From theme packs to Vue 10 Complete

The Vue 10 product line, the top-end products of which were made available to its professional customers as a pre-release six weeks ago, is now shipping for the company's 3D Enthusiast and 3D Artist markets. The new releases run from the free starter application Vue 10 Pioneer and associated theme packs all the way to Vue 10 Complete, which lets artists create fully animated eco-systems with terrain, plants and sky.

Other products in the 3D Enthusiast line, which is marketed by Cornucopia 3D, include Vue 3D Superhero ($20) and Vue 10 Frontier ($99). The former is positioned as a great way to get young people into 3D creation by using a comics motif and a user-friendly supply of pre-existing models. It includes a 120-page full-color illustrated guide to getting started, and incorporates the SE version of the free Vue Pioneer, which means it does not add watermarks to renders and is expandable through paid modules and theme packs all the way up to Vue Complete.

Vue Frontier incorporates many of the expansion modules of Vue Pioneer and features both a robust digital landscape creation engine as well as the ability to render characters, including those originally made in Poser and Daz Studio. It also includes a skin enhancer, making it easy to improve on characters and place them in a realistic natural background.

For the 3D Artist market, Vue 10 Complete ($600) incorporates the other two products, Vue 10 Esprit ($200) and Vue 10 Studio ($400). The new version 10 adds spline and road tools, dynamic rocks and physical water and transparency, along with improved terrain editing and faster rendering. It also features a Strata3D node, cyclic noises and fractals, render stacking and comparison, edge-based anti-aliasing, phase control and lean-out control for eco-systems, and support for multiple camera aspect ratios.

The Vue 10 products are all available in English for Windows XP and higher as well as Mac OS X 10.5 or higher (Intel only). Upgrades and sidegrades from earlier Vue products (versions 8 and 9) are also available. Trial versions of Vue 10 Esprit, Studio and Complete will be available early next year.

Vue 9 3D Artist users who go with the Cornucopia 3D subscription program will be allowed to upgrade to Vue 10 at no charge. Vue 9 Frontier users who are or become Cornucopia 3D Club members will get an upgrade to Vue 10 Frontier for free. The company is also allowing those who join the Cornucopia 3D Club until December 5th to receive a 20 percent discount on full licenses of the 3D Artist line of programs.

by MacNN Staff