4ColorGrafix

An image I made recently using Vue 7 Infinite. This image is a bit of stereotype complete with elephants and acacia tree but I was trying to create a calming wildlife poster. Click on the image to see a larger version. The final image is actually 72 in x 14.4 in.

No one 3D application has all the features I need for my projects. I have often found myself using multiple programs to complete a single project. Problems sometimes arise when I have to convert files to different formats for use in different programs. In an ideal world I would only need one tool: My Dream 3D App! Here is a wish list of 10 features for the perfect 3D app.

…Or 5 More Things I wish I knew before wasting many hours doing the wrong things modeling Poser Clothes!

1. Don’t use triangles in your mesh.
2. Keep your meshes as straight as possible.
3. Group your meshes as you model them.
4. Use Multiple Threads in Poser for your renders.
5. Be careful of exploding Morphs!

Continuing in the tradition of 10 tips for making poser clothes, here are 5 more helpful tips. There is some math involved but don’t worry, you won’t have to do any calculations!

No 3-D Application can do everything. Some specialize in figures, others in sculpting. Some excel at producing realistic surfaces others at creating scenery. At a price of $229 US, Vue Esprit is one of the best programs for creating environments, does an excellent job of producing realistic surfaces and it integrates well with Poser, the primary figure creation software in the 3-D marketplace. Higher end versions can cost upwards of $895 US or more. For anyone starting out in 3-D, this is the ideal application to get.

Key Features of Vue Esprit.

1. Support for Poser figures including the use of the Poser Shader Tree. There is no need to import figures as Wavefront Objects then re-apply textures for multiple figures.
2. Support for Ambient Occlusion, Translucency, and Sub-Surface Scattering. All these lighting features add realism to a scene. For advanced Poser users these features are similar in function to Poser’s Material Room.
3. Crash recovery. If Vue suspects that it might crash, it will warn you ahead of time and attempt to save your work. This is a vast improvement over other programs that just crash and tell you nothing.
4. Realistic environments including plants, trees, grasses, mountains and water

…Or 10 Things I wish I knew before wasting many hours doing the wrong things modeling Poser Clothes!

1. Back-up Everything you create.
2. There is an easy way to make MAT Poses.
3. Remove IK (Inverse Kinematics) Chains from your clothes.
4. Use Morph Manager.
5. The Hierarchy Editor is your friend.
6. Don’t fear the Set-Up Room.
7. Joint Parameters are important.
8. Make your model at actual size.
9. UV maps will save you time.
10. Learn to use Python.

Follow these tips and you will save yourself a great deal of time. Below is a more detailed breakdown of what each of these things mean.