Copyright: Vue d'Esprit 2 Electronic Documentation ©1998 Vue d'Esprit Sarl.


General overview
Overview of Vue d'Esprit 2

Welcome to Vue d'Esprit 2 Demo.

This demo lets you freely test an -almost- fully functionnal copy of Vue d’Esprit 2 for a period of 30 days.  Here are some of the astounding features of Vue d’Esprit 2: • Multi-threaded technology for lightning fast response • Comprehensive World browser to navigate inside scenes • SolidGrowth™ vegetation generator • Soft shadows, depth of field, blurred reflection/transparency The restrictions of the demo are: • Picture size limited to 640x480 • Saving scenes is not allowed • Anti-aliasing, soft shadows, depth of field, blurred reflections and transparencies are not available. The full version of Vue d’Esprit 2 is suplied with a 170 pages documentation, over 250 materials, over 30 atmospheric presets, 16 sample scenes and some other vegetation species.
	About Vue d'Esprit:  Ordering Vue d’Esprit 2, System requirements, Features, Legal aspects...
	Kick Start Tutorial: A quick tutorial to help you discover the software in a series of easy steps.
	About the Interface: Overview of the interface, with a detailed description of the main controls.
	Menu Commands: Description of the effects of each menu command and corresponding dialog boxes.
	Quick Reference Tutorials: Frequently asked questions, exercises and advanced techniques to improve your pictures.
	Editors and Other Dialogs: Material, Terrain, Function, Color map, Filter...editors, plus other dialogs.

Check out the official Vue d'Esprit site on the Internet at the following URL:

www.e-onsoftware.com

You'll find new vegetations, pictures, landscapes, materials... to download, plus hints and tips on getting better pictures.

Don’t forget to download the new vegetations that are readily available (some for free!).

We are very keen on seeing what you do with our software, so don't forget to send your personal creations, and of course, comments and suggestions.


Version bridée
About Vue d'Esprit

This is the Demo version of Vue d'Esprit 2.

The full version of Vue d’Esprit 2 is supplied on CD-ROM together with a 170 pages printed documentation. The main topics of the documentation are: • Gettings Started • Interface Overview • Understanding Vue d’Esprit • Building Scenes • Creating Objects • Framing and Rendering • Working with the Editors • Tutorials The documentation also includes a study of the “ Basics on Framing and Composition ”, plus elaborate tutorials (such as using Boolean objects, making clouds, faking volumetric lights, making distant planets and forests, creating underwater scenes, simulating rain...).
On the CD-ROM you will find new vegetations, new sample scenes, numerous objects, over 250 materials, and over 30 atmospheric presets.

By ordering the full version of Vue d’Esprit 2 you become a registered user. This grants you access rights to the restricted areas of the website where you can download new vegetation species, new materials, new objects, new scenes, and much, much more...

The About Vue d'Esprit command in the help menu displays information relative to the version of the software currently installed on your computer.

Select one of the following topics:

Ordering Vue d’Esprit 2

System requirements

Features

Understanding Vue d’Esprit

Importing v1.2 materials and landscapes

Legal aspects

Jpeg handler based on work from the Independent JPEG Group, jpeg-info@uunet.uu.net


Ordering Vue d'Esprit 2
Ordering Vue d’Esprit 2

To find out how to order from your country, and what price is Vue d’Esprit 2, please select your country in the following list:

	United States / Canada
	Europe
	Australia / New Zealand
	Other Parts of the World


Ordering from US and Canada
Ordering From U.S. and Canada

The price of Vue d’Esprit 2 is US$ 99.- (+US$ 10.- S&H). From Canada, it is CAN$ 135.- (+CAN$ 15.- S&H). If you are a registered user, the price is only US$ 65.- (CAN$ 85).

Order Forms should be returned to:

e-on software inc. Software Registration 6, rue du Général Guilhem 75011 PARIS - FRANCE Fax: (int'l) 33 1 43 55 36 71	or	e-on software UK Software Registration Flat 2, 103 Pitmaston Road Hall Green - BIRMINGHAM B28 9PW UNITED KINGDOM

Online Orders

Connect to our website and fill in the secure online registration form. Your account will be charged US$ 99.- per license, + US$ 10.- (S&H).

Please note that only Visa, MasterCard and EuroCard credit cards are accepted.

Credit Card Orders

Simply send (or fax to International + 33 1 43 55 36 71) the completed Order Form together with your credit card information (Card number + expiration date). Your account will be charged US$ 99.- per license, + US$ 10.- (S&H).

Warning: do not send your credit card information through unsecure e-mail.

Please note that only Visa, MasterCard and EuroCard credit cards are accepted. Please don’t forget to sign the order form...

Check Orders

Send the completed Order Form together with a personal check or cashier's check drawn on a US or Canadian bank.

Other Orders

Send the completed Order Form together with either

•	an international money order

•	a simultaneous transfer to the following bank account: American Express Bank, 11 rue Scribe, 75440 PARIS CEDEX 09 (France), Beneficiary N.Phelps, 0201019833. Please don't forget to write on the coupon (small part) your name, address and country!

•	cash : US$ 100.- (including S&H, no coins please), at your own risk!


Ordering From Europe

The price of Vue d’Esprit 2 is FF 690.- (+FF 50.- S&H), including Value Added Tax (20.6%). From the UK, it is LB£ 69.- (+LB£ 5.- S&H). If you are a registered user, the price is only FF 540.- (LB£ 54).

Order Forms should be returned to:

e-on software inc. Software Registration 6, rue du Général Guilhem 75011 PARIS - FRANCE Fax: (int'l) 33 1 43 55 36 71	or	e-on software UK Software Registration Flat 2, 103 Pitmaston Road Hall Green - BIRMINGHAM B28 9PW UNITED KINGDOM

Online Orders

Connect to our website and fill in the secure online registration form. Your account will be charged US$ 119.- per license, + US$ 10.- (S&H).

Please note that only Visa, MasterCard and EuroCard credit cards are accepted.

Credit Card Orders

Simply send (or fax to International + 33 1 43 55 36 71) the completed Order Form together with your credit card information (Card number + expiration date). Your account will be charged US$ 119.- per license, + US$ 10.- (S&H).

Warning: do not send your credit card information through unsecure e-mail.

Please note that only Visa, MasterCard and EuroCard credit cards can be accepted. Please don’t forget to sign the order form...

Check Orders

Send the completed Order Form together with a personal check or cashier's check drawn on a French or British bank, or with an Eurocheque.

Other Orders

Send the completed Order Form together with either

•	an international money order

•	a simultaneous transfer (US$ 119.- per license, + US$ 10.- S&H) to the following bank account: American Express Bank, 11 rue Scribe, 75440 PARIS CEDEX 09 (France), Beneficiary N.Phelps, 0201019833. Please don't forget to write on the coupon (small part) your name, address and country!

•	cash : FF 700.- or LB£ 70.- (no coins please), at your own risk!


Ordering From Australia and New Zealand

The price of Vue d’Esprit 2 is US$ 99.- (+US$ 15.- S&H). If you are a registered user, the price is only US$ 65.-.

Order Forms should be returned to:

e-on software inc. Software Registration 6, rue du Général Guilhem 75011 PARIS - FRANCE Fax: (int'l) 33 1 43 55 36 71	or	e-on software UK Software Registration Flat 2, 103 Pitmaston Road Hall Green - BIRMINGHAM B28 9PW UNITED KINGDOM

Online Orders

Connect to our website and fill in the secure online registration form. Your account will be charged US$ 99.- per license, + US$ 10.- (S&H).

Please note that only Visa, MasterCard and EuroCard credit cards are accepted.

Credit Card Orders

Simply send (or fax to International + 33 1 43 55 36 71) the completed Order Form together with your credit card information (Card number + expiration date). Your account will be charged US$ 99.- per license, +US$ 15.- (S&H).

Warning: do not send your credit card information through unsecure e-mail.

Please note that only Visa, MasterCard and EuroCard credit cards can be accepted. Please don’t forget to sign the order form...

Check Orders

Send the completed Order Form together with a personal check or cashier's check drawn on a US bank.

Other Orders

Send the completed Order Form together with either

•	an international money order

•	a simultaneous transfer (US$ 99.- per license, + US$ 15.- S&H) to the following bank account: American Express Bank, 11 rue Scribe, 75440 PARIS CEDEX 09 (France), Beneficiary N.Phelps, 0201019833. Please don't forget to write on the coupon (small part) your name, address and country!

•	cash : US$ 100.- (including S&H, no coins please), at your own risk!


Ordering from the rest of the world
Ordering From other Parts of the World

The price of Vue d’Esprit 2 is US$ 99.- (+US$ 15.- S&H). If you are a registered user, the price is only US$ 65.-.

Order Forms should be returned to:

e-on software inc. Software Registration 6, rue du Général Guilhem 75011 PARIS - FRANCE Fax: (int'l) 33 1 43 55 36 71	or	e-on software UK Software Registration Flat 2, 103 Pitmaston Road Hall Green - BIRMINGHAM B28 9PW UNITED KINGDOM

Online Orders

Connect to our website and fill in the secure online registration form. Your account will be charged US$ 99.- per license, + US$ 10.- (S&H).

Please note that only Visa, MasterCard and EuroCard credit cards are accepted.

Credit Card Orders

Simply send (or fax to International + 33 1 43 55 36 71) the completed Order Form together with your credit card information (Card number + expiration date). Your account will be charged US$ 99.- per license, +US$ 15.- (S&H).

Warning: do not send your credit card information through unsecure e-mail.

Please note that only Visa, MasterCard and EuroCard credit cards can be accepted. Please don’t forget to sign the order form...

Check Orders

Send the completed Order Form together with a personal check or cashier's check drawn on a US bank.

Other Orders

Send the completed Order Form together with either

•	an international money order

•	a simultaneous transfer (US$ 99.- per license, + US$ 15.- S&H) to the following bank account: American Express Bank, 11 rue Scribe, 75440 PARIS CEDEX 09 (France), Beneficiary N.Phelps, 0201019833. Please don't forget to write on the coupon (small part) your name, address and country!

•	cash : US$ 100.- (including S&H, no coins please), at your own risk!


