Ray-tracing works sort of like a camera in real life, but in reverse.

With a camera (or your eyes, for that

matter), rays of light from the environment enter the lens and hit the film/digital chip/meaty eye cells.
Something magical happens where the light hits and we get an image!

[5:30:36 PM] mahesh.gosemath: With ray tracing, we start at each point on our "film" or image, and
blast a ray out of our camera lens and see what it hits. What it hits determines the color and brightness
at that spot on the film. Of course by "film" I mean digital image, and by "spot" I mean pixel.

[5:31:10 PM] mahesh.gosemath: http://www.superjer.com/pixelmachine/

http://www.arachnoid.com/raytracing/

Our product philosophy encompasses seven fundamental principles which serve as the foundation for the
Vue product line and its on-going development:

Unrivaled Natural Scenery Creation

Vue provides an unparalleled ability to create rich, natural 3D scenery complete with diverse EcoSystems™
of wind-swept trees and plants, realistic Spectral atmospheres, stunning cloudscapes, detailed terrains and
water, all of which are fully animatable.

Precise Artistic Control

To maximize artistic flexibility and precision, rich usability features such as the Ecosystem painter and
terrain sculpter are crafted into a highly interactive user experience. With Vue, you have complete, precise
control over the placement, appearance, and behavior of any natural scenery element.

Leading Edge Performance

Vue enables you to create scenes of virtually limitless size, scope and complexity containing millions of
trees, stormy oceans, imported characters and objects, and finely detailed landscapes. Whether rendering
on a single workstation or across an entire render farm such as HyperVue™, Vue provides maximum
flexibility with optimal performance.

Vivid Realism

From faux-real to photo-real, Vue provides a platform where art truly imitates life. The availability of
multiple lighting models, cutting-edge outdoor/indoor Radiosity, and high fidelity materials, combine to
deliver crisp, finely-detailed images and animations with superb quality.

Immersive Interoperability

Vue provides a highly interoperable environment to accommodate any production workflow. With our
xStream Professional Solution, Vue is immersively embedded as a fully integrated plug-in for 3ds Max,
Maya, LightWave, Cinema4D and XSI. Additionally, all Vue products include a wide array of fully agnostic
import/export facilities.

Extensive Content

The large Digital Nature content libraries packaged with Vue, along with the thousands of high quality items
available on-line at Cornucopia 3D, allows virtually any scene imaginable to be construction with a
minimum of effort, and without time-consuming modeling.

Inviting User Experience

The Vue user experience is designed from the "outside-in", meaning that the user interaction model is a
primary design consideration when adding features and capabilities. For many users, Vue is their first
entryway into the 3D world, and therefore, we strive to ensure that this experience is easy to learn, fun to
use, and not overwhelming or complex.
1.1.2 What is Ray-Tracing?
Ray-tracing is a rendering technique that calculates an image of a scene by simulating the way rays
of light travel in the real world. However it does its job backwards. In the real world, rays of light are
emitted from a light source and illuminate objects. The light reflects off of the objects or passes
through transparent objects. This reflected light hits our eyes or perhaps a camera lens. Because the
vast majority of rays never hit an observer, it would take forever to trace a scene.
Ray-tracing programs like POV-Ray start with their simulated camera and trace rays backwards out
into the scene. The user specifies the location of the camera, light sources, and objects as well as
the surface texture properties of objects, their interiors (if transparent) and any atmospheric media
such as fog, haze, or fire.
For every pixel in the final image one or more viewing rays are shot from the camera, into the scene
to see if it intersects with any of the objects in the scene. These "viewing rays" originate from the
viewer, represented by the camera, and pass through the viewing window (representing the final
image).
Every time an object is hit, the color of the surface at that point is calculated. For this purpose rays
are sent backwards to each light source to determine the amount of light coming from the source.
These "shadow rays" are tested to tell whether the surface point lies in shadow or not. If the surface
is reflective or transparent new rays are set up and traced in order to determine the contribution of
the reflected and refracted light to the final surface color.
Special features like inter-diffuse reflection (radiosity), atmospheric effects and area lights make it
necessary to shoot a lot of additional rays into the scene for every pixel.

