CG Graphics, Gaming and Beyond: Vue 5 Infinite: Part 1

Why Use a Landscape Modeler?

If you already own an advanced 3D package like Lightwave, Maya, or 3D MAX, you can create some believable photorealistic terrains. If you create a high enough polygon land mesh, add procedurals, textures, and bump maps you can get some good to great results. The problems lie in the incorporation of plants, rocks, water, atmospheres, and cloud layers to name a few. This is what 3D terrain packages are supposed to excel at. They are meant to produce many of the elements you would otherwise labor over otherwise.

Anyone familiar with 3D terrain packages can tell you that depending on what your needs are they can be both hit and miss. The best thing to do is define your project requirements and see which of the programs best suits your needs.

After doing my research on the work I am going to undertake in the coming weeks, I chose Vue 5 Infinite. There are three versions and you can see which suits your interests.
http://www.e-onsoftware.com/Products/VueIndex.php

Simply put I ran the Vue 5 demo through some paces and I liked the immediate returns. The layout is more attuned to a professional 3D package and the features and settings are easily accessible and highly modifiable. Getting some of the initial results in Lightwave would have required a day or two to get right. Since I am still learning Vue 5 that says allot.

Some of the features that sold me on Vue 5 Infinite include the ability to work with Lightwave native models and scenes, network rendering, as well as its native Poser 5 support. For a more complete list you can read them here. http://www.e-onsoftware.com/Products/vue5infinite/

Of course at $600 the Infinite package is pricey and that is not in economical ball park for hobbyists or recreational artists, but the professional feature strengths make it a sound buy. Of course there is Vue 5 Pro Studio for $399 and Vue 5 Esprit for $249 to choose from. Each has its feature set to an appropriate price point. If you were looking at an even more economical value you could consider buying Vue 4 Esprit for $69. Not bad if you want to get a working feel for a full program not limited by demo restrictions.

Alternative Programs

One application that many people are aware of is Bryce. This is the program that was made available at the retail level and enjoys a sound following by artists and hobbyists alike. For all of Bryce’s possibilities both the interface and the rendering times could prove to be a challenge. Unfortunately Bryce’s development stalled at version 5 and is now owned by DAZ3D. They are working on version 5.5 with few details of what to look forward to. http://bryce.daz3d.com/

There are a number of other landscape generation programs out there and I’ll just mention a few here so you can research which one works for you. As with most software packages there are basic and pro versions available.