Ordering from the rest of the world
US and Canada Order Form

Please print and complete the following order form, and send it to:

e-on software inc. Software Registration 6, rue du Général Guilhem 75011 PARIS - FRANCE Fax: (int'l) 33 1 43 55 36 71	or	e-on software UK Software Registration Flat 2, 103 Pitmaston Road Hall Green - BIRMINGHAM B28 9PW UNITED KINGDOM

_______________________________

Vue d’Esprit 2 - Order Form - US and Canada
Name:	______________________________________________________________
Company:	______________________________________________________________
Address:	______________________________________________________________
ZIP Code:	______________________	Town: _________________________________
State / Country:	______________________________________________________________
Phone / Fax:	___________________________ / ________________________________
E-mail:	______________________________________________________________
Number of copies:	_______ x US$ 99 / CAN$ 135 = ________________
Shipping and Handling :	+ US$ 10 / CAN$  20 = ________________
Total:	________________
Payment :	( ) Check ( ) Cash ( ) Credit Card: ( ) Other:	N°: _______________________ Expires: ______ ___________________________________________
Where did you get the Vue d’Esprit 2 Demo? (WebSite, Magazine)

___________________________________________________________________________

Comments, suggestions?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Date: ________________	Signature: _________________________________________

_______________________________


Ordering from the rest of the world
Europe Order Form

Please print and complete the following order form, and send it to:

e-on software inc. Software Registration 6, rue du Général Guilhem 75011 PARIS - FRANCE Fax: (int'l) 33 1 43 55 36 71	or	e-on software UK Software Registration Flat 2, 103 Pitmaston Road Hall Green - BIRMINGHAM B28 9PW UNITED KINGDOM

_______________________________

Vue d’Esprit 2 - Order Form - Europe
Name:	______________________________________________________________
Company:	______________________________________________________________
Address:	______________________________________________________________
ZIP Code:	______________________	Town: _________________________________
State / Country:	______________________________________________________________
Phone / Fax:	___________________________ / ________________________________
E-mail:	______________________________________________________________
Number of copies:	_______ x FF 690 / LB£ 69 / US$ 119 = ____________
Shipping and Handling :	+ FF  50 / LB£  5 / US$  10 = ____________
Total:	____________
Payment :	( ) Check ( ) Cash ( ) Credit Card: ( ) Other:	N°: _______________________ Expires: ______ ___________________________________________
Where did you get the Vue d’Esprit 2 Demo? (WebSite, Magazine)

___________________________________________________________________________

Comments, suggestions?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Date: ________________	Signature: _________________________________________

_______________________________


Ordering from the rest of the world
Australia and New Zealand Order Form

Please print and complete the following order form, and send it to:

e-on software inc. Software Registration 6, rue du Général Guilhem 75011 PARIS - FRANCE Fax: (int'l) 33 1 43 55 36 71	or	e-on software UK Software Registration Flat 2, 103 Pitmaston Road Hall Green - BIRMINGHAM B28 9PW UNITED KINGDOM

_______________________________

Vue d’Esprit 2 - Order Form - Australia and New Zealand
Name:	______________________________________________________________
Company:	______________________________________________________________
Address:	______________________________________________________________
ZIP Code:	______________________	Town: _________________________________
State / Country:	______________________________________________________________
Phone / Fax:	___________________________ / ________________________________
E-mail:	______________________________________________________________
Number of copies:	_____ x US$ 99 = US$ ________
Shipping and Handling :	+ US$    15
Total:	US$ ________
Payment :	( ) Cash ( ) Credit Card: ( ) Other:	N°: _________________________ Expires: ______ _____________________________________________
Where did you get the Vue d’Esprit 2 Demo? (WebSite, Magazine)

___________________________________________________________________________

Comments, suggestions?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Date: ________________	Signature: _________________________________________

_______________________________

Order Form

Please print and complete the following order form, and send it to:

e-on software inc. Software Registration 6, rue du Général Guilhem 75011 PARIS - FRANCE Fax: (int'l) 33 1 43 55 36 71	or	e-on software UK Software Registration Flat 2, 103 Pitmaston Road Hall Green - BIRMINGHAM B28 9PW UNITED KINGDOM

_______________________________

Vue d’Esprit 2 - Order Form
Name:	______________________________________________________________
Company:	______________________________________________________________
Address:	______________________________________________________________
ZIP Code:	______________________	Town: _________________________________
State / Country:	______________________________________________________________
Phone / Fax:	___________________________ / ________________________________
E-mail:	______________________________________________________________
Number of copies:	_____ x US$ 99 = US$ ________
Shipping and Handling :	+ US$    15
Total:	US$ ________
Payment :	( ) Check ( ) Cash ( ) Credit Card: ( ) Other	(US$ only) N°: _______________________ Expires: ______ ___________________________________________
Where did you get the Vue d’Esprit 2 Demo? (WebSite, Magazine)

___________________________________________________________________________

Comments, suggestions?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Date: ________________	Signature: _________________________________________

_______________________________


System Requirements

Vue d'Esprit 2 was designed to run under Windows 95™, Windows 98™, and Windows NT4™.

Like all 3D packages, it is highly demanding in terms of computer power. Although the outstanding multi-threaded technology it uses guarantees the fastest possible response, we feel that running it on a 16MB, 100MHz Pentium™ computer, or better, is best suited.

However, Vue d'Esprit 2 can be used on less powerful machines; if you experience delays in the updating of your scene, turn down details in the wireframe previews. This will speed up response.

Although any resolution and color depth can be used to run the software, we recommend using a resolution of at least 800x600, in 65K colors. While the software will operate under big or non standard font sizes, it was really designed for standard, small fonts. Using such modes may result in small visual defects.


Features

This new version adds numerous features to the already impressive list of v1.2.

Vue d'Esprit v1.2 rendered incredibly realistic pictures using an elaborate ray-tracing engine together with complex natural lighting effects. The new render engine retains all of these features, while being strongly optimized. It is up to 5 times faster… And it now handles extremely subtle and realistic effects such as soft shadows, blurred reflections and transparencies, realistic depth of field, and much, much more...

Here is a list of some of the new features added to Vue d'Esprit 2:

•	Multi-threaded technology

•	Fast, interactive wireframe previews

•	Vegetation

•	Multiple light sources

•	Support for imported 3D meshes

•	Groups and Boolean operations

•	Contextual object properties panel

•	World browser for fast object navigation

•	Multiple layers to organize scenes

•	Support for multiple objects

•	USGS DEM terrain file import

•	Primitive objects

•	Visual browsers

•	Undo command

•	Save after render feature

•	Atmospheric presets

•	Terrain editor

•	Painting inside terrains

•	4 types of erosion

•	12 geological effects

•	8 terrain styles

•	5 times faster rendering

•	Render quality presets

•	Precise render quality control

•	Preset picture aspect ratios

•	Panoramic renderings

•	Fractalized function layers

•	Numerous function layers

•	Layer combination modes

•	Multiple cloud layers

•	Automatic picture mapping

•	Drop objects command

•	Scatter objects command

•	Ability  to store camera settings

•	Object saving with preview


Importing v1.2 materials and landscapes
Legal Aspects

LICENSE AGREEMENT - Vue d'Esprit 2 Demo

THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU, THE END USER, AND Vue d’Esprit, Sarl. IT IS A LICENSE AGREEMENT, AND NOT AN AGREEMENT FOR SALE. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SOFTWARE. BY USING THE SOFTWARE YOU ARE AGREEING AND INDICATING YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IF YOU DISAGREE WITH ANY OF THE FOLLOWING, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE THE SOFTWARE AND MUST REMOVE IT ENTIRELY FROM YOUR SYSTEM.

Trademarks

Vue d’Esprit and SolidGrowth are trademarks of Vue d’Esprit, Sarl.

Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft, Inc.

Photoshop is a trademark of Adobe, Inc.

All other product and brand names mentioned in this manual are used for identification purposes only. They may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and, as such, remain the exclusive property of their respective holders.

Copyright

The Vue d'Esprit 2 Demo (Software) is owned by Vue d’Esprit, Sarl and are protected by U.S. copyright law as well as by international intellectual property conventions.

You are entitled to use the Software for a trial period of thirty (30) days. After this trial period, you must either purchase the full version of Vue d'Esprit 2, or remove entirely the Software from your system. You are allowed to copy the Software and to give to any other person, as long as it is not modified in any way. Under modifications is understood the changing, adding, or removing of any files of the Software without the express written permission of Vue d'Esprit, Sarl. You are not allowed to pack the Software together with a commercial program, a book, or a magazine without the express written permission of Vue d'Esprit, Sarl. Shareware dealers are allowed to sell the Software for a small fee (around US$ 10).

Any portion of the Software merged into or used in conjunction with another program will continue to be the property of Vue d’Esprit, Sarl. and subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. You must reproduce and include the Vue d’Esprit, Sarl. copyright notice on any portion merged in or used in conjunction with another program.

Restrictions

You may not alter, modify, translate or adapt the Software. In addition, you may not decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer the Software. You also may not create any derivative works based on the Software. A derivative work is defined as a translation or other form in which the Software may be recast, transformed or adapted.

Term

This license granted to you is effective until terminated. You may terminate it at any time by removing the Software from your system together with all copies, modifications, and merged portions in any form. The license will also terminate upon conditions set forth elsewhere in the Agreement, or if you fail to comply with any term or condition of this Agreement. Upon termination, Vue d’Esprit, Sarl. can also enforce any rights provided by law. The provision of this Agreement which protects the proprietary rights of Vue d’Esprit, Sarl. will continue in force after termination.

No Warranty

By no means does Vue d'Esprit, Sarl. warrant the Software in any way. No distributor, dealer, or any other entity or person has authorization to expand or alter either this warranty or any term of this Agreement. Any such representations will not bind Vue d’Esprit, Sarl.

Vue d'Esprit, Sarl. does not warrant that the functions contained in the Software will meet your requirements, or that the operation of the Software will be uninterrupted and error-free. The Software is provided as-is, without any other warranty or representation of any kind, either express or implied concerning the Software, or use of the Software, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of quality, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Using the Software is at your own risks, and in no event shall Vue d’Esprit, Sarl. be liable for any damage whatsoever (including without limitation, special, incidental, consequential, or indirect damages for personal injury, loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or any other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use the Software o, even if Vue d’Esprit, Sarl. has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

The warranties and remedies set forth above are exclusive and in lieu of all others, oral or written, express or implied.

Vue d'Esprit, Sarl. is not responsible for any costs including, but not limited to, those incurred as a result of lost profits or revenue, loss of time or use of the Software, loss of data, the costs of recovering such Software or data, the cost of substitue software, claims by third parties, of other similar costs.

