Vue d'Esprit 4

We've all heard about people moving heaven and earth to get a job done, and now anyone can do that anytime they wish. The secret is using Vue d'Esprit 4, a software program that not only allows you to move all that, you can also create it, edit it, and delete it if you so desire.

For those who usually find 3D software to be a major drag on their patience, Vue 4's scenery creator software is a welcome relief. It does what it does quickly and efficiently.

The program is easy for beginner's to use — they can learn a lot real quick by using the starting tutorial — but unlike so many programs that are that easy to begin with, Vue 4 has enough depth to it to bring a big smile to the more advanced user, too. Animation is equally simple and easy.

The interface is familiar in style and, for $199 it is more reasonably priced than many such programs that do not perform nearly as well.

For one thing, it works with other programs better than most 3D programs. It supports 3D imports from Curious Labs (Poser 4^TM), TrueSpace^TM, 3D Studio^TM, LightWave^TM, Wavefront^TM, AutoCad^TM, USGS Digital Elevation Model^TM, and .tga files.

In the 2D range, it imports .bmp, .pict., .jpg, .tga, .tiff, .gif, and .mov files.

When it comes time to export files, it can handle .avi, .m1v, .m2v, .mov, .rm animations as well as independent frames of .bmp, .pict, .jpg, .gif, .tga, and .tiff.

That versatility makes it a web builder's dream.

There are a number of basic scenery designs to begin with, from deserts to lush rain forests to ocean floors. Each can be easily edited, making the possibilities seemingly endless, and then users can drop their own 3D items into the scenes to create something entirely different.

When editing the scenery, a dialog box appears that enables the user to make a number of choices to alter the scene to fit their needs.

The program comes with a multitude of great looking floral items to add to your scenes, but the accompanying CD goes beyond that by providing a bunch of goodies, including 3D models made by the program's manufacturer to add to your scenes. Those models include such things as animals, vehicles, objects found around the house, textures, effects, and more.

Remember those 3D programs that when it comes time to render usually require an extended lunch break waiting for them to complete? I barely made it halfway across the room to the cookie jar when the render was done and waiting for me.

The scene shown in the top image came out looking like the one here on the left; then using the scene editor the final product ended up looking like the image on the right.

If you are using an OpenGL system, Vue 4 may give you some problems till you download the patches for it. In some cases, the program may not be very stable until you get those patches. The program's creators have disabled OpenGL by default, but they give buyers instructions on how to easily change that. However, if that doesn't work, users may need to update their video board driver or again disable OpenGL.

It isn't often that I get enthusiastic about 3D programs, but this one I can easily recommend. Now, do I really want to put grass on the sun ... eh, why not?