VUE 9 PRE RELEASE AVAILABLE FOR USERS UNDER MAINTENANCE

October 12, 2010. Beaverton, Oregon: e-on software, the leader in Digital Nature solutions
today announced the formal unveiling of its upcoming Vue 9 product line - scheduled for
release during the first half of November, 2010.

Among other significant advances, this new release introduces revolutionary anti-flickering
algorithms specifically engineered for the rendering of large, ultra-detailed natural
environments.

Thanks to this breakthrough rendering technology, e-on software anticipates that this new
release will extend the use of Vue beyond the scope of matte paintings into the realms of
fully animated 3D shots.

Release Schedule and Product Lineup

E-on software expects to release the entire Vue 9 product line in the first half of November
2010*.

The Vue 9 product line is architectured around the same three-tiered family structure:

* Vue 9 for CG Professionals: Vue 9 Infinite and Vue 9 xStream.

Offers CG professionals the premiere solution for creating exceptionally rich and realistic
Digital Nature environments with seamless integration into any production workflow.
* Vue 9 for 3D Artists: Vue 9 Esprit, Vue 9 Studio and Vue 9 Complete.
Provides 3D artists with powerful modular applications to create rich 3D Digital Nature
scenery and landscapes.
* Vue 9 for 3D Enthusiasts: Vue 9 Pioneer, Theme-Packs and Vue 9 Frontier.
Published by Cornucopia3D, powered by e-on software, these products feature content-
filled, easy-to-use scenic nature creation for home and family use, with Vue 9 Frontier
specifically dedicated to Poser™ and Daz|Studio™ users.

*Professional solutions will ship first, followed closely by products for 3D Artists and 3D
Enthusiasts.

Next Generation Features

Capitalizing on breakthrough technologies introduced in previous versions, Vue 9 adds a

number of new and extended features such as:

* New flicker reduction algorithms: Vue 9 proudly introduces new flicker reduction
algorithms developed by e-on software. These algorithms produce animated renders with a
noticeably reduced amount of flickering, reinforcing Vue as the ultimate solution for
rendering animated natural environments.
* Faster Rendering: thanks to internal refactoring, Vue 9 renders up to 30% faster than
previous versions!
* Relighting: to instantly adjust the lighting of the scene after the render completes – lights
can be turned on and off, colors can be changed, all in real-time!
* Interactive Network Rendering: thanks to advanced data fragmentation and caching for
the distribution of scenes to the rendering nodes, Vue 9 allows for completely interactive
network rendering. Scenes are rendered to the screen while the network is handled in the
background automatically.
* Improved Terrain Editor: Contextual brushes and fully customizable terrain brushes,
automatic Terrain Retopology, Sculpting and Painting masks, Smear brush, Terrain Canvas
extension, ...
* EcoSystem 4: dramatically reduced flickering, optimized rendering and memory
management for Dynamic EcoSystems, animated EcoSystem populations, and more ...
* HDR Multi-Pass Rendering,
* HyperBlob Technology: convert HyperTextured MetaBlobs to polygon objects with user
defined LOD - ideal for the creation of extremely rich and detailed rock formations,
* Custom Interfaces: to create simplified high-level controls and access these controls
directly from the material editor, the terrain editor or the object editors!
* Auto Saving and Scene Snapshots: this unique and innovative technology automatically
saves the scenes in the background, while working, without interfering with the user
workflow!
* And much more (Rocky Mountains fractals, Inverse Kinematics, Cloud Radiosity, Real-
World units, Catmull-Clark subdivision, improved texture management, native Cocoa, new
interface design, ...)
1.1.4 Features
Here are some highlights of POV-Ray's features:

 Easy to use scene description language.