The warranties provided give you specific legal rights. You may have other rights which vary from state to state. Some states do not allow the exclusion of incidental or consequential damages, or the limitation of how long an implied warranty lasts, so some of the above may not apply to you.


Importing v1.2 Materials and Landscapes

Although materials and landscapes created with version 1.2 can be imported into Vue d’Esprit v2, so many things have changed in this new version that you should understand these may not render identically.

To import a v1.2 landscape, click File in the Open File browser, and select the v1.2 landscape extension (*.psg) from the file formats dropdown list. Importing v1.2 materials is transparent.


Menu commands
Description of Menu Commands

Following is a list of all Menu commands available in Vue d'Esprit. Select the one you would like to see explained.

Keyboard shortcuts are available for most of these commands. They are displayed alongside the name of the command (e.g. "New Ctrl+N " means that pressing Control and N together will perform New).

File Menu:

New...  Open... Save Save as...	Options...  Exit
Edit Menu:

Undo  Cut  Copy  Paste  Duplicate  Select by... Select by wireframe color Select by object type  Select by object material  Select all   Walk selection  Deselect all	Align... Align centers vertically  Align centers horizontally  Align top sides  Align bottom sides  Align left sides  Align right sides  Flip... Flip vertically Flip horizontally  Drop objects Scatter objects
Objects Menu:

Create... Water Ground plane Cloud plane Sphere Cylinder Cube Cone Pyramid Plane Terrain Terrain in editor... Vegetation Load vegetation... Add light... Point light Spot light Directional light	Group objects Make Boolean object... Boolean difference Boolean union Boolean intersection Ungroup objects Change object material... Edit object... Load object... Import object... Save object...
Atmosphere Menu:

Load atmosphere... Save atmosphere...	Sun and light...  Sky and clouds...  Fog and haze...
Display Menu:

Store camera settings...  Activate camera settings  Frame all / selected objects Frame selected area  Zoom into view  Zoom out of view  Manual zoom	Display material summary  Display control bar Display object tool bar Display object information Only display main view
Picture Menu:

Select render area  Render options...  Render Resume render	Display last render  Save last render...
Help Menu:

Overview Kick start turorial  About the interface	(Menu items) Quick reference tutorial  About Vue d'Esprit...


New scene
New...

This is where you start from: select this command to create a new scene. The Visual browser pops-up, offering you a selection of predefined atmospheres to choose from. Select one and click OK to create the new scene.

The key to a successful picture is often the atmosphere it evokes. This is why you should take great care in selecting the appropriate atmosphere.

After having worked for a while, you may suddenly realize that the atmosphere you chose at the beginning is no longer the best suited. Relax… the Objects | Load atmosphere command lets you load another atmosphere anytime.

Parameters that describe the atmosphere are numerous, and creating an atmosphere from scratch can be a complex and time consuming process. This is why Vue d’Esprit offers a list of predefined atmospheres. Choosing one of these will allow you to start building your scene from a good basis. You may decide later that you want to adjust such and such a setting to improve the atmosphere of your scene.

The new scene is created with the following elements:

•	A ground at altitude 0,

•	A directional light (often called sun light),

•	And the camera.

All these objects are placed in the first layer.

If you had already created or modified a scene before selecting New, Vue d’Esprit will ask if you would like to save it first.


Loading a landscape
Open...

When you select this command, a Visual browser appears, letting you select the file you would like to open. Browse through existing collections, or use the File button to access the file directly. As you will notice, files are previewed in the browser by small pictures; it sometimes happens that no picture, or only part of it is available for your file (depending on what you rendered last before saving). This is not a defect, and rendering completely the scene before saving it will restore the correct preview.

When you are done, press OK.

The file is loaded. Please note that, depending on the size of the file, this can take some amount of time...

If you had already created or modified a scene before selecting Open, Vue d’Esprit will ask if you would like to save it first.

All Vue d'Esprit scenes have the extension ".vue".

At the bottom of the File Menu, between the Options and Exit commands is a list of the most recently used files. Selecting one of these will load the indicated file without having to use the browser.


Saving a landscape
Save

Demo version: this command is not available.

The effect of this command can be:

•	Save the current scene under the same filename, if it has already been saved,

•	Prompt you to indicate the filename under which the scene should be saved if this is a new scene (named Noname.vue).

If you would like to save the scene under another filename, select the menu command File | Save as...

All Vue d'Esprit scenes have the extension ".vue".


Saving a landscape as...
Save as...

Demo version: this command is not available.

This command lets you to save the current scene under another filename.

When you select it, the File browser pops-up, letting you select the new filename. You may add a title and a comment to the file (recommended). These will be displayed in the scene Visual browser.

All Vue d'Esprit scenes have the extension ".vue".


Preferences
Options

Selecting this command displays the Options dialog. This dialog lets you customize the way Vue d’Esprit behaves.

General Preferences

You may activate or de-activate features from the list by checking or unchecking the corresponding boxes. The options are:

Save configuration upon exit: unchecking this will prevent Vue d’Esprit from saving your configuration when you exit the software. It is not recommended…

Save landscape with small picture…: whenever you save a landscape, Vue d’Esprit stores inside the file a thumbnail picture of the landscape. This thumbnail is then used in the Landscape browser. Unchecking this will yield black previews for all landscapes.

Render small picture of objects…: when you save an object, Vue d’Esprit renders a thumbnail preview of it, for use in the objects browser. Unchecking this will yield black previews for all objects.

Clip objects under first horizontal plane: checking this will make all objects invisible under the clipping plane, in all views (not only in main view).

Clip objects… in main view only: checking this will make all objects invisible under the clipping plane in the main view. This is useful for the comprehension of the wireframe preview.

Stop camera going below clipping plane…: this is useful to avoid getting black renders when the camera goes inside the ground. It can be turned off for special cases when the camera should go below the clipping plane (e.g. underwater scenery).

Center views on objects selected…: turning off this feature will stop the views moving each time you select an object using the World browser.

Center zoom on mouse cursor…: checking this box will make the views center on the mouse cursor when you press the zoom buttons. This avoids having to move the views manually when you want to zoom on a given object.

Select all objects using material…: when you click on a preview of a material inside the Summary of materials dialog, all the objects that use the material in the scene are selected. Unchecking this box will disable this feature.

Reset render settings…: when you create a new landscape, render settings are automatically reset to default (i.e. Preview render quality). Unchecking this box will disable this feature.

Enable automatic primitive numbering: when you create a new object, the name of the object automatically reflects the number of objects of the same type that have already been created in this scene (e.g. “Sphere 2” means this is the second sphere you create inside this scene. The first sphere may have been deleted. Copied / duplicated objects are not counted). Unchecking this box will disable this feature.

Flash views when changing…: when you select a new wireframe color from the drop-down list of the Object properties panel, the selected objects are temporarily deselected to show that they have taken on the new color. Uncheck the box if you don’t want this to happen.

Offset duplicated objects: when you duplicate objects, the copy of the objects are offset by one nudge unit in each direction. You can disable this feature by unchecking the box. As a result, duplicated objects will be the exact copies (including position) of the initial objects. This can be useful when you are doing precise alignment.

Lock object information panels…: unchecking this will let you grab and move to another part of the screen the two panels that sit on the right of the interface (Object properties and World browser).

Make backup copies...: unchecking this box prevents Vue d’Esprit from making a backup copy of your landscape when you save it. Although making a backup is good habit, since it can avoid losing data, you may want to turn this feature off because of the extra disk space used. Backup copies have the .bak extension instead of .vue.

Wireframe Display / Quality

In order to give speedy feedback while still providing you with detailed previews, Vue d’Esprit uses two different wireframe qualities. The first is your instant feedback, the second is a multi-threaded background update using a better level of detail.

The two sliders let you customize the level of detail used in both cases. We generally don’t recommend increasing the quality of the Instant draw, since this has to be quick to keep responsive. You can however turn it down, if you feel program response is a bit slow.

Since Background draw happens without your noticing, the associated wireframe quality can be very high. Selecting the same quality for Instant and Background draw will avoid the views switching quality all the time.

Default Preview Options

This lets you customize the previews of materials and functions, using the Preview options dialog. If you check the Override saved options box, these options will be used when you load a material or a function, instead of those which were saved alongside the material or the function.

Click OK to accept the changes.


Exiting Vue d'Esprit
Exit

Select this command when you want to exit Vue d'Esprit.

You can also exit by double-clicking the system menu, by clicking the Close box on the top right of the window, or by pressing Alt+F4.

If you had already created or modified a scene before selecting Exit, Vue d’Esprit will ask if you would like to save it first.


Undo

Selecting this command will undo your last operation.

Only moving, rotating, sizing and twisting objects, together with opening Terrain or 3D Mesh editors are considered as operations. In particular, modifications of materials cannot be undone in this way (you have to use the Cancel button in the editor).


Cut

Selecting this command removes the selected objects from your scene, and stores them in the clipboard. They become available for future pasting (using the Edit | Paste menu command).

Pressing Delete destroys the selected objects, without storing them in the clipboard. Deleted objects are definitively lost.


Copy

Selecting this command copies the selected objects into the clipboard. They become available for future pasting (using the Edit | Paste menu command).

Unlike the Cut command, selecting Copy does not remove the selected objects from your scene.


Paste

This command is available only if objects have already been placed in the clipboard (either by using the Cut or Copy commands).

Selecting this command places the objects in the clipboard back into your scene. The objects are positioned in the middle of the wireframe views. Repeatedly selecting this command will generate multiple copies of the objects in the clipboard.

If you want to duplicate existing objects, using the Edit | Duplicate command is faster than Copying and then Pasting.


Duplicate

Use this command to generate a copy of the selected objects.

Unlike Copy-Pasting objects, duplicating objects will position the copies at a slight offset relative to the original, thus enabling easier selection. This feature can however be disabled using the Options dialog (Menu File | Options).


Select by Wireframe Color

This command is available only when one single object is selected.

Use this command to select all the objects in your scene that have the same wireframe color as the currently selected one. Objects are selected whatever the state of the layer they belong to (i.e. objects placed in a Hidden layer, although not visible in the wireframe views, will also be selected).

You can modify the wireframe color of an object by using the Object properties panel.


Select by Object Type

This command is available only when one single object is selected.

Use this command to select all the objects in your scene that have the same type as the currently selected one. Object types are one of the following: Infinite planes (Water, Ground or Clouds), Spheres, Cylinders, Cubes, Cones, Pyramids, Planes, Terrains, Vegetation, Point lights, Spot lights, Directional lights, Groups, Boolean Differences, Boolean Unions or Boolean Intersections.

