Vue 7 xStream (V7X) is a “plug-in” version of e-on Software’s super cool Vue 7 Infinity. For an understanding of what Vue is and does, please consult the Vue 7 Infinity review. (For many microfilmmakers, the lower cost and robustness of the standalone program will make it the right choice for their work.) This review concentrates on the integration capability of Vue xStream into larger 3D programs.
xStream is a special 3d object placement and rendering capability for full integration of Vue into these host softwares: 3DS Max, Cinema4D, LightWave 3D, Maya, and Softimage/XSI. xStream lets users manipulate a Vue environment and assets within the host application. For this review, I’m utilizing C4D Studio as the host application for V7X.
Creating a jungle of plants is a snap with Vue xStream, right inside C4D, Lightwave, 3Ds Max, or Softimage|XSI. Thanks to Proxies/instantiation, file sizes remain small.
Ease of Use
Use of Vue from within your host application is as simple as selecting the option you desire from a Vue pull-down menu. Everything Vue does is right there: complete scene creation, simple plant or object addition, atmosphere creation and more. Whether you insert a single Vue object or an entire scene, your host application will add a Vue Camera, Sun light, sky object and Ground object. So, engaging the xStream features you require will automatically bring all of the extras. However, you can turn off those items, like the sun, and create your own which is respected by the Vue xStream environment.
That said, there is a learning curve involved in using xStream and that learning curve is understanding the Vue application and how it works. All of the modal dialog boxes, options and settings are activated when you use the xStream feature in the host appliation. By engaging the Vue features sets, you are also required to edit those features from within the xStream pull-down menu as well. For example, when creating a Vue atmosphere, you can’t modify the atmosphere settings from within the host application. Instead, you go to the pull-down menu and navigate to the Atmosphere => Edit function which opens a Vue Infinite interface from which you can make changes. This back and forth is simply something that users have to get used to.