 Large library of stunning example scene files.
 Standard include files that pre-define many shapes, colors and textures.
 Very high quality output image files (up to 48-bit color).
 16 and 24 bit color display on many computer platforms using appropriate hardware.
 Create landscapes using smoothed height fields.
 Many camera types, including perspective, orthographic, fisheye, etc.
 Spotlights, cylindrical lights and area lights for sophisticated lighting.
 Photons for realistic, reflected and refracted, caustics. Photons also interact with media.
 Phong and specular highlighting for more realistic-looking surfaces.
 Inter-diffuse reflection (radiosity) for more realistic lighting.
 Atmospheric effects like atmosphere, ground-fog and rainbow.
 Particle media to model effects like clouds, dust, fire and steam.
 Several image file output formats including Targa, BMP (Windows only), PNG and PPM.
 Basic shape primitives such
as ... spheres, boxes, quadrics, cylinders, cones, triangle and planes.
 Advanced shape primitives such as ... Tori (donuts), bezier patches, height
fields (mountains), blobs, quartics, smooth triangles, text, superquadrics, surfaces of
revolution, prisms,polygons, lathes, fractals, isosurfaces and the parametric object.
 Shapes can easily be combined to create new complex shapes using Constructive Solid
Geometry (CSG). POV-Ray supports unions, merges, intersections and differences.
 Objects are assigned materials called textures (a texture describes the coloring and surface
properties of a shape) and interior properties such as index of refraction and particle
media (formerly known as "halos").
 Built-in color and normal
patterns: Agate, Bozo, Bumps, Checker, Crackle, Dents, Granite, Gradient, Hexagon, Leopar
d, Mandel, Marble, Onion, Quilted, Ripples, Spotted, Spiral,Radial, Waves, Wood, Wrinkles a
nd image file mapping. Or build your own pattern using functions.
 Users can create their own textures or use pre-defined textures such as ... Brass, Chrome,
Copper, Gold, Silver, Stone, Wood.
 Combine textures using layering of semi-transparent textures or tiles of textures or material
map files.
 Display preview of image while rendering (not available on all platforms).
 Halt and save a render part way through, and continue rendering the halted partial render
later.
What is Rendering?

 Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model, by means of computer programs.

 The model is a description of three dimensional objects in a strictly defined language or data
structure. It would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, and shading information.

 Based on a solid ray-tracing foundation, Vue’s render engine incorporates all of today’s high-end
features, yet stands out in its ability to handle huge poly counts quickly and efficiently.

What is Ray Tracing?

 Ray tracing is a technique for generating an image by tracing the path of light through pixels in
an image plane and simulating the effects of its encounters with virtual objects.

 The technique is capable of producing a very high degree of visual realism, usually higher than
that of typical scanline rendering methods.

 About e-on software

 E-on software is the leading developer of solutions for the creation, animation, rendering and
integration of natural 3D environments. Offering a wide array of Digital Nature products and
applications, e-on software provides solutions adapted to every project and budget. E-on software
products are used worldwide by the film, television, architecture, game, science, educational and
entertainment industries.

E-on Software Ships Vue 9 Infinite and Vue 9 xStream

VUE 9 FOR 3D ARTISTS AND 3D ENTHUSIASTS SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE MID NOVEMBER

November 04, 2010. Beaverton, Oregon: e-on software, the leader in Digital Nature solutions today
announced the immediate availability of its Vue 9 line of products for CG Professionals.
"Vue 9 includes a wide array of rich new features and performance enhancements for creating Digital
Nature scenery with more precision and power than ever before", said Nicholas Phelps, President of e-on
Software. "We believe our valued customers will find that Vue 9 continues to set the pace as the leading
Digital Nature solution across the many diverse markets we serve including architecture, animation, special
effects, broadcast, art & illustration, and scientific."
In order to assure a smooth transition, and to avoid order processing congestion, e-on software also
announced that it will release the rest of the Vue 9 product line – Pioneer & Theme-packs, Frontier, Esprit,
Studio and Complete – mid November 2010.

