F.A.Q. - Vue 7 xStream

In order to allow the edition of large scenes, typically landscapes, the xStream plug-in changes the viewport and grid settings of the Maya scene. In some cases, especially if Maya is not exited normally (either killed by user or a crash occured), the default values are not restored, and these modified values will be used by Maya as default values. You can restore original values by deleting your Maya preference files, which are located in your user folder (please refer to Maya documentation to know the exact location depending on the version of Maya and your operating system). A menu entry has been added to Vue 7.4 and Vue 7.5 to allow you to restore these settings without the need to delete all your preferences. This menu entry can be found in the xStream menu: Maya UI|Restore grid and viewports. It's available starting at build 42713.

A bug in the release version of 3ds Max 2009 makes the application instable when the scene becomes complex, especially in terms of viewport rendering. Because xStream scenes use a lot of geometry, textures, etc. 3ds Max becomes much instable when doing simple things like panning the view. This bug has been fixed in 3ds Max 2009 SP1, so it is highly suggested to install this service pack before installing Vue 7 xStream.

When installing a service pack for 3ds Max, the configuration files for mental ray may be reset. These files normally contain information to register the xStream shader in mental ray. In order to resotre this information, you need to reinstall the plugin using the xStream plugins installer found on the cd, or the whole application. Applying an update won't restore this information.

Restoring default preferences can be useful in the following cases:

• You're not happy with the settings you set and would like to quickly restore the default ones.
• Your installation got corrupted and the application refuses to work.
• You want to reinstall the application, starting from a clean setup.

• WinXP: C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\e-on software\Vue 7 xStream
• Vista: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Romaing\e-on software\Vue 7 xStream
• MacOSX: /Users/UserName/.e-on software/Vue 7 xStream

In order to properly duplicate a Vue proxy object, you need to use the commands from the xStream menu (Vue7xStream|Edit|Cut, Vue7xStream|Edit|Copy, Vue7xStream|Edit|Paste or Vue7xStream|Edit|Duplicate).
Explanation: if you use the host application commands (by using the host application's own menus, or by simply pressing the copy/paste shortcut keys), the newly created object will be a regular native object, it won't be managed by Vue or present in the Vue scene. So, Vue won't render it. So why does the native renderer ignore it as well? Proxy objects have a ignore from render flag enabled (to avoid both renderers from rendering it) which is copied into the duplicate object, which explains why this object is also ignored from native renderer.

The file to rename is located here (path is given for Maya 2008):
/Applications/Autodesk/maya2008/Maya.app/Contents/mentalray/lib/Vue6xStream.so
In order to go inside the Maya.app folder, you should Ctrl+click on the Maya application and do "show package contents".
If it doesn't work, you can open a terminal (from Applications/Utilities), and type the following on a single line: ('$>' is the promp, don't type it)

If there is a problem with permissions (ie. an error tells you "permission denied") you should type the above command with sudo at the beginning of the line (just before the mv). You will be asked to enter your MacOSX administrator password.

In Maya and XSI, by default, camera motion blur in mental ray is not computed using raytracing, but using scanline (to speed up rendering). This is not compatible with xStream so you need to make sure the motion blur is computed by mental ray's raytracing engine. In Maya, open the mental ray render options dialog, and in the "rendering features" section, select "Raytracing" instead of "Scanline" or "Rasterizer". In XSI, in the Render Manager dialog, in the "Rendering" tab of mental ray settings, select "Raytracing" as the Type of Primary Rays. In 3ds Max, scanline is automatically disabled by the xStream plug-in.

Vue 7 xStream is compatible with LightWave 9.6. Actually, the same version of the plug-in can be used in either LightWave 9.5 and LightWave 9.6.
But one problem you can get is trying to load the plug-in for LightWave 9.3 in LightWave 9.6. It will result in the following message being displayed: "This plugin version was not compiled for this product version. Please make sure that you use the correct version of the plugin." The plug-in indeed checks the version of LightWave to be sure you use the correct version (LightWave 9.5 introduced new features in the SDK, as well as better OpenGL display, so we want to be sure you use the correct version).

The first possible origin of this problem is that during the installation of Vue 7 xStream, you selected the wrong version (under the LightWave 9.3 plug-in you pointed the installer to LightWave 9.6). If it's the case, make sure you reinstall the Vue 7 xStream application and select the right paths.

