e-on has launched Vue 8 Infinite and Vue 8 xStream, new editions of its environmental rendering software. The updates were announced in mid-October, and deliver a series of new features for 3D terrain sculpting, plus increased xStream integration for improved workflow with various CG programs. The apps also include a new shader-based OpenGL preview engine -- improving real-time performance and preview accuracy -- plus enhancements to the quality and realism of atmospheric shadows, clouds and "god" rays.

The 3D terrain sculpting editor includes tools for scene context sculpting, and several types of brush behaviors including inflate, extrude, free-form and invert. Localized infinite and procedural terrain sculpting are also options. Other features within Vue 8 make it possible for pre-animated and rigged mesh objects to be reposed, with support for 3DSMax and Collada formats.

Both Infinite and xStream are compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. The latter costs $1,495 new, or $495 as an upgrade from v7.x. Infinite is priced at $895 with a $295 upgrade option.