................................................................................................256 EDITING PLANTS ..................................................................................................................257 Trunk and Branches ........................................................................................................258 Leaves and Petals............................................................................................................260 Creating Variations of the Same Plant ...........................................................................261 Creating New Species .....................................................................................................262 Exporting Plants .............................................................................................................262

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LEAF EDITOR ...................................................................................................................... 262 RESPONSE TO WIND OPTIONS ............................................................................................ 263

EDITING ECOSYSTEMS

264

ECOSYSTEM PAINTER ......................................................................................................... 264 Painting Tools ................................................................................................................ 265 EcoSystem Population.................................................................................................... 268 Global EcoSystem Object............................................................................................... 270 Global EcoSystems vs. EcoSystem Materials ................................................................. 270 ECOSYSTEM SELECTOR ...................................................................................................... 271 Selecting EcoSystem Instances....................................................................................... 271 Manipulating Selected Instances.................................................................................... 272 EcoSystem Display Options............................................................................................ 273

ATMOSPHERES

274

LOADING AN ATMOSPHERE ................................................................................................ 274 SUN TAB ............................................................................................................................. 276 LIGHT TAB .......................................................................................................................... 277 SKY TAB ............................................................................................................................. 281 CLOUDS TAB ...................................................................................................................... 282 Simple Cloud Animation................................................................................................. 284 Volumetric Clouds.......................................................................................................... 284 Spectral Clouds .............................................................................................................. 284 Cloud Layers as Objects ................................................................................................ 285 Cloud Layer Zone........................................................................................................... 285 FOG AND HAZE TAB ........................................................................................................... 286 Fog ................................................................................................................................. 286 Haze ............................................................................................................................... 287 SKY, FOG & HAZE TAB....................................................................................................... 288 WIND TAB .......................................................................................................................... 291 Adjusting Breeze............................................................................................................. 291 EFFECTS TAB ...................................................................................................................... 294 SAVING AN ATMOSPHERE ................................................................................................... 299

LIGHT EDITOR

300

LENS FLARE TAB ................................................................................................................ 300 LENS FLARE REFLECTIONS EDITOR .................................................................................... 303 GEL TAB ............................................................................................................................. 306

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VOLUMETRIC LIGHT TAB ....................................................................................................307 Volumetric Light Controls...............................................................................................307 SHADOW TAB ......................................................................................................................308 LIGHTING TAB .....................................................................................................................312 INFLUENCE TAB ...................................................................................................................313

MATERIAL EDITOR

315

COMMON MATERIAL CONTROLS .........................................................................................316 BASIC MATERIAL EDITOR ...................................................................................................320 Simple Materials in Basic Editor ....................................................................................321 Mixed Materials in Basic Editor .....................................................................................323 Layered Material in Basic Editor....................................................................................323 ADVANCED MATERIAL EDITOR ...........................................................................................324 Driving Material Settings with Functions .......................................................................324 Published Parameters .....................................................................................................325 SIMPLE MATERIALS .............................................................................................................325 Color & Alpha.................................................................................................................325 Texture Placement Editor ...............................................................................................328 Animated Texture Options...............................................................................................330 Bumps..............................................................................................................................331 Highlights........................................................................................................................334 Transparency ..................................................................................................................335 Reflections.......................................................................................................................339 Translucency ...................................................................................................................340 Effects..............................................................................................................................342 Environment ....................................................................................................................345 MIXED MATERIALS .............................................................................................................346 Materials to Mix..............................................................................................................347 Alpha ...............................................................................................................................348 Influence of Environment ................................................................................................348 VOLUMETRIC MATERIALS ...................................................................................................350 Color and Density ...........................................................................................................350 Large Scale Density ........................................................................................................353 Lighting and Effects ........................................................................................................354 ECOSYSTEMS.......................................................................................................................357 General ...........................................................................................................................358 Temporary Global Settings for Quality Display of EcoSystems......................................362

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Density ........................................................................................................................... 362 Scaling & Orientation .................................................................................................... 365 Color .............................................................................................................................. 367 Presence ......................................................................................................................... 369 Animation ....................................................................................................................... 370 LAYERED MATERIALS ........................................................................................................ 371 Multi-Layer Materials .................................................................................................... 371