Vue 9 xStream – The Integrated Solution:

Vue 9 xStream, e-on’s flagship solution, offers CG professionals the premiere solution for creating
exceptionally rich and realistic Digital Nature environments, fully immersed within Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya,
and Softimage, Maxon Cinema 4D or Newtek LightWave. All Vue tools are fully integrated in the host
application as menus and toolbars and directly accessible from within the host interface, providing
immediate access to the most advanced 3D environment creation technologies.
Vue 9 Infinite – The Standalone Solution:
Vue 9 Infinite offers CG professionals the premiere solution for creating exceptionally rich and realistic
Digital Nature environments in a stand-alone package. Vue 9 Infinite is the ideal tool for multimedia and
entertainment professionals, architects and graphics designers.

Next Generation Features

Among other significant advances, this new release introduces revolutionary anti-flickering algorithms
specifically engineered for the rendering of large, ultra-detailed natural environments.
Thanks to this breakthrough rendering technology, e-on software anticipates that this new release will
extend the use of Vue beyond the scope of matte paintings and into the realm of fully animated 3D shots.
Capitalizing on breakthrough technologies introduced in previous versions, Vue 9 adds a number of new and
extended features such as:
 New flicker reduction algorithms: Vue 9 proudly introduces new flicker reduction algorithms
developed by e-on software. These algorithms produce animated renders with a noticeably reduced amount
of flickering in a third of the time*, reinforcing Vue as the ultimate solution for rendering animated natural
environments. Watch the new flicker reduction algorithms in action!

 Faster Rendering: thanks to internal refactoring, Vue 9 renders up to 30% faster than previous

versions!

 Relighting: instantly adjusts the lighting of the scene after the render completes – lights can be turned
on and off, colors can be changed, all in real-time! Watch Relighting in action!

 Interactive Network Rendering: using advanced data fragmentation and caching for the distribution of
scenes to the rendering nodes, Vue 9 allows for completely interactive network rendering. Scenes are
rendered to the screen while the network is handled in the background automatically.

 Improved Terrain Editor: improvements include contextual brushes and fully customizable terrain
brushes, automatic Terrain Retopology, Sculpting and Painting masks, Smear brush, Terrain Canvas
extension, ...

 EcoSystem 4: includes dramatically reduced flickering, optimized rendering and memory management
for Dynamic EcoSystems, animated EcoSystem populations, and more... Watch EcoSystem 4 in action!

 HDR Multi-Pass Rendering,

 HyperBlob Technology: converts HyperTextured MetaBlobs to polygon objects with user defined LOD -
ideal for the creation of extremely rich and detailed rock formations!

 Custom Interfaces: create simplified high-level controls and access these controls directly from the
material editor, the terrain editor or the object editors!

 Auto Saving and Scene Snapshots: this unique and innovative technology automatically saves the
scenes in the background, while working, without interfering with the user workflow!

 And much more (Rocky Mountains fractals, Inverse Kinematics, Cloud Radiosity, Real-World units,
Catmull-Clark subdivision, improved texture management, native Cocoa, new interface design, ...)

More details on the new features are available on the e-on software website, at:
www.e-onsoftware.com/infinite and www.e-onsoftware.com/xstream

* Compared to the same render settings in Vue 8.5

Pricing and Availability
Standard Retail Price:
Vue 9 xStream retails for $1,790 (with one year maintenance), and upgrades from Vue 8 xStream starting
at $395. Vue 9 Infinite retails for $1,190 (with one year maintenance), with upgrades from Vue 8 Infinite
starting at $295 (see full product pricelist at /www.e-onsoftware.com/pricelist for details).
Annual subscriptions for Educational licenses of Vue xStream and Infinite are available respectively for $149
and $99 per seat and per year. Upgrades to Vue 9 are free for owners of active educational licenses.
Site licensing discounts are available for both products. Contact e-on software for further details and pricing
information.
Following the terms of the complimentary 30 day maintenance included with each new purchase, customers
who purchased Vue 8.5 xStream or Vue 8.5 Infinite after October 04, 2010 will automatically receive their
upgrade to Vue 9 at no charge.
Yearly maintenance plans are available for both products. More information on e-on software’s maintenance
plans can be found at: www.e-onsoftware.com/maintenance