Another possible cause is that you use the same LightWave configuration file for all your versions of LightWave. When you will add Vue 7 xStream plug-in to LightWave (through "Add Plugin" in the interface), LightWave will write the path to the plug-in in its configuration file. If all your versions of LightWave use the same configuration file, then all versions will try to use the same plug-in file, resulting in the error mentionned above.
If you're just double-clicking on the LightWave shortcut in the Start menu, or launching lightwav.exe file to start LightWave, you're actually not specifying a configuration file and all versions of Lightwave will use the same file.
In order to make sure different versions of LightWave use different configuration files, you have to create a shortcut to the lightwav.exe file, and add the following parameter: -c[PATH_TO_THE_CONFIG_FILE]

For instance, if you have LightWave 9.3 and LightWave 9.6 installed on Windows:

You should create a shortcut for LightWave 9.3, with the following command:
"c:\Program Files\Newtek\LightWave 9.3\Programs\lightwav.exe" -cC:\Users\MyUserName\LWEXT93_32.CFG

You should create a shortcut for LightWave 9.6, with the following command:
"c:\Program Files\Newtek\LightWave 9.6\Programs\lightwav.exe" -cC:\Users\MyUserName\LWEXT96_32.CFG

Only applications listed in the Requirements page of the Vue 7 xStream product will be able to load the integration plug-in. If your application is older than the ones listed in the Requirements page, the plug-in won't work. If your host application was released after the release of Vue 7 xStream (and before a newer version of Vue is released), you can find a Plugins Installer in the latest update's download page, which will let you install the plug-in for all versions, including new ones.
If your application is supported but you still can't find the plug-in, please make sure you follow the installation instructions detailed in the Vue 7 Reference Manual (pp. 563-565, especially the Adding the xStream menu section).
If the menu still doesn't show up on MacOSX, make sure the host application is launched in 32bit mode (and not 64bit). You can check that by opening the information panel on the host application icon (Apple+I, or "Get Info" in the contextual menu). Then, enable the 32bit mode if it's available.

The E-on License Server is a specific application that you can use to hand out Vue Licenses on Demand. It will turn any Vue license into a floating one. It is usually used in multi-user environments. Example: You are running a studio with 8 computers on a network. There are two artists who use Vue, but they need to access it from any one of the 8 computers. With 2 Vue licenses added to the E-onLicense Server, these artists will be able to run Vue on any two computers at the same time.

You need to contact our Sales department who will give you access to a Free Upgrade to the E-on License Server application.

Yes, you will simply need to activate the license for your laptop as well.
Note: It is your responsibility to ensure that you comply with the terms of the EULA (in particular, that you only run one instance of the program at any given time, and that you do not activate the program on multiple computers operating at the same location).

Yes, you can purchase the downloadable version of Vue 7 xStream from our online store.

When you complete your order of Vue 7 xStream, you will receive a link to a Vue 7 xStream downloader. Simply double-click on this downloader application to download the Vue 7 xStream CD. The content of the Vue 7 xStream CD will be saved at the location of your choice. You can burn this folder to CD for backup. Launch the installer application to complete the installation of Vue 7 xStream.

If the computer running Vue is not connected to the internet, but you have access to the internet otherwise, please visit the following page: https://secure.e-onsoftware.com/register/vue7xstream. If you already have an account with e-on software and your account information isn't automatically located, log into your account manually. Fill-out the registration form. Don't forget to enter your installation code into the appropriate field (the number that starts with "INST-"). Press "Activate", wait while your activation code is generated, then copy the activation code into the Activation dialog of the computer running Vue and press "Finalize activation".
If you absolutely have no Internet access, contact one of our sales reps by phone, fax or mail with the required information, and he will send you your activation key

For security reasons, Vista prevents the access to system files. So your activation code is not stored in the system from the start. The only solution to circumvent this, is to right click on the Vue 6 icon and select "Run as admin". The aplication will ask you once again for your Activation code, but will store it in the system files and will not ask for it afterwards. This procedure has to be done only once. After that you can simply launch Vue by double clicking on the Icon as usual.

Just re-install Vue and repeat the activation process, if needed.

There is no limit to the number of times you can activate a product for the same system (e.g. after reinstalling the product, replacing your operating system, or recovering from a hard drive crash - see above). However, there is a reasonable limit to the number of different systems for which you can activate a product.
If you exceed the maximum number of activations for a given product, you will have to get in touch with our support staff for further activations.

Yes, you an install and run Vue without acivating it. The program wil operate normally, but images will be rendered with a watermark, and the files you create will only be readable on your system.
These limitations will disappear once you activate the product.

RenderCow is the name of Vue's standalone multi-processor network rendering engine. A RenderCow must be installed on each computer that is to take part in the network rendering of Vue environments. You can install up to 5 Rendercows with a basic license. You can extend this by purchasing additional RenderCow license packages. RenderCows can only render Vue content.
If you are rendering integrated Vue environments created with xStream, you will need xStream Render Node licenses instead.

No, Vue 7 xStream is only available in English.

Both Macintosh and Windows systems requirements are available at this page.

Yes, you can import static and animated Poser content directly in Vue 7 xStream, including dynamic hair and cloth!

Yes, Vue 7 xStream is compatible with Poser 7. Be sure to point to the directory that the Poser.exe file is located in the Vue Options panel, General Options tab, and select the Configure Poser Import button.

Please switch off External Binary Morph Target support on the Misc tab of the General Preferences dialog (CTRL/CMD+K) in Poser before saving your PZ3/PZZ for import into Vue.

The plant format has changed significantly. You need to obtain new versions of the plants from Cornucopia3D.com. Please contact support@cornucopia3d.com with your plant keys and the serial number of the product for which you purchased them. The corresponding plants will be added to your Cornucopia3D account so that you can download them. Contact support@cornucopia3d.com for any further questions.