EDITING FUNCTIONS

373

Description ..................................................................................................................... 373 The Basics ...................................................................................................................... 373 SmartGraph................................................................................................................ 376 PRESENTATION ................................................................................................................... 377 Top Toolbar.................................................................................................................... 377 Nodes Toolbar................................................................................................................ 379 Function Graph .............................................................................................................. 383 Node/Link Details........................................................................................................... 385 METANODES ...................................................................................................................... 386 SCENE GRAPH APPROACH .................................................................................................. 388 Object Graphs ................................................................................................................ 389 FUNCTION NODE PREVIEW ................................................................................................. 391 FUNCTION OUTPUT OBSERVER ........................................................................................... 392 CYCLIC NODES ................................................................................................................... 393 How to Use Them ........................................................................................................... 393 NOISE NODES ..................................................................................................................... 393 Common Parameters...................................................................................................... 393 Cellular Patterns ............................................................................................................ 394 Distributed Patterns ....................................................................................................... 397 Flat Patterns................................................................................................................... 402 Line Patterns .................................................................................................................. 403 Math Patterns................................................................................................................. 404 Other Patterns ................................................................................................................ 407 Perlin Noises .................................................................................................................. 407 Square Patterns.............................................................................................................. 409 FRACTAL NODES ................................................................................................................ 410 COLOR NODES .................................................................................................................... 426 Color Creation Nodes .................................................................................................... 426

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Color Correction Nodes..................................................................................................428 TEXTURE MAP NODES .........................................................................................................430 Mapping Nodes ...............................................................................................................430 UV Coordinates Node .....................................................................................................435 FILTER NODES .....................................................................................................................435 Environment Sensitive Filters .........................................................................................435 Recursive Nodes ..............................................................................................................437 Other Filters....................................................................................................................440 CONSTANT NODES ...............................................................................................................444 TURBULENCE NODES ...........................................................................................................445 COMBINER NODES ...............................................................................................................449 Image Combiner Node ....................................................................................................451 MATH NODES ......................................................................................................................452 Conversions.....................................................................................................................452 Vector Operations ...........................................................................................................452 Other Math Nodes ...........................................................................................................455 DYNAMICS NODES ...............................................................................................................456 EXAMPLES ...........................................................................................................................458 Creating Turbulence .......................................................................................................458 Slope Dependent Scale....................................................................................................459 Variable Color-Texture Mapping....................................................................................459

EDITING FILTERS

460

Description......................................................................................................................460 Profile Tab ......................................................................................................................462 Influence of Environment Tab .........................................................................................464

EDITING COLOR MAPS

466

Description......................................................................................................................466 SELECTING COLORS .............................................................................................................468 Quick Color Selection .....................................................................................................468 Color Selection Dialog....................................................................................................469

SUMMARY OF MATERIALS OPTIONS AND PREFERENCES

471 472

General Preferences Tab ................................................................................................472 Display Options Tab .......................................................................................................477

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Units and Coordinates Tab ............................................................................................ 484 Operations Tab............................................................................................................... 486 INTERFACE COLORS ............................................................................................................ 488 GAMMA OPTIONS DIALOG .................................................................................................. 490

SCATTER/REPLICATE OBJECTS

492

Scatter Objects Tab ........................................................................................................ 492 Replicate Objects Tab .................................................................................................... 493

MACROS

494

Recording Macros .......................................................................................................... 494 Playing Macros .............................................................................................................. 494 Macro QuickLaunch....................................................................................................... 494

Animating ScenesANIMATING FROM SCRATCH 497

ANIMATION PROPERTIES TAB ............................................................................................. 497 Types of Motion.............................................................................................................. 497 ANIMATION WIZARD .......................................................................................................... 499 Step 1: Introduction........................................................................................................ 499 Step 2: Selecting a Motion.............................................................................................. 500 Step 3: Global Animation Settings ................................................................................. 500 Step 4: Advanced Effects ................................................................................................ 502 Step 5: Object Path ........................................................................................................ 504 Step 6: Animation Setup ................................................................................................. 506 Step 7: Animation Preview ............................................................................................. 506 Step 8: Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 506

ANIMATING WITH THE TIMELINE

507

Navigating Inside the Animation .................................................................................... 507 Keyframes....................................................................................................................... 508 Animation Properties ..................................................................................................... 508 ANIMATING OBJECTS .......................................................................................................... 511 Creating the Animation .................................................................................................. 511 Working with Keyframes ................................................................................................ 512 Editing Paths in 3D Views.............................................................................................. 516 Changing Rigged Mesh Motion...................................................................................... 517