Objects are selected whatever the state of the layer they belong to (i.e. objects placed in a Hidden layer, although not visible in the wireframe views, will also be selected).

You cannot modify the type of an object.


Select by Object Material

This command is available only when one single object is selected.

Use this command to select all the objects in your scene that are made out of the same material as the currently selected one. Objects are selected whatever the state of the layer they belong to (i.e. objects placed in a Hidden layer, although not visible in the wireframe views, will also be selected).

You can modify the material of an object by using the Object properties panel, or the Objects | Change object material command.

Clicking on a material inside the Material summary dialog will also select all the objects that are made out of this material (this feature can be disabled).


Select All

Use this command to select all the objects inside your scene.

Objects are selected whatever the state of the layer they belong to (i.e. objects placed in a Hidden layer, although not visible in the wireframe views, will also be selected).

To select all the objects inside a given layer, click on the title of that layer inside the World browser.


Walk Selection

Repeatedly selecting this command (keyboard shortcut Tab) will let you cycle through the objects that were selected. This can be of valuable help when you want to select an object that is sitting behind another one: click on the object while holding the Control key down to select all the objects under the mouse cursor, then cycle through the selected objects using the Walk selection command until the object you want is selected (another way of doing this would be to use the World browser).


Deselect All

Use this command to deselect all selected objects inside your scene.

Pressing Escape, or clicking on empty parts of the toolbars or the World browser will yield the same result.


Align Centers Vertically

This command is available only when several objects are selected.

Use this command to align the centers of selected objects vertically, relative to the active wireframe view (e.g. if the Top view is active, the objects will be lined up along the Y axis).


Align Centers Horizontally

This command is available only when several objects are selected.

Use this command to align the centers of selected objects horizontally, relative to the active wireframe view (e.g. if the Top view is active, the objects will be lined up along the X axis).


Align Top Sides

This command is available only when several objects are selected.

Use this command to make sure the top sides of the selected objects are aligned, relative to the active wireframe view (e.g. if the Top view is active, the objects will be lined up along the X axis).

Since objects are aligned using their bounding volumes, it may happen that rotated objects don't line up correctly. Un-rotate the objects, line them up, and then rotate them back.


Align Bottom Sides

This command is available only when several objects are selected.

Use this command to make sure the bottom sides of the selected objects are aligned, relative to the active wireframe view (e.g. if the Top view is active, the objects will be lined up along the X axis).

Since objects are aligned using their bounding volumes, it may happen that rotated objects don't line up correctly. Un-rotate the objects, line them up, and then rotate them back.


Align left sids
Align Left Sides

This command is available only when several objects are selected.

Use this command to make sure the left sides of the selected objects are aligned, relative to the active wireframe view (e.g. if the Top view is active, the objects will be lined up along the Y axis).

Since objects are aligned using their bounding volumes, it may happen that rotated objects don't line up correctly. Un-rotate the objects, line them up, and then rotate them back.


Align Right Sides

This command is available only when several objects are selected.

Use this command to make sure the right sides of the selected objects are aligned, relative to the active wireframe view (e.g. if the Top view is active, the objects will be lined up along the Y axis).

Since objects are aligned using their bounding volumes, it may happen that rotated objects don't line up correctly. Un-rotate the objects, line them up, and then rotate them back.


Flip Vertically

This command is available only when at least one object is selected.

Use this command to flip the selected objects vertically, relative to the active wireframe view (e.g. if the Top view is active, the objects will be flipped around the Y axis). Resulting objects are identical to the original ones, as seen in a vertical mirror.

Please note that materials are not flipped together with the objects.


Flip Horizontally

This command is available only when at least one object is selected.

Use this command to flip the selected objects horizontally, relative to the active wireframe view (e.g. if the Top view is active, the objects will be flipped around the X axis). Resulting objects are identical to the original ones, as seen in a horizontal mirror.

Please note that materials are not flipped together with the objects.


Drop Objects

This command is available only when at least one object is selected.

Use this command to drop the selected objects vertically, onto the first object that lies underneath. Objects that belong to hidden layers are not considered. If no objects are found to drop onto, a warning message is displayed, and the objects are not dropped.

As an example, this command is particularly useful when it comes to positioning trees at the surface of a terrain. Select all the trees, then move them up so that they are way above the terrain, then select Drop objects. All the trees will be positioned at the surface of the terrain. Shift-nudging them down once or twice will guarantee that they grow out of the terrain.


Scatter Objects

This command is available only when at least one object is selected. It displays the Scatter objects dialog.

This dialog lets you create multiple copies of the selected objects, while automatically moving, resizing, rotating and twisting the copies.

Check the Generate copies box if you want to generate copies of the objects that are currently selected. If you don’t check this box, the selected objects will only be scattered. If Generate copies is checked, you can indicate the number of copies you request (e.g., if you have 3 spheres selected, asking for 4 copies will generate 4x3=12 spheres).

The objects and their copies can be moved, rotated, resized or twisted, depending on what boxes are checked.

For instance, if you want the copies to me moved about, check the Move copies between… box. The limits that are indicated are those of the selected objects. Copies of the objects will be moved inside these limits.

As an example, this command is particularly useful when it comes to creating forests: create a couple of trees, select them, and then display the scatter objects dialog. Ask for 5 copies, indicate the limits of displacement and resizing, and press OK. 10 new trees will be created at various positions and sizes.


Create Water

Selecting this command will add water to your scene.

Water is created as an infinite plane (i.e. a plane that extends infinitely in all directions) made out of the default water material. This plane is positioned 10 units above the ground plane. It is placed at the top of the World browser so that it becomes the new clipping plane (all objects will be clipped under the water surface in the Main wireframe view).

Important: Using this command more than once won't result in more water being added to your scene. It will only make the scene more complex. To increase the amount of water, grab the water plane, and drag it upwards to the requested level.


Create Ground Plane

Selecting this command will add a ground plane to your scene.

A ground plane is an infinite plane (i.e. a plane that extends infinitely in all directions), made out of the default rock material. This plane is positioned at the center of the wireframe views, and it is placed at the top of the World browser so that it becomes the new clipping plane (all objects will be clipped under the ground surface in the Main wireframe view).

Important: New scenes are created with a ground plane at altitude 0. So you only need to use this command when you've deleted the ground plane, and want it back. Using this command more than once will result in several ground planes being created at the same altitude, thus making the scene more complex, without any visual difference.


Create Cloud Plane

Selecting this command will add a ground plane to your scene.

A cloud plane is an infinite plane (i.e. a plane that extends infinitely in all directions), made out of the default cloud material. This plane is positioned 100 units above the ground plane.

Important: Using this command more than once will result in several cloud planes being created at the same altitude. In order to see the different planes, you will have to change their respective altitudes.


Create Sphere

Selecting this command will add a sphere to your scene.

The sphere is created at the center of the wireframe views, with an initial size of 30 units. It is made out of the last material that was loaded into the scene.

You can modify the material of the sphere by using the Object properties panel, or the menu command Objects | Change object material when the sphere is selected.


Create Cylinder

Selecting this command will add a cylinder to your scene.

The cylinder is created at the center of the wireframe views, with an initial size of 30 units, and the vertical axis along Z. It is made out of the last material that was loaded into the scene.

You can modify the material of the cylinder by using the Object properties panel, or the menu command Objects | Change object material when the cylinder is selected.


Create Cube

Selecting this command will add a cube to your scene.

The cube is created at the center of the wireframe views, with an initial size of 30 units. It is made out of the last material that was loaded into the scene.

You can modify the material of the cube by using the Object properties panel, or the menu command Objects | Change object material when the cube is selected.


Create Cone

Selecting this command will add a cone to your scene.

The cone is created at the center of the wireframe views, with an initial size of 30 units, and the vertical axis along Z. It is made out of the last material that was loaded into the scene.

You can modify the material of the cone by using the Object properties panel, or the menu command Objects | Change object material when the cone is selected.


Create Pyramid

Selecting this command will add a pyramid to your scene.

The pyramid is created at the center of the wireframe views, with an initial size of 30 units, and the vertical axis along Z. It is made out of the last material that was loaded into the scene.

You can modify the material of the pyramid by using the Object properties panel, or the menu command Objects | Change object material when the pyramid is selected.


Create Plane

Selecting this command will add a plane to your scene.

The plane is created at the center of the wireframe views, with an initial size of 22.4 units, and the vertical axis along Z. It is made out of the last material that was loaded into the scene. Planes are particularly useful when it comes to including bitmaps inside a scene: bitmapped materials declared as "Object space" materials will map precisely on the plane.

You can modify the material of the plane by using the Object properties panel, or the menu command Objects | Change object material when the plane is selected.


Create Terrain

Selecting this command will add a terrain to your scene.

The terrain is created at the center of the wireframe views, with the initial size of the last terrain you created (default 256x256 units), and the vertical axis along Z. It is made out of the last material that was loaded into the scene.

You can modify the material of the terrain by using the Object properties panel, or the menu command Objects | Change object material when the terrain is selected.

Terrain objects use complex fractal algorithms to recreate mountainous structures. They are a special type of 3D Meshes designed to handle efficiently massive amounts of polygons. Terrains are the basic construction block used for building landscapes.

When the terrain is created, its shape is computed to look like a mountain. This shape is created randomly, and is guaranteed to be unique. No two terrains will ever yield the same shape (unless they use the same seed).

Once a terrain is generated, it can be modified by accessing the Terrain editor. This is done by double-clicking on the terrain wireframe, or by clicking the Edit button on the Object properties panel when the terrain is selected, or by selecting Edit object from the Objects menu.

Inside the terrain editor, you will be offered a large variety of tools (such as erosion, manual editing, special effects...) that will let you shape the terrain as you like.

Alternately, you can choose to create the terrain directly inside the terrain editor, by right-clicking the terrain button in the left toolbar, or by selecting the item Terrain in editor from the Objects | Create sub-menu.


Create Terrain in Editor

Selecting this command will add a terrain to your scene, letting you first decide on the size and shape of the terrain directly.

The "Create new terrain" dialog box is displayed, letting you enter the requested terrain size (anything between 1 and 2000). If you would like to generate a terrain before the Terrain editor opens, check the Generate fractal terrain box. Press OK to generate the terrain, open the terrain editor and edit the terrain.