Yes. You can use any Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D/XSI distributed network rendering solution (such as Backburner).

You need to purchase a separate license for each render node. You can either use full blown licenses, or the cheaper "Vue 7 xStream Render Node" network-render-only licenses.

If you're using a NVIDIA video board, you should select the Span option instead of the Dualview one, or else your target application may behave incorrectly (not possible to select native objects anymore, for instance). If you're getting a problem not fixed by this solution, you should first try to disable the dual-screen and see if the problem persists. If the problem is indeed caused by the dual-screen mode, you should update your drivers to the latest version available before contacting our technical support.

Yes. When final gather is on, MR uses the Vue atmosphere as a skylight. The color and intensity of the skylight is further affected by the Vue GI settings. This ensures a perfect match between the Vue environment and the indirect lighting. However, xStream gives you the option to disconnect MR from the Vue GI settings, if you wish to control them separately.

The rendering of Vue elements in Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D is done by the same render engine as Vue 7 Infinite/xStream core, which is designed to handle huge polygon counts. Therefore, render times will be the same as in Vue 7 Infinite/xStream standalone application.

Vue haze and fog settings (including altitude-dependent fog) are part of the xStream environment shader, so they equally affect both Vue and native elements.

Yes. Any native lights can optionally affect the Vue elements. Area lights are converted to Vue point lights.

In automatic mode, the Vue render quality is linked to the native renderer settings. In manual mode, Vue render settings are independent.

No. Vue 7 xStream includes all the tools available in Vue 7 Infinite. When running in standalone mode, Vue 7 xStream behaves exactly like Vue 7 Infinite. The only difference between xStream and Infinite is that, on top of the standalone mode, xStream also lets you integrate your environments inside other 3D applications, whereas Infinite only operates as a standalone application.

Yes. Since the Vue camera and sunlight are converted into their native counterparts, they can be moved and animated just like any native Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D camera and light.

Motion blur settings in Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D/XSI will also affect Vue elements. Motion blur is equally applied to all the elements in the scene. You can disable motion blur for the Vue scene, as you would for any native object. Post-processed motion blur effects and Vue 2.5 motion blur cannot be used with xStream.

You can export any Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D/XSI object or scene to Vue as reference guides, and delete these objects once you combine the scenes with xStream.

In order to get a floating point output, you should first select a compatible format in the target application renderer: HDR and EXR are two formats that allow such output. Then, you should open the xStream options dialog and uncheck the "Apply Vue's Post Processing filters" so that the "natural film response" filter won't be applied. If it's enabled, a logarithmic filter is applied to the output, which will make you think your output is clamped to 1.0.

It's possible to launch them from the Vue interface to edit the scene (add objects, etc.). But Python render callbacks are not supported while rendering with the target application (using the software renderer or MentalRay), so you should not add a render callback unless you only render from the Vue interface.

Poser features that are supported in Vue 7 via a "connection" to Poser (e.g. animated figures, dynamic hair and cloth, Poser shader tree rendering, re-posing) cannot be loaded into Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D.

At the bottom of the Maya main window, you'll find a command line prompt. If it's not there, right click and check the "Command Line" option to enable it. If you're using one of the latest versions of Maya, you should read MEL at the left of the command prompt. If it's written Python instead, then left click on Python to change it to MEL. In the command prompt, type the following command (you can copy/paste it):

loadNewShelf "shelf_Vue7xStreamPlugin.mel";

If you don't find the command line prompt, you can also open a command shell dialog from the 'display'/'general editors'/'command shell' menu. Or you can even open the Script Editor and copy paste the "loadNewShelf" command there.

If you want to load the shelf manually from Maya shelves editor dialog, you'll have to browse to the 'scripts/others' subfolder of Maya to locate the "shelf_Vue6xStreamPlugin.mel".

When Vue 7 xStream launches for the first time, it checks your hardware (especially the video board) against a qualified hardware list. If you get this type of message, it does not mean your video board won't work with Vue and OpenGL. It only means that the board/driver you are using is not on our qualified hardware list. However, if you experience OpenGL crashes, you should disable OpenGL.

Yes. For more information, please check this feature chart.

Yes, all technologies from Botanica, LightTune, DeepAccess, EcoSystems and Hypervue are included directly in the application. You won't need to buy them separately.

No, it isn't lost! All you need to do is re-download your copy-protected content from Cornucopia3D. Because we understand that it may be a hassle to re-download each copy-protected item individually, you are able to automatically download and install all of your copy-protected items in one go. On the Cornucopia3D website, go to My Account and select Show Purchases. Scroll to the bottom of your account page and select Download all Copy-protected items.

Yes, you can. Just remember that while you can open Vue 6 scenes in Vue 7, you will not be able to open Vue 7 scenes in Vue 6.

Connect to your account and click on the "Retrieve Serial" link alongside the product registration information. If you purchased a download version, you can also access your serial number by clicking on the corresponding order in the order summary. For security reasons, we do not show serial numbers online. Serial numbers will be sent to you by e-mail.