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Multi-Spins ......................................................................................................................517 Animating Terrain Geometry ..........................................................................................517 Animating Plants.............................................................................................................518 Animating Torus Thickness .............................................................................................519 Camera Switching ...........................................................................................................519 Animated Post Processing and Motion-Blur Length.......................................................520 ANIMATING MATERIALS ......................................................................................................521 Material Surface Animation ............................................................................................521 Material Velocity Animation ...........................................................................................522 Complete Material Animation.........................................................................................523 SmartGraph Material Animation ....................................................................................523 Published Parameters for Animated Materials...............................................................523 ANIMATED ECOSYSTEM POPULATION .................................................................................524 ANIMATING THE ATMOSPHERE ............................................................................................524 Atmosphere Keyframes....................................................................................................524 Animating Clouds............................................................................................................525 Animating the Sun ...........................................................................................................525 WORKING WITH ANIMATIONS..............................................................................................525 Pasting Animation...........................................................................................................525 Destroying Item Animation .............................................................................................526 Shifting the Start of an Animation ...................................................................................527 Changing the Duration of an Animation.........................................................................527 USING TIME SPLINES ...........................................................................................................527 Editing Time Splines .......................................................................................................528 ANIMATION TOOLBOX .........................................................................................................531 Motion Options Dialog ...................................................................................................533 LINKING AND TRACKING .....................................................................................................534 Loose Linking and Tracking............................................................................................535 Forward Dynamics Options ............................................................................................535 Camera Mapping ............................................................................................................537 RENDERING THE ANIMATION ...............................................................................................538 Animation Render Options..............................................................................................538 Advanced Animation Options..........................................................................................543 Animation Preview Options ............................................................................................545 Recovering TMP Files from an Aborted Render.............................................................546 TECHNICAL NOTES ..............................................................................................................546

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SYNCHRONIZING CAMERAS AND LIGHTS ............................................................................ 546 Installing Plug-Ins.......................................................................................................... 547 Generating Synchronization Data.................................................................................. 547 Synchronizing Objects.................................................................................................... 548 Importing Motion Tracking Information ........................................................................ 549 Importing Vertex Keyframe Animation .......................................................................... 550

TutorialsINTRODUCTION 553

QUICK REFERENCE HOW-TOS ........................................................................................... 553 Rendering and Saving a Picture..................................................................................... 553 Rendering a Full Screen Picture .................................................................................... 553 Rendering a High Resolution Picture............................................................................. 554 Creating a Rock Material............................................................................................... 554 Mapping a Material Using a Picture ............................................................................. 554 Creating Fog at Low Altitudes ....................................................................................... 555 Making a Custom Canyon Terrain ................................................................................. 555 Creating Terrains with Snow Covered Tops .................................................................. 556 Adding a Sense of Depth to Scenes................................................................................. 557 Mixing Materials with Tilted Stratum ............................................................................ 557 Creating Undulated Furrows ......................................................................................... 557 Adding Color Variations to Materials............................................................................ 558 Modifying a Terrain ....................................................................................................... 558 Modifying a Terrain Externally...................................................................................... 559 Importing Multi-Part DEMs........................................................................................... 559

ELABORATE FEATURE TUTORIALS

560

BOOLEAN OBJECTS ............................................................................................................. 560 Building a Simple House ................................................................................................ 560 CLIPPING TERRAINS ............................................................................................................ 561 Making a Stone Arch ...................................................................................................... 561 FUZZY MATERIALS ............................................................................................................. 562 Modeling Clouds ............................................................................................................ 562 ADDITIVE MATERIALS ........................................................................................................ 564 Faking Volumetric Lights............................................................................................... 564 USING PICTURES INSIDE SCENES ........................................................................................ 565

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Making a Road Sign ........................................................................................................565 Glowing Neon Lights.......................................................................................................566 DISTANT PLANETS ...............................................................................................................567 UNDERWATER SCENERY ......................................................................................................568 SIMULATING RAIN ...............................................................................................................569 CONVINCING IMAGE BASED LIGHTING ................................................................................570 VARYING MATERIALS ON ECOSYSTEM POPULATIONS ........................................................571 CREATING A PISTON RIG .....................................................................................................572 INTERACTIVE PROCEDURAL TERRAIN MODELING ...............................................................575 PAINTING MATERIALS ON TERRAINS ...................................................................................577 CAMERA MAPPING ..............................................................................................................578 ANIMATED DYNAMIC ECOSYSTEMS ....................................................................................581 CLOUDS MODULATING WITH LANDSCAPES .........................................................................584 CREATING A PLANET ...........................................................................................................586 CREATING A ROAD USING A SPLINE ....................................................................................588

BUILDING A COMPLETE SCENE

590

SHAPING OUT THE FOREST ...................................................................................................590 ADDING A DISTANT BACKGROUND .....................................................................................591 TUNING THE ATMOSPHERE ..................................................................................................591 ADDING VEGETATION .........................................................................................................592 IMPORTING THE SUBJECT .....................................................................................................593 TUNING THE LIGHT ..............................................................................................................593