Terrain objects use complex fractal algorithms to recreate mountainous structures. They are a special type of 3D meshes designed to handle efficiently massive amounts of polygons. Terrains are the basic construction block used for building landscapes.

When the terrain is created, its shape is computed to look like a mountain. This shape is created randomly, and is guaranteed to be unique. No two terrains will ever yield the same shape (unless they use the same seed).

Inside the terrain editor, you will be offered a large variety of tools (such as erosion, manual editing, special effects...) that will let you shape the terrain as you like. When you are done editing the terrain, press OK.

The terrain is created at the center of the wireframe views, with the requested, and the vertical axis along Z. It is made out of the last material that was loaded into the scene.

You can modify the material of the terrain by using the Object properties panel, or the menu command Objects | Change object material when the terrain is selected.


Create Vegetation

Selecting this command will add a vegetation to your scene. If this is the first time you create a vegetation in the current session, a random species is selected from available ones. If not, the vegetation that is created is of the same species as the previous one.

Vegetation objects are probably the most desired feature of Vue d'Esprit. They are generated by SolidGrowth™, a set of incredibly complex algorithms designed to grow a whole variety of plant forms. Vegetation objects are very complex objects, often comprising an equivalent of tens of thousands of polygons, and using multiple materials.

When a vegetation is created, it grows randomly inside the computer, following rules characteristic of the species. Since the resulting vegetation was grown at random, no two vegetations from the same species will ever look identical. If you look for a particular shape inside a given species, try growing several plants, and retain the one you like best.

Important: new materials should not be assigned to vegetation objects comprising multiple materials. This is best seen when the vegetation object is selected: if it has multiple materials assigned to it, the picture of the material in the Object properties panel panel will remain gray.

To change the active vegetation, right-click on the vegetation button, or select Load vegetation from the Objects | Create sub-menu. You will be presented with a browser of available species. When you select one of them, a plant from the corresponding species will be grown.

More vegetations are available (some for free) from the Vue d'Esprit website. Be sure to call by!


Load Vegetation

Selecting this command will let you choose a new vegetation species.

A Visual browser pops-up offering a selection of available species. Select the one you want, then press OK. A vegetation of the requested species is created. Future selection of the Create vegetation command from the Objects menu will create vegetations of that same species.

More vegetations are available (some for free) from the Vue d'Esprit website. Be sure to call by!

Vegetation objects are probably the most desired feature of Vue d'Esprit. They are generated by SolidGrowth™, a set of incredibly complex algorithms designed to grow a whole variety of plant forms. Vegetation objects are very complex objects, often comprising an equivalent of tens of thousands of polygons, and using multiple materials.

When a vegetation is created, it grows randomly inside the computer, following rules characteristic of the species. Since the resulting vegetation was grown at random, no two vegetations from the same species will ever look identical. If you look for a particular shape inside a given species, try growing several plants, and retain the one you like best.

Important: new materials should not be assigned to vegetation objects comprising multiple materials. This is best seen when the vegetation object is selected: if it has multiple materials assigned to it, the picture of the material in the Object properties panel will remain gray.


Add Point Light

Selecting this command will add a point light into your scene.

Point lights emit light in all directions. Light is cast from the center, with an intensity that reduces proportionately to the square of the distance from the center. They function like a typical light bulb.

Resizing the light increases its power.

Vue d'Esprit can handle truly realistic lighting effects by creating what is known as Surface lights. Unlike standard (in terms of computer imaging) lights, surface lights will produce soft, natural shadows. This feature is turned on by increasing the Softness of the light to a non zero value. This control is available in the Object properties panel, when the requested light is selected. The greater the value, the larger the surface of the light, and the more gradual the transition from light to shadow. However, since surface lights are much more computationally demanding than standard lights, it is recommended you use such effects only as necessary.


Add Spot Light

Selecting this command will add a point light into your scene.

Spot lights emit a cone of light around one direction. Light is cast from the center, with an intensity that reduces proportionately to the square of the distance from the center. Two settings let you adjust the angle of the cone (spread) and the speed at which light falls off on the side of the cone.

Resizing the light increases its power.

Vue d'Esprit can handle truly realistic lighting effects by creating what is known as Surface lights. Unlike standard (in terms of computer imaging) lights, surface lights will produce soft, natural shadows. This feature is turned on by increasing the Softness of the light to a non zero value. This control is available in the Object properties panel, when the requested light is selected. The greater the value, the larger the surface of the light, and the more gradual the transition from light to shadow. However, since surface lights are much more computationally demanding than standard lights, it is recommended you use such effects only as necessary.


Add Directional Light

Selecting this command will add a point light into your scene.

Directional lights emit light in one direction. All light rays are parallel. Directional lights are also known as Infinite lights, since they are best used to capture infinite (or near infinite) light sources, such as the sun. Since the light source is far away, the intensity of the light does not vary inside the scene. Although directional lights are displayed in the wireframes as little suns, their position inside the scene is not relevant. Only the direction at which they point is important. Checking the box that makes directional lights always point at the camera avoids misunderstanding this, since it links the direction of the light to the position of the light source. (It is usually good practice). Note that the light is not necessarily in front of the camera.

Default landscapes are created with a single white directional light, usually named "Sunlight".

Vue d'Esprit can handle truly realistic lighting effects by creating what is known as Surface lights. Unlike standard (in terms of computer imaging) lights, surface lights will produce soft, natural shadows. This feature is turned on by increasing the Softness of the light to a non zero value. This control is available in the Object properties panel, when the requested light is selected. The greater the value, the larger the surface of the light, and the more gradual the transition from light to shadow. However, since surface lights are much more computationally demanding than standard lights, it is recommended you use such effects only as necessary.


Group Objects

This command is available only when at least two objects are selected. Selecting it will group together the selected objects.

Groups behave as "bags" into which member objects are placed to organize the scene. When objects are grouped, clicking on one of them will select all the objects that belong to the group. Grouped objects are framed by a dotted box.

Like other objects, groups may be moved, rotated, resized, twisted, and have materials assigned to them. All of their member objects will be moved, rotated, resized and twisted accordingly. If you assign a new material to a group object, all member objects will take on that material. If all member objects of a group object don't use the same material, the picture of the material displayed in the Object properties panel remains gray.

Member objects may be added, removed or modified inside a group using the World browser.


Make Boolean Difference

This command is available only when at least two objects are selected. Selecting it will make a Boolean difference from the selected objects.

Boolean differences behave as groups, except that they operate on their member objects.

A Boolean difference takes the first of its members and “subtracts” all subsequent members from it. This means that, unlike Boolean unions or intersections, Boolean differences give a different role to each of the member objects. The first member will be the base object out of which subsequent members are “dug out”.

For instance, making a Boolean difference between a sphere and a stretched cylinder will give the sphere with a hole in it, where the cylinder used to be. If you inverse the order and place the cylinder first inside the Boolean difference, the result will be different: it will yield a cylinder, with the sphere missing out.

This powerful tool lets you dig out of an object any number of other objects. For instance, making a tower with dozens of windows all around can be handled by one single Boolean difference!

When you make a Boolean difference, you have to pay attention to the order in which you select member objects before creating the Boolean difference: the first object you select will be the “solid” one; all others will be dug out. If you get it wrong, you can change the order of the members using the World browser.

In Vue d’Esprit, Boolean objects are implemented in an extremely powerful way, letting you combine as many objects as you like inside one single Boolean object.

To have some noticeable effect, a Boolean object must comprise at least two member objects. If you create a Boolean object with only one member, you will generate unnecessary computation.

You may add, remove, or change the order of member objects inside a Boolean object by using the World browser. Simply unfold the Boolean object, and drag objects into, or out of it. You may, of course, make Boolean objects that use other Boolean objects!

To select a Boolean object, you have to click on the "solid" part of the object. Boolean objects are framed by a dotted box.

Like other objects, Boolean objects may be moved, rotated, resized, twisted, and have materials assigned to them. All of their member objects will be moved, rotated, resized and twisted accordingly. If you assign a new material to a Boolean object, all member objects will take on that material. If all member objects of a Boolean object don't use the same material, the picture of the material displayed in the Object properties panel remains gray.

For a better understanding of Boolean objects, we recommend you refer to the printed documentation, "Editing Objects" and "Tutorials" sections.


Make Boolean Union

This command is available only when at least two objects are selected. Selecting it will make a Boolean union from the selected objects.

Boolean unions behave as groups, except that they operate on their member objects.

Member objects of a Boolean union are “welded” together to form one unique object. The result is noticeable mainly with transparent materials (like glass), where a Boolean union will produce a continuous object with no internal frontiers (if you group two overlapping glass spheres, you will still notice a frontier where both spheres overlap).

Making a Boolean union from opaque objects yields exactly the same result as simply grouping the objects. Since Boolean unions require more computation, it is recommended that you use groups instead of Boolean unions where applicable.

All member objects of a Boolean union have the same role, so the order in which you place members inside the Boolean union has no importance.

In Vue d’Esprit, Boolean objects are implemented in an extremely powerful way, letting you combine as many objects as you like inside one single Boolean object.

To have some noticeable effect, a Boolean object must comprise at least two member objects. If you create a Boolean object with only one member, you will generate unnecessary computation.

You may add, remove, or change the order of member objects inside a Boolean object by using the World browser. Simply unfold the Boolean object, and drag objects into, or out of it. You may, of course, make Boolean objects that use other Boolean objects!

To select a Boolean object, you have to click on the "solid" part of the object. Boolean objects are framed by a dotted box.

Like other objects, Boolean objects may be moved, rotated, resized, twisted, and have materials assigned to them. All of their member objects will be moved, rotated, resized and twisted accordingly. If you assign a new material to a Boolean object, all member objects will take on that material. If all member objects of a Boolean object don't use the same material, the picture of the material displayed in the Object properties panel remains gray.

For a better understanding of Boolean objects, we recommend you refer to the printed documentation, "Editing Objects" and "Tutorials" sections.


Make Boolean Intersection

This command is available only when at least two objects are selected. Selecting it will make a Boolean intersection from the selected objects.

Boolean intersections behave as groups, except that they operate on their member objects.

The result of a Boolean intersection is the object created where members overlap; Boolean intersections always yield smaller objects than any of their members.

The result of a Boolean intersection between a flattened cube and a cone will be a truncated cone.

All member objects of a Boolean intersection have the same role, so the order in which you place members inside the Boolean intersection has no importance.

In Vue d’Esprit, Boolean objects are implemented in an extremely powerful way, letting you combine as many objects as you like inside one single Boolean object.

