E-on Vue

Vue is a software tool for world generation by Bentley Systems with support for many visual effects, animations and various other features. The tool has been used in several feature-length movies.

Vue

Vue landscape example
Developer(s)	Bentley Systems
Initial release	November 8, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-11-08)
Final release	2023 / January 11, 2023; 2 years ago (2023-01-11)
Operating system	Windows, macOS
Type	3D computer graphics
License	Proprietary
Website	www.bentley.com/software/e-on-software-free-downloads/

In 2024, Bentley Systems announced that Vue would be discontinued, and be freely available to those that still wish to use it.^[1]

Versions

VUE	PlantFactory
VUE 2016 / VUE 2015 / VUE 2014 / VUE 11	PlantFactory 2016 / PlantFactory 2015 / PlantFactory 2014
CloudFactory - Ozone	Carbon Scatter
CloudFactory 2017 / CloudFactory 2015 / Ozone 6 / Ozone 5	Carbon Scatter 2017 / Carbon Scatter 2015 / Carbon Scatter 2 / Carbon Scatter

Features

This is a list of features as of the 2023 release of Vue:

Terrains

• Heightfield terrains
• Procedural terrains
• Infinite terrains
• Planetary terrains
• Real-world terrains
• 3D terrain sculpting
• Terrain export

EcoSystem Instancing Technology

• Material-based EcoSystems
• Global EcoSystems
• Dynamic EcoSystems
• 360° EcoSystem Population
• Paint EcoSystem instances
• EcoParticles
• Export EcoSystem populations

Vegetation

• Built-in Plant editor
• Compatible with PlantFactory
• Vegetation assets

Atmosphere, Skies and Clouds

• Standard atmospheric model
• Spectral atmospheric model
• Photometric atmospheric model
• Atmosphere presets
• Procedural Volumetric 3D cloud layers
• Standalone 3D Metaclouds
• Convert meshes to Clouds
• Cloud morphing
• Import OpenVDB
• Export standalone and cloud layer zones to OpenVDB
• Export skies as HDRI

Modeling

• Primitive and Feature modeling
• 3D Text edition tool
• Metablobbing
• Hyperblobs
• Export baked hyperblobs
• Splines
• Built in Road Construction toolkit
• Random rock generator
• Export rocks

Texturing and UVs

• Material presets
• PBR
• Substance support
• Node-based procedural materials
• Volumetric materials and Hypertextures
• Stacked UVs
• Unwrapped UVs
• Ptex

Interoperability, Integration And Export

• Export single assets to generic 3D formats
• Full scene export
• Integration plugins
• Import and Export Camera data as FBX and Nuke.chan
• Python API
• ZBrush GoZ bridge

Animation

• Animate objects, materials, atmospheres, clouds, waves...
• Automatic wind and breeze
• Localized wind effects per plant / per EcoSystem population
• Omni and directional ventilators for local modifications of plants
• Time spline editor
• Automatic keyframe creation
• Automatic synchronization of cameras and lights
• Animation export as AfterEffects
• Import motion tracking information

Lighting

• Global illumination, Global Radiosity, Ambient occlusion
• Subsurface Scattering
• HDRI image based lighting
• Point light, Quadratic point light, Spotlight, Quadratic spotlight, Directional light
• Use IES distribution profiles on photometric lights
• Area lights, light panels, light portals
• Physically accurate caustics computation

Rendering

• Render with Ray Tracer
• Render with Path Tracer
• Stereoscopic rendering
• 360/180 VR Panorama Render Option
• Spherical panoramic rendering
• Tone mapping options
• Multipass & G-Buffer
• Network rendering with HyperVue / RenderCows
• Network rendering with RenderNodes

Users

• Blue Sky Studios
• Digital Domain
• DreamWorks Animation: Kung Fu Panda^[2]
• Industrial Light & Magic: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,^[2] Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest^[3]
• Sony Pictures Imageworks
• Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Weta Digital

See also

• Blender
• Cinema 4D
• 3dsmax
• Maya
• Unity 3D
• Unreal
• Daz
• Photoshop
• Lightwave 3D
• Modo
• Substance
• Bryce