ANIMATION TUTORIALS

595

A PURSUIT ...........................................................................................................................595 GETTING A SPIN ...................................................................................................................597 OPENING A WINDOW ...........................................................................................................598 MORPHING TERRAINS ..........................................................................................................599 ANGULAR PATHS .................................................................................................................600 DROP AND BOUNCE .............................................................................................................601 FLICKERING LIGHTS ............................................................................................................603 ANIMATING A FISH ..............................................................................................................605 A STEAM POWER TRAIN ......................................................................................................607 MAKING WAVES..................................................................................................................609 ANIMATING CLOUDS ...........................................................................................................611 MOVING CAUSTICS ..............................................................................................................612

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STONED FROG ..................................................................................................................... 613 ANIMATING GROUPS AND BOOLEAN OBJECTS.................................................................... 614 USING SPIN AND VIBRATE EFFECTS.................................................................................... 615 DYING PLANTS ................................................................................................................... 617 ANIMATING AN OCEAN ....................................................................................................... 618 USING ANIMATED BILLBOARDS TO CREATE A FIRE ............................................................ 619 DYING FLESH...................................................................................................................... 621 LOOSE DYNAMICS .............................................................................................................. 622 CRASHING METEOR ............................................................................................................ 623 ECOSYSTEM PHASING......................................................................................................... 625

AppendicesMOUSE AND KEYBOARD OPERATIONS 629

Mouse Operations .......................................................................................................... 629 Mousewheel Operations ................................................................................................. 631 Keyboard Operations ..................................................................................................... 631

VUE 10 XSTREAM

634

Standalone and Integrated Modes.................................................................................. 634 Vue 10 xStream Licenses................................................................................................ 634 Vue 10 xStream Installation ........................................................................................... 634 Supported Versions of the Host Applications................................................................. 636 Adding the Vue xStream Menu and Toolbars................................................................. 636 XSTREAM INTEGRATION ..................................................................................................... 641 Vue 10 xStream Commands............................................................................................ 642 Vue Dialogs.................................................................................................................... 644 Proxy Objects ................................................................................................................. 644 xStream Proxy Objects ................................................................................................... 645 Editing the Vue Elements ............................................................................................... 646 Special Case for Lights and Cameras ............................................................................ 646 Animating Your Vue Elements........................................................................................ 647 Further Edition of the Vue Scene ................................................................................... 648 Display of the Proxy Objects.......................................................................................... 648 Editing Proxy Objects .................................................................................................... 649

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ABOUT XSTREAM INTEGRATION

651

Where is the Vue Interface? (Vue 6 xStream Users) .......................................................651 Scene Updates .................................................................................................................651 Versioning .......................................................................................................................652 XSTREAM DIALOGS .............................................................................................................653 xStream Options Dialog..................................................................................................653 General Tab ....................................................................................................................653 Render Options Tab ........................................................................................................657 xStream Light Options Dialog.........................................................................................659 Vue Scene Options Dialog ..............................................................................................661 xStream Render Options Dialog .....................................................................................662 Export Animation to Vue.................................................................................................662 XSTREAM ECOSYSTEM PAINTER .........................................................................................663 RENDERING WITH VUE 10 XSTREAM ...................................................................................664 Render Quality ................................................................................................................665 G-Buffer and Multi-Pass .................................................................................................666 Post-Processing ..............................................................................................................666 Advanced Rendering Effects............................................................................................667 SAVING YOUR WORK WITH VUE 10 XSTREAM ....................................................................669

E-ON LICENSE SERVER

672

Node-Locked vs. Floating Licenses.................................................................................672 About the License Server.................................................................................................672 Using a Floating License from Vue.................................................................................672

NETWORK RENDERING

674

RenderCows vs. RenderNodes.........................................................................................674 DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................................................674 HyperVue Network Rendering Manager .....................................................................675 RenderCow..................................................................................................................675 Additional RenderCow Licenses .....................................................................................675 Installing RenderCow Packs ...........................................................................................676 SETTING UP RENDERCOWS .................................................................................................676 Installing a RenderCow...................................................................................................676 Launching RenderCows at Boot......................................................................................677 RenderCow Port Numbers ..............................................................................................677 RenderCow Processor Count ..........................................................................................677