To have some noticeable effect, a Boolean object must comprise at least two member objects. If you create a Boolean object with only one member, you will generate unnecessary computation.

You may add, remove, or change the order of member objects inside a Boolean object by using the World browser. Simply unfold the Boolean object, and drag objects into, or out of it. You may, of course, make Boolean objects that use other Boolean objects!

To select a Boolean object, you have to click on the "solid" part of the object. Boolean objects are framed by a dotted box.

Like other objects, Boolean objects may be moved, rotated, resized, twisted, and have materials assigned to them. All of their member objects will be moved, rotated, resized and twisted accordingly. If you assign a new material to a Boolean object, all member objects will take on that material. If all member objects of a Boolean object don't use the same material, the picture of the material displayed in the Object properties panel remains gray.

For a better understanding of Boolean objects, we recommend you refer to the printed documentation, "Editing Objects" and "Tutorials" sections.


Ungroup Objects

This command is available only when a group or a Boolean object is selected.

Selecting it will split the group (or Boolean object) up. All member objects will be restored outside the group object, and the group object will be destroyed.


Change Object Material

This command is available only when objects are selected.

Selecting it will open the material Visual browser, letting you choose the material you want to assign to the selected objects.

The same result can be achieved by using the Load material button of the Object properties panel.


Edit Object

This command is available only when a terrain or a 3D Mesh is selected.

•	If you select this command when a terrain is selected, the Terrain editor will appear, letting you modify the shape of the terrain.

•	If you select it when a 3D Mesh object is selected, the 3D Mesh editor will appear, letting you adjust surface properties of the mesh.

The same result can be achieved by double-clicking on the terrain (or 3D Mesh) wireframe, or by clicking the Edit button on the Object properties panel when the terrain (or 3D Mesh) is selected.


Load Object

Selecting this command will display the Objects Visual browser, letting you choose the object you want to load into your scene. Objects are loaded together with the materials they are made out of.

You can use the File button in the Visual browser to display a standard File browser. This will let you import objects created in other 3D packages, and saved under the DXF or RAW file format. Another (quicker?) way of doing so is to select the Import object command in the Objects menu.

Warning: Importing DXF or RAW objects is an extremely complex process, and can take some amount of time. Since no material description is attached to the DXF or RAW file format, such objects are created with the default material.


Import Object

Selecting this command will display a standard File browser, letting you choose the object that you want to import into your scene.

You may import objects created in other 3D packages, and saved under the DXF or RAW file format.

Warning: Importing DXF or RAW objects is an extremely complex process, and can take some amount of time. Since no material description is attached to the DXF or RAW file format, such objects are created with the default material.


Save Object

Demo version: this option is not available.

This command lets you save the selected objects in a stand-alone file, for use in future scenes. Saved objects will appear in the objects Visual browser like any other of the predefined objects.

When you select this command, a standard File browser appears, letting you choose the name of the file under which the object will be saved. You may add a title and a comment to the object (recommended).

By default, objects are placed in the Objects subdirectory. This means that they will appear in the User objects collection inside the objects visual browser.

If you save several objects together, Vue d'Esprit will group them first.

Before writing the file to disk, Vue d'Esprit renders a small preview of the object. This preview will be used in the objects visual browser to illustrate your object. You cannot act upon this preview (framing…), but you can modify background colors (the colors used are those of the default material preview (see the Options dialog).


Load Atmosphere

The key to a successful picture is often the atmosphere it evokes. This is why you should take great care in selecting the appropriate atmosphere.

The scenes you build inside Vue d’Esprit are part of a world. A world that extends far beyond your scene. A world with an atmosphere, with clouds, fog, haze and all... Real clouds, infinite ones, not just a backdrop picture of a sky. And this world is coherent. And best of all, you can act upon every aspect of it...

When you create a new scene, you have to select an atmosphere for it. After having worked for a while, you may suddenly realize that the atmosphere you chose at the beginning is no longer suitable. Relax… This command lets you load another atmosphere anytime.

Selecting it will display the atmospheres Visual browser again, letting you choose a new atmosphere for the scene.

Parameters that describe the atmosphere are numerous, and creating an atmosphere from scratch can be a complex and time consuming process. This is why Vue d’Esprit offers a list of predefined atmospheres. Choosing one of these will allow you to start building your scene from a good basis. You may decide later that you want to adjust such and such a setting to improve the atmosphere of your picture.

Basically, atmospheres comprise settings for the sky, the clouds, sun, quality of light, fog and haze.

If the atmosphere in your scene is basically correct, but you would like to modify certain parts of it, you will have to use one of the atmosphere dialogs (Sun and light, Sky and clouds, or Fog and haze) available in the Atmosphere menu.

When a new atmosphere is loaded, it replaces old atmosphere settings. In particular, the position of the sun will be modified (or a sun will be added if none existed).


Save Atmosphere

Demo version: this option is not available.

This command lets you save your current atmosphere in a stand-alone file, for use in future scenes. Saved atmospheres will appear in the atmospheres Visual browser like any other of the predefined atmospheres.

When you select this command, a standard File browser appears, letting you choose the name of the file under which the atmosphere will be saved. You may add a title and a comment (recommended).

By default, atmospheres are placed in the Atmospheres subdirectory. This means that they will appear in the User atmospheres collection inside the atmospheres visual browser.

Before writing the file to disk, Vue d'Esprit renders a small preview of the atmosphere. This preview will be used in the atmospheres visual browser to illustrate your atmosphere. You cannot act upon this preview (framing…).


Sun and light editor
Sun and Light

Lighting a scene is the most complex, and probably one of the most important issues of computer imaging. For your convenience, all global lighting parameters have been gathered in this single editor, letting you modify the characteristics of light directly (without having to edit all the materials of your scene).

Light

Each point of the scene receives light from the sun, the sky as well as from the surroundings (ambient light). The direction of sun light changes with the location of the sun, while sky light always falls vertically, and ambient light comes from any and all directions.

You can give a different color temperature to the sun light and to the sky and ambient light. Double click on the colors to adjust them.

Light color acts as a filter for the color of the lights in your scene. Having an orange light color, with a sun color that is green will make the light coming from the sun a darker shade of green. It is a natural phenomenon that sunlight gets warmer (i.e. takes yellow to orange shades) as the sun gets closer to the horizon. Such warm lights can yield pleasing results when exposed objects take on warm shades.

Ambient light color adjusts the color of ambient lighting, whether light comes from the sky or from the environment. Since ambient light is diffused by the clouds, it usually has a cooler tone (shades of blue) than that of direct sunlight.

You may adjust the overall luminosity of your scene using the Global exposure control. Please note that exposure does not affect the luminosity of the sky, and, as such, is different from a luminosity control inside a picture processor. The correction is expressed in diaphragms (a standard photographic unit of measure for the aperture of the lens). +1 diaphragm means the scene is twice as bright. Unlike a real camera, modifying the exposure has no influence on the depth of field.

Light balance lets you adjust the relative quantities of light coming from the sun and from the environment (ambient light). Scenes with a bright sky will have lots of ambient light, whereas sunset scenes should have little.

Ambient light balance lets you further customize ambient light by deciding how it is shared between light coming from the sky, and light coming from everywhere (uniform light). Scenes with fog will usually require larger amounts of uniform ambient light, whereas scenes with a bright sky will have lots of light coming from the sky.

Lastly, you get the choice to Apply these settings either to all the lights, or only to sunlight. Light color and exposure affect the color and intensity of light sources. If lights in your scene (other than sunlight) are used for the atmosphere, you should apply the settings to all lights. Alternately, if you have for instance a house that is lit up from the inside, you will not want that light to be affected by changes in the exposure outside of the house, so you should select Only to sunlight.

Sun

This tab allows you to adjust parameters related to the sun.

Vue d'Esprit considers the sun as being a pinpoint source of light located at infinity (directional light). You can adjust the direction of the sun using the Azimuth and the Pitch boxes.

Specify the color map which will be used to color the sun, from outside to inside as values increase. This option enables you to create a luminous halo effect around the sun, for example. To change the color map, double-click on it.

The Size of the sun control lets you adjust the size of the disk that represents the sun in the sky. If the value is non-zero, the sun will be visible, and the disk will be filled using the colors from the Sun color map. The color gradation ranges radially. If the sun size is zero, no sun will be visible in the sky, although it will still be emitting light. In this case the sun color map is ignored.

The last control in this tab, Sunlight masked by clouds, turns on a sunlight masking by low altitude clouds effect. The larger the value, the more the light is masked by clouds high in the sky. Because clouds diffuse light, high altitude clouds never get to mask sunlight.

This dialog box can stay opened all the time without blocking access to other parts of the software. Modifications are taken into account immediately.


Sky and clouds editor
Sky and Clouds

This is the most complex atmosphere editor. It deals with sky color and clouds.

Sky

This tab deals with the colors of the sky.

The color of the sky is generated by vertically mapping these colors. The resulting gradation occurs inside a strip that is pulled down by the sun. This means that colors on the left sideof the map will show close to the sun, while colors on the right side of the map show towards the zenith, and it also means that as you get higher in the sky, colors further to the right of the gradation appear.

The two Color map position on sky dome controls let you adjust the altitudes at which the gradation starts and ends in the sky. Bear in mind that these altitudes will be modified by the presence of the sun, so probably some experimentation will be required here.

Sky color map distortion by sun controls the effect the sun has on the sun color map. The higher the value, the more distorted the gradation becomes, eventually ending up in circles around the sun. As you get closer to the sun, colors to the left of the map get displayed.

Near the horizon, the sky is often a different color. It is the color of the fog (and haze), creeping up into the sky with distance. You can adjust this effect using two controls: Thickness and Max altitude. Thickness controls the maximum density of fog achieved at the horizon, and Max altitude controls how high up in the sky the fog is seen.

Clouds

Clouds are generated inside flat layers, realistically positioned and mapped at different altitudes around the earth. You can create as many layers of clouds as you want.

Cloud layers are added using the Add cloud layer button, and each layer is created 3000 feet higher than the previous layer.

To delete the cloud layer that is currently displayed, press Delete layer.

The details of each layer are displayed one at a time by the tab. The number of the layer currently displayed is indicated at the top of the group, alongside the total number of layers.

Use the Next layer and Previous layer buttons to navigate through the list of layers.

The two most important features about a cloud layer are the Altitude of the layer, and the material of the clouds. Altitude is pretty straightforward. The slider covers “usual” altitudes, but any value can be indicated.

