#e-on software

Last year, Bentley Systems retired 3 of their products. However, instead of making it unavailable for use, they instead released free perpetual licenses of each product's latest version. These tools are insanely powerful, being used for animated movies.

Cloud Zones and other Atmospheric settings – Vue Tutorials and Feature Videos

Cloud Zones and other Atmospheric settings – Vue Tutorials and Feature Videos

Learn how to use Cloud Zones, and for what purposes to use them in. Plus How to make a realistic Default Atmosphere that is cheap to render, but gives amazing results.

  Cloud Zones and other Atmospheric settings – Vue Tutorials and Feature Videos

  Cloud Zones and other Atmospheric settings – Vue Tutorials and Feature…

"These new releases reflect e-on software's commitment to bring new features and functionality to VUE and PlantFactory as frequently as possible. We plan to release incremental updates that introduce new functionality every four months," said Matt Riveccie, business development manager, e-on software.

"We strive to engage even more with our users, making sure user feedback is at the core of our development efforts. The coming releases focus on optimizing user experience, strengthening our current technologies, and improving overall performance," added Nicholas Phelps, director, software development, visualization, Bentley Systems.

Together with the new releases, e-on software is shipping free versions of its VUE 2016 and PlantFactory 2016 software. These include the VUE xStream and Infinite 2016 R2 Personal Learning Edition (PLE); the VUE Esprit, Studio, and Complete 2016 R2 trial versions; the PlantFactory Producer 2016 R2 PLE; and the PlantFactory Studio, Designer, and Artist 2016 R2 trial versions.

New in VUE 2016 R2: 360° Virtual Reality (VR) Panoramas: VUE 2016 R2 enables the rendering of 360° panoramas as static images or animations, which are compatible with all of VUE's render options, such as multi-pass or high dynamic range (HDR). When rendering a VR panorama, VUE automatically levels the camera perfectly to avoid unwanted distortion. Rendered VR panoramas are automatically recognized by Facebook, YouTube, and other panoramic compliant platforms as 360° images or videos.

Up to 16 Viewports: VUE 2016 R2 enables the user to set up to 16 viewports instead of the four traditional views. This feature is particularly useful on a multi-monitor system to test various framing options or when adding more camera angles without touching any of the main scene setup. All additional viewports retain the same traditional options, such as render in view and the ability to set up as many perspective cameras as users would like.

UX/UI improvements:

Terrain modeling: a. "Blend Terrain with Image" automatically modifies the Heightfield Terrain function graph (instead of modifying the terrain Heightmap). b. Simplified "Resample Terrain" replaces "Resize Terrain", to update terrain resolution without changing its size within the scene.

User Interface: a. The "Interactive slider changes" option now also affects the mouse wheel for more dynamic visual display of users' modifications in real-time. b. Improved visibility in viewports as a result of revised wireframe selection colors. c. The user interface is now locked when downloading an object or a scene from the extra content.

Materials a. Easier access and editing of multiple materials through sub-menu hierarchy display.

New in PlantFactory 2016 R2 Stylized Meshing Mode: The new Stylized Meshing mode enables users to quickly and automatically generate a low polygon envelope version of vegetation models and export models with a small polygon footprint while retaining the actual vegetation visual volume. Additionally, envelope resolution, smoothing, and convexity quality is user configurable and can range from none to ultra-sharp edged meshes to ultra-smooth. Stylized Meshing mode can also be used creatively to produce non-photorealistic vegetation.

3-Axis Billboard Leaves Rotation: Using Billboard leaves is ideal when working for Real-Time engines, or, in an offline workflow, to create low polygon plants to be seen from a distance. (Billboard leaves are perfect for VUE EcoSystem populations for instance). Quick and easy to set up, this new feature is perfect to avoid any obvious linear visual pattern, by letting users add slight randomization to leaves axis rotation.

Personal Learning Editions: The 2016 R2 Personal Learning Editions (PLE) are fully functional versions of VUE xStream/Infinite 2016 R2 and PlantFactory Producer 2016 R2. With the Personal Learning Edition, users can create complete projects, render in full HD, and save their work. Users can download the 2016 R2 Personal Learning Editions at no charge from www.e-onsoftware.com/try.

Personal Learning Editions are for learning purposes only, and it is illegal to use them for commercial purposes. They ship with a limited subset of product features and content, users cannot exchange files with other users (except ATC licenses), and renders carry a logo and will be watermarked after 30 days. Geometry exported from The PlantFactory PLE removes one polygon out of 20; import into VUE works with both the VUE PLE and full commercial licenses of VUE.

Personal Learning Editions perform under all versions of Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 (64 bit only), and Mac Intel (64 bit) for MacOSX 10.6+.

30-Day Trial Versions: Thirty-day trial versions of both products are available for users to evaluate. Trial versions work for only 30 days and saving is disabled. Visit www.e-onsoftware.com/try for more information. VUE and PlantFactory 2016 R2 trial versions can be downloaded at no charge at www.e-onsoftware.com/try.

Trial versions are available in English for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10, and Mac Intel (64 bit) for MacOSX 10.6+.

More information on VUE 2016 and PlantFactory 2016

Vue - Photomatrix - Maya Integration Solution

It's no surprise that E-on Software's Vue is my most recent obsession and for very good reason. From it's ultra-flexible node based terrain generating solutions to it's fantastic digital vegetation solution, it's an amazing tool for CG/Visual Effects artists. Unfortunately, it doesn't really integrate with Autodesk Maya all that well. With other CG solutions like Joe Alter's Shave and Haircut and even Next Limit's RealFlow working within Maya, this disability was simply unacceptable.

For this reason, I started looking for solutions to use Vue as an environment for my 3D objects while applying Vue renders as a matte painting (for instance). Oddly enough, I didn't find any solution on the web so I thought hey, Vue bases its renders on a real world simulation so why not use it as such.

Using the concept of a mirrorball to create an HDR Environment Map, I created a fully reflective sphere inside Vue and rendered it with different exposures. The various exposures were then taken into Photomatrix Pro, assembled as an HDR image and then unwrapped. The unwrapped "mirrorball" was then mapped into a Mental Ray IBL sphere and sure enough, it worked like a charm.