Performance
With every new iteration of Vue Infinite, the engineers go to great pains to reduce cpu intensity while offering more to the customer, and the advancement in 7.5 is no different. Mac and Windows both see the benefit of multi-cpu rendering for panoramic shots. Windows gets the added bonus of also being able to do multi-cpu procedural terrain construction as well as ecosystem population. All necessary improvements to fundamental features used in creating realistic environments.
Further development has also been done to the OpenGL display capabilities within Vue 7.5 Infinite. Utilizing multiple cpus, the quality and responsiveness of the sky preview has been increased allowing clouds to be viewed as well. Metaclouds are represented with shaded particles to give you a better conception of how they are being used. Realistic sun shadows can be seen in the viewports so that adjustments can be made before render. Colored Ecosystem billboards give you a better approximation of the layout of the flora in your environments to help you ascertain how the final render will turn out. And, on top of all that, the dynamic plant display has been optimized to allow a level of detail and complexity to show through, depending on the strength of your system. These are very welcome advancements to help artists focus more on creating and less on making adjustments after they’ve rendered the scene.
Although feasible in the past, making planets in Vue 7.5 is so much easier with the option of projected maps and procedural terrain options.
Value
Vue Infinite 7.5 comes with some great features that enhance and strengthen the foundation of an already exceptional product. Improving performance while adding features that help you preview your work quickly go a long way to helping an artist stay in their workspace and cultivate their landscapes. The price for the product stays the same, so if you are new to Vue Infinite there’s no reason not to pick this up. For those that purchased the previous version without the optional maintenance package, the additional $295 may be a bit much, especially if your version 7 works well on your computer. It may serve you better to hold off for the next benchmark that has completely new features instead of an upgrade to what exists now.
Final Comments It is fascinating to see what Vue Infinite 7.5 allows an artist to achieve. Though a lot of these features require you to learn a new workflow or to do a bit of searching to find the“on” switch to activate the right setting, it’s a small inconvenience to the benefits you get for better work. Powerful upgrades, more accurate previews, and stronger stability help to make Vue 7.5 the strongest candidate for creating natural environments. Vue Infinite 7.5 is a must have for anyone wanting to create professional level environments and backgrounds with ease.
Ease
of Use
9.0
Depth
of Options
9.0
Performance
9.0
Value
vs. Cost
9.0
Overall Score
9.0
Michael Muwanguzi is a graphic artist and web designer currently living in Los Angeles, CA. Apart from working on print ads, web-related advertising, and 3D design work, he is currently working on new film production work and is designing a 3D adventure game from scratch.