The current material used for the cloud is displayed in the preview window. To modify it, you can either load a new one (use the Load material button), or edit the current one (double-click on the preview of the material to open the Material editor). An important aspect of cloud materials is transparency. If the cloud material is opaque, you will never get to see further cloud layers or the sky through it, so it should be transparent in places Varying global transparency of a cloud material is a good way of modifying the thickness of the clouds. In the same way, using the transparency filter is a good way of varying the density of the clouds.

You can change the scale of the clouds by using the Scale control.

Close to the horizon, the clouds tend to fade out, dissolving in a general haze. This effect can be captured using the Fade out at horizon control which handles the speed at which clouds disappear when they get close to the horizon.

Adjust the Global exposure of the clouds using the slider to darken or brighten the clouds.

In the sky, clouds close to the sun are usually more illuminated than clouds on the opposite side relative to the sun. You can change this illumination using the Global and Near the sun illumination parameters. Maximum illumination is achieved for clouds that are close to the sun.

This dialog box can stay opened all the time without blocking access to other parts of the software. Modifications are taken into account immediately.


Fog and haze editor
Fog and Haze

Although you may think fog and haze are used only on occasions, to achieve particular photographic atmospheres, this is not the case. Whatever the weather conditions (unless you are out in space), you will find out that fog and haze are always present. What changes is the distance at which they become significant. Fog and haze are important for fine tuning the atmosphere, because they give an idea of distance. This is why nearly all the predefined atmospheres have some amount of fog and haze.

Fog

Objects tend to gradually disappear into fog as they get further from the camera.

The further the objects, the more the color of the objects will blend into the color of the fog. Unlike haze, fog always increases in density with distance.

There are two types of fog inside Vue d’Esprit:

•	a uniform fog that has constant thickness whatever the altitude, and

•	an altitude dependent fog that has a density that varies exponentially with altitude.

Select the fog color by double-clicking on the color box. The color editor pops-up, letting you select the new color.

Uniform fog thickness is the distance at which objects totally disappear inside the uniform fog, regardless of altitude.

To activate accumulation of fog at low (or high) altitudes, you need to push up the Thickness of the altitude dependent fog to a non zero value. The greater the thickness, the more dependent on altitude the fog gets.

If you want the fog to be accumulated in the lower parts of the scene (which is usually the case), select the Fog gathers at low altitudes box; alternately, if you want fog to accumulate at high altitudes (for instance to render mountains lost in high altitude fog or a smoke filled cave, for that matter), select the other box.

Indicate the Altitude at which altitude dependent fog achieves maximum density. This controls the altitude of the “layer” of fog created by altitude dependent fog. In practice, it is somewhat twitchy to use.

To help you in understanding how the thickness of the fog works, the curve on the right displays a Preview of fog thickness relative to altitude.

Haze

This tab controls the characteristics of haze in the atmosphere. Haze appears on hot days. It reduces contrast of distant objects, and shifts colors towards the haze color. On earth, that color is often blue. In Vue d'Esprit, however, it can be any color. Unlike fog, the effects of haze saturate with distance.

Controls in this tab are pretty straightforward.

Indicate the thickness of the haze using the slider, and double-click on the color to edit the haze color. The color editor pops-up, letting you select the new haze color.

This dialog box can stay opened all the time without blocking access to other parts of the software. Modifications are taken into account immediately.


Select Render Area

This command lets you select an area of the Main wireframe view for render. After having selected this command, the mouse cursor changes to a cross. Press the mouse button down inside the Main wireframe view, on the top-left corner of the area you want to render, and release it on the bottom-right corner. When you release the mouse button, Vue d'Esprit starts rendering the selected area.

If you are rendering to screen (see Render options dialog), a blow-up of the select area will be rendered.

The selected render area is depicted by a dashed frame with resizing dots. To get rid of the selected area, you may either resize it to zero using these dots, or select the command and click once anywhere inside the view.


Render Options

This dialog gives you full control over the render engine.

It might look daunting at first sight, but. don't worry, you'll rapidly grow to understand the meaning of each setting. Besides, all the controls are not activated at the same time.

Preset Render Settings

On the top left corner of the dialog is a list of Preset render settings. These are predefined settings, useful because they let you quickly switch whole groups of features on and off. As you change render setting, notice how the render quality checkboxes are modified. These are disabled when you use a predefined setting. They become active if you select the User settings, letting you select your own options.

The available render settings are:

Sketch: This produces a very basic render of your scene, with no reflection, transparency nor cast shadows. It is useful when you want to quickly check positioning of the objects inside your scene.

Preview: This is the default setting whenever you create a new scene. It is a good working balance between picture quality and render speed. It traces reflections, transparency and cast shadows correctly, although it only mocks-up advanced features like soft shadows, blurred reflections / transparency and depth of field. The last render pass is optimized for speed, and the picture is not anti-aliased. We recommend you stick to this mode while you work on the picture, and only switch to Final settings when you have finished brushing up your scene.

Demo version: the Final, Ultra, and User render settings are not available.

Final: As indicated by the name, this setting produces the final picture. It handles all features correctly, including advanced ones, traces the last pass completely, and anti-aliases the picture after rendering, using a standard method (9 rays/pixel, good quality). Render times, however, are several times longer than in Preview setting. We recommend rendering pictures in this setting only when they are finished. If time is a critical aspect, you can use the User settings instead; this is by default identical to Final settings, with less supersampling (4 rays/pixel, lower quality threshold), which means it produces more or less the same result, with faster render times.

Ultra: This is the best render quality available. It is also not very useful, since it takes several times longer to render than Final setting, while not producing outstandingly better results. Use it only when you want to render very high quality pictures, for publishing. Ultra setting adds superior anti-aliasing on top of Final setting. Each pixel is traced systematically 16 times!

User: the last setting is not a preset one. It grants you full access to customize as you like the render engine, by selecting only the options you want from the render option checkboxes and antialiasing settings. These options will be detailed further down. The default settings correspond to a faster version of Final render (with less super-sampling involved).

Render Destination

This lets you decide whether you want the picture to be rendered inside the main camera wireframe view (the picture resolution will be that of the wireframe view), or if the picture should be rendered into a stand alone window (you will have to indicate the picture resolution).

Save Picture

Demo version: this option is not available.

Selecting this option instructs the render engine to save the picture as it renders, and not to display it. If you don't select this option, the picture will be displayed as it renders, but won't be saved. If you then want to save it, you will have to select the menu item Display | Save last render.

Saving pictures as they render is useful if you want to render pictures larger than your screen. Selecting this option activates the Change button, letting you modify the name of the file that will be created. If the file already exists, Vue d'Esprit will ask for confirmation before starting the render.

Panoramic View

This option is available only when Render to screen is selected.

Real panoramic cameras are fixed to a handle that you have to hold when you take the shot. As it takes the shot, the camera rotates around the handle, thus embracing any required angle of view. Panoramic views can yield beautiful results.

This option is a numerical equivalent to the real panoramic camera. Here also, the camera is rotated as the render engine makes progress. All-around panoramas can be achieved this way, but beware: if the camera is not perfectly horizontal when you take the shot, the horizon will undulate. This is not a numerical artifact: it happens also in the real world!

When you check this box, the panoramic Angle slider becomes available, letting you decide on the angle swept by the camera as it rotates.

Render Quality

The checkboxes in this group let you decide with precision what the render engine should trace, or not trace:

Apply materials: deselecting this will replace object materials with uniform colors.

Enable sub-rays: deselecting this disables rendering any secondary rays (reflection, transparency or cast shadows).

Trace cast shadows: selecting this is necessary, together with Enable sub-rays if you want cast shadows in your picture.

Trace reflections: selecting this is necessary, together with Enable sub-rays if you want reflections in your picture.

Trace transparency: selecting this is necessary, together with Enable sub-rays if you want transparency in your picture.

Demo version: the options in the Enable super-sampling group are not available.

Enable super-sampling: deselecting this disables any advanced features, such as soft shadows, blurred transparencies and reflections, or depth of field.

Soft shadows: selecting this, together with Enable sub-rays, Trace cast shadows and Enable super-sampling will render soft shadows where applicable.

Blurred reflections: selecting this, together with Enable sub-rays, Trace reflections and Enable super-sampling will render blurred reflections where applicable.

Blurred transparencies: selecting this, together with Enable sub-rays, Trace transparency and Enable super-sampling will render blurred transparencies where applicable.

Depth of field: selecting this, together with Enable super-sampling will render depth of field if some has been given to the camera.

Optimize last render pass: selecting this will optimize the last render pass, making render up to 3 times faster, but leaving out minuscule details on occasion.

Anti-Aliasing

Demo version: this option is not available.

Vue d'Esprit provides two ways of doing this:

Standard method consists in super-sampling only the parts of the picture where transitions are found after the last render pass,

Superior method will super-sample every single pixel in the picture.

You may edit the antialiasing setting by clicking the Edit button.

Click here for more information on anti-aliasing, and on the anti-aliasing editor.

Picture Size and Resolution

You can choose the format of your picture by picking a pre-defined Aspect-ratio from the drop-down list. If no pre-defined aspect-ratio is suitable, select Free (user defined) and then type the size of your picture in the two Other boxes.

Demo version: pictures larger than 640x480 cannot be rendered.

A set of	 6 boxes below the aspect-ratio list lets you select standard picture resolutions. Alternately, you can enter any other resolution using the two boxes in the group called Other. If you have selected a pre-defined aspect-ratio, the vertical and horizontal resolutions of your picture will be linked together. These boxes are only available if you are rendering the picture to screen, since, if you render inside the main wireframe view, the resolution of the picture is defined by that of the view. Selecting Full screen guarantees the biggest possible resolution that fits inside your current display.

Once you change the aspect ratio, you may notice two gray stripes in the main view. They are here to show you the limits of the picture in the selected format, and help you optimize framing.

Render What ?

Boxes in this group let you select what parts of your scene should be rendered:

Only selected objects will only render the objects that were selected at the time you pressed render

Only active layers will only render objects that are placed inside active layers

Only visible layers will only render objects that are placed inside active or locked layers

Everything, well, will render, hum… everything in your scene! This is the default.

Checking Always render lights will use all the lights defined in your scene, even if they are in layers that shouldn't be rendered. This guarantees the same lighting conditions for the rendered objects as that of the complete scene.