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Installing a RenderCow on the Computer Running Vue ................................................ 677 RENDERING WITH HYPERVUE........................................................................................ 678 Configuring HyperVue ............................................................................................... 678 Putting RenderCows to Work ......................................................................................... 679 Starting a Render ........................................................................................................... 679 Monitoring the Render Farm ......................................................................................... 679 Aborting a Render .......................................................................................................... 679 MANAGING RENDERCOWS ............................................................................................. 680 Showing RenderCow Status............................................................................................ 680 Adding RenderCows During Render .............................................................................. 680 Shutting Down a RenderCow ......................................................................................... 680 Updating RenderCows ................................................................................................... 680 RENDERNODES ................................................................................................................... 681 RenderNode Network Options........................................................................................ 681 Sample Setup for BackBurner ........................................................................................ 683 Setting Up RenderNodes ................................................................................................ 684 Controlling RenderNodes via Command Line................................................................ 684 XSTREAM NETWORK RENDERING ....................................................................................... 685 Saving Native Scenes for Network Rendering ................................................................ 685 Vue 10 xStream Licenses for Network Rendering .......................................................... 685 Setting-up Your Workstation for a Network Render....................................................... 685 Behavior without License ............................................................................................... 686 Rendering with Mental Ray Satellites ............................................................................ 686

PYTHON SCRIPTING

688

Python Scripts ................................................................................................................ 688 Running Python Scripts.................................................................................................. 689 Startup Scripts................................................................................................................ 689 Running Python from Command Line ............................................................................ 689 Creating Python Scripts ................................................................................................. 690 Python Console .............................................................................................................. 690 Python Documentation................................................................................................... 690

HOT TIPS

691

Resuming Render............................................................................................................ 691 Using Layers for Faster Display .................................................................................... 691 Resuming Animation Render .......................................................................................... 691

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Using Motion Blur in Still Pictures.................................................................................691 Avoiding Object Detection in Wizard..............................................................................692 Rendering Time Dependent Materials ............................................................................692 Reducing Animation Render Times .................................................................................692 Compressing Video .........................................................................................................693

TROUBLESHOOTING

694

Scenes Take Ages to Render............................................................................................694 Camera Moves by Itself...................................................................................................695 Bright Fringes Appear at Wall Base in Radiosity ...........................................................695 Render Time Estimation Is Pessimistic ...........................................................................695 Long Preparation Time for Small Image ........................................................................695 Program Crashes Randomly ...........................................................................................695 Noise Appears in Volumetric Effects...............................................................................696 Atmosphere Is Different in Preview and Final................................................................696 Undesired Lens Flares Appear on Lights........................................................................696 Missing Details ...............................................................................................................696 Vector Graphics Dont Load in Text Editor....................................................................697 Invisible Objects..............................................................................................................697 Unable to Select Objects .................................................................................................697 Objects Dont Render......................................................................................................697 Close-up Materials Look Like Tiles ................................................................................697 Look Ahead Objects ........................................................................................................698 Objects Overreact to Motion...........................................................................................698 Materials Dont Move With Objects ...............................................................................698 Objects Keep Getting Animated ......................................................................................698 Animations Flicker ..........................................................................................................699 Animations Pulsate..........................................................................................................700 Dark Triangles Appear on Terrains................................................................................700 Wrong Material Scale .....................................................................................................701 Soft Shadows Look Noisy ................................................................................................701 Vue Objects Lose Relative Positions ...............................................................................701 RenderCow Not Responding ...........................................................................................701 Unable to Export Object .................................................................................................702 Maya Mental Ray Renders Black ....................................................................................702 Native Objects Dont Reflect xStream Objects................................................................702 Volumetric Plugin Conflict .............................................................................................702

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INDEX LICENSE AGREEMENT

703 712

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24


Section 1

Getting Started

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What's NewNew Features in Vue 10New ObjectsSplines: A spline is a new editable object that can be used for EcoSystem effects, terrain effects, roads and object creation. The spline is created by defining points that are joined to create the shape.

For more information, refer to page 161.Dynamic Rocks: Vue now has library of dynamic rocks that can be selected from the Rocks Template Browser. You can use these to create a single rock, groups of rocks, or these can be used in EcoSystems, with each different rock type generating variations for a seemingly infinite variety, just like our SolidGrowth plants.

For more information, refer to page 121.

RenderingNew Render Display: Vue now has a system to stack and display previous renders, either automatically or on demand. These can be used for comparison and post processing editing.

For more information, refer to page 214.Selected Render Area: You now have the option of rendering the selected render area to fill the whole image size and save it as a separate image.

For more information, refer to page 199.Edge-based Anti-Aliasing: Anti-aliasing for objects now has two settings one, the color-based which has been present in the product and the new edge-based anti-aliasing setting. These settings can be used together or individually.

For more information, refer to page 203.

Bounding Volume Hierarchy StructureBounding Volume Hierarchy is an automatic scene objects hierarchy designed to accelerate

Documents

Vue 10 Reference Manual