Use Bounding Volume Hierarchy

Finally, Use bounding volume hierarchy turns on a powerful optimization for complex scenes, based on organizing groups. Although simple scenes won't benefit from this optimization, it usually won't slow things down either, so it's better to always leave this option selected. However there are some very rare cases when this optimization will actually slightly slow down the rendering process, so the checkbox was provided for those circumstances.


Render

Demo version:

•	Pictures larger than 640x480 cannot be rendered

•	Anti-aliasing, soft shadows, depth of field, blurred reflections and transparencies are not available

•	Pictures cannot be saved as they are rendered using the Save picture option

Select this command to start rendering your scene. Depending on render destination, the picture appears inside the main wireframe view, or inside a dedicated window. If you checked the Save picture box inside the Render options dialog, the picture will not be displayed as it renders. It will be saved to disk instead.

The render engine proceeds in successive passes, refining the quality of the picture at each pass. This rapidly gives you an idea of the final picture, letting you interrupt render (by pressing Escape) if you see things aren't right, without having to wait for the render to complete.

As the picture renders, an estimate of the remaining render time is displayed (either in the status bar, or in a dedicated window that can be hidden by pressing Space). When rendering in Final setting, this estimate doesn't take into account the time necessary for anti-aliasing (because this time is unpredictable).

Important: unless you check the Save picture box inside the Render options dialog, the picture won't be saved. If you quit Vue d'Esprit, it will be lost, even if you save the scene. To save the picture after it finishes rendering, select the Picture | Save last render menu command.


Resume Render

This powerful feature lets you interrupt rendering, and resume it later.

When you select this command, the render engine resumes rendering where it was stopped. For it to be available, the previous render must have been interrupted before it completed.

If you wish to interrupt rendering of a picture and resume it in a future session, you will have to first save the last picture (menu Picture | Save last render), and then save the scene. Next time you load this scene, you will notice that Resume render is available. Selecting it will reload the picture and proceed with rendering it.


Display Last Render

When you edit the scene, or close the render window, the picture you last rendered disappears. Don't worry, though, it is still there.

It can be displayed again using this command, or it can be saved using the Picture | Save last render menu command.


Save Last Render

Use this command to save the last rendered picture to disk. A standard file browser appears letting you select the filename and type of the picture. Supported picture formats are:

BMP (*.bmp)	16/256/16 millions of colors, uncompressed
Gif (*.gif)	256 colors compressed without any loss
Targa (*.tga)	16/256/65000/16 millions of colors compressed RLE or not
JPEG (*.jpg)	16 millions of colors, compressed with possible loss
When you are done, press OK.

A picture format dialog pops-up. Depending on the selected picture format, you will have to choose between different format options.

If you are saving under JPEG format, indicate the quality of the saved picture (the lower the quality, but the smaller the resulting file). A quality of 100 % generates a picture compressed with a ratio of approximately 2, without any information loss. Picture quality is not affected. If you tolerate some loss, you can reach compression ratios over 10, but don’t go under a quality of 50 %, which would excessively degrade the picture quality.

If you want to save under BMP format, GIF or Targa, you must specify the number of colors in the picture you save. If you select 256 colors, specify if you want Vue d'Esprit to dither colors to simulate gradations (recommended), or if you would rather have flat colors.

When you are satisfied with the options, press OK. The picture is saved.


Editors and Other Dialogs

Please select the topic you would like to see explained:

Editors

New terrain

Editing terrains

Filter terrain altitudes

Add function to terrain

Export terrain

Fractal terrain options

Editing 3D meshes

Editing materials

Editing material colors

Editing material bumps

Editing material highlights

Editing material transparency

Editing material reflections

Editing material effects

Editing mixed materials

Editing functions

Editing filters

Editing color maps

Editing turbulence

Editing transformation

Editing cycling

Editing fractal layers

Anti-aliasing

Sun and light editor

Sky and clouds editor

Fog and haze editor

Other Dialogs

Render options

Scatter objects

Options

Material summary

Batch renders

File browser

Picture browser

Picture options

Preview options

Selecting a color

Store new camera


Anti-Aliasing

Demo version: this option is not available.

Anti-aliasing is a method used to reduce stair step effects (pixelization) on the edges of objects. The method, called super-sampling, consists in tracing several sub pixels for every pixel of the picture in order to improve transitions; the result being the apparition of half tones alongside transitions.

Anti-aliased pictures give the impression of having been rendered at much higher resolutions than that at which they were really rendered. The small drawback is that sometimes the picture appears slightly blurred. To achieve good results, many sub-pixels must be computed for each pixel, resulting in a considerable increase in render time. To optimize the method, more effort is concentrated on areas of transition.

Super-sampling is handled in the following way: the render engine launches a first batch of rays and then, according to the results of this batch, decides if more sub-rays are required. When no more rays are required, it computes the average color and displays it. Superior anti-aliasing yields slightly better results than standard anti-aliasing, but at the expense of render times several times lengthier. It is usually not useful to use superior anti-aliasing.

This dialog box lets you enter two values:

The first is the Minimum number of subrays initially sent inside a super-sampled pixel. Final render setting uses batches of 9 rays, Ultra uses batches of 16 rays.

The second, named Quality threshold controls the severity with which the render engine decides whether more rays are required or not, after having computed the first batch.

Obviously, the higher these two settings, the better the quality, and the longer the render time.


Material Editor

Materials are the secret behind the quality of pictures generated by Vue d’Esprit. And the reason for this is twofold: Vue d’Esprit materials are not just 2D pictures mapped onto objects, they are truly three dimensional (which means when you carve into them, you actually carve into new parts of the material), and they are designed to respond to local characteristics of the environment, such as altitude, slope, orientation…

Unfortunately, this visual quality has a drawback: creating materials can be a complex process. However, we have striven to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible, while maintaining full access to every aspect of material synthesis.

One of the major improvements over the previous version is that each time you make a modification to a material, the material preview is redrawn by a multithreaded background task without slowing down the interface.

The material editor is accessed by double-clicking on the picture of a material, or by selecting Edit material from the contextual menu. It can stay open without stopping other parts of the software from being accessible.

Materials are subdivided into 2 categories:

•	Simple material

•	Mixed materials

Mixed materials are built by mixing together 2 other materials, either simple ones, or mixed ones themselves.

New, Load, Save

At the top of the Material editor are three “general utility” buttons. The first, called New, will reset all material characteristics so that you can start working on your material from a clean state. Load lets you open and detail the characteristics of an existing material using the Material browser, and Save lets you save the current material in a stand-alone file, for use in future scenes. Saved materials will appear in the Visual material browser like any other of the predefined materials. By default, materials are placed in the Materials subdirectory. This means that they will appear in the User materials collection inside the visual material browser. It is usually easier to modify a material rather than to start creating it from scratch.

Mix Materials

Selecting this option will toggle the type of material from Simple material to Mixed material at any time. The tabs of the Mixed material editor look different from those of the Simple material editor.

Object Space

Selecting this option will indicate that the coordinate system used by the material should be that of the object, rather than that of the whole world. This means that the material will follow the orientation of the object it is linked to. Please refer to the section called “Understanding Vue d’Esprit” for full details.

One Sided

This checkbox indicates that objects using this material should be traced for only one intersection per ray. Since opaque objects block all rays at their surface anyway, One sided will only affect transparent materials. Rays actually never pass through a one sided object, so this should not be used with materials that have some fading out. Some effects (like Fuzziness) will force One sided to be activated.

One sided objects can be very useful when rendering details on the surface of an object, while not wanting to see details on the opposite surface.

Casts Shadows

Selecting this option will let the objects using this material cast shadows on other objects. This is the default situation. Deselecting it will prevent the object from casting shadows, which can be useful for luminous objects.

Material Previews

In the middle of the material editor are 5 square spaces that can contain materials. When you start, only the first is occupied by a preview of your current material. Pressing Store will copy the current material into the first available “space”. It then becomes available for later retrieval. Better still, these stored materials will be available next time you open the editor!

Store

Pressing Store copies your current material into the first available material preview, making it available for future retrieval (select Restore this version from the contextual menu).

Options

Pressing this button brings up the Preview options dialog.

This dialog enables you to select which object should be used to preview materials or functions from the following list: Cube, Marble, Sphere, Cylinder, Cone or Plane.

It also lets you choose a background type for the preview (Uniform or Checker), as well as the background color by modifying the color map (double-click the map).

Zoom

Pressing Zoom brings up a dialog that lets you view your material enlarged. The size of the view is linked to that of the dialog. Press Render to start rendering the preview; press Escape to stop.

As explained previously, the contents of the tab section of the material editor depend on the type of material (simple or mixed).

Simple Materials

Simple materials are characterized by:

Color	color of the surface
Bumps	bumps on the surface (bump-mapping algorithm)
Highlights	specular reflections: is the surface shiny or dull?
Transparency	transparency of the material
Reflections	reflections on the surface of the material
Effects	local characteristics of surface lighting and special effects


Editing Material Colors

The Color tab defines the color of the surface of the material.

You can choose from 2 types of surface coloration:

- colors coming from a Tiled picture

- Procedural colors.

Tiled Picture

You can use any picture to Color the surface of a material.

First, you must indicate the picture that you want to use by clicking Load, and selecting a file from the Picture file browser.

To map the picture (2D by definition) onto a 3D volume, Vue d'Esprit must use one of the available mapping modes. Each of these mapping modes is best suited for some types of objects (i.e. spherical for Spheres).

Select one of the following:

Automatic	The mapping technique is chosen automatically, depending on the object onto which the material is applied (i.e. Spherical for a sphere, cylindrical for a cylinder…)
Flat	Vertical projection / slide projector type, oriented so as to project the picture on the ground; values don’t depend on altitude
Faces	Slide projector type of projection oriented along one of the three world axes. For each point, the projection axis is the closest axis to the normal vector of the object
Cylindrical	Mercator projection: the picture is rolled around a cylinder around the vertical axis before being projected.
Spherical	The picture is projected so that it covers exactly a sphere. Since the picture wraps around 180° vertically, and 360° horizontally, the scale seems to double vertically.
Torical	The picture is projected so that it covers exactly a torus. A strange, and not very useful mapping mode, hum…
If you don’t know which to use, select Automatic. Note that the shape of the object on which you project the picture does not have to be the same as the type of projection you choose.

If you want the picture to tile symmetrically horizontally, select Mirror X; If you want the picture to tile symmetrically vertically, select Mirror Y.

When the material is seen from very close, you may see pixels, due to the limited resolution of the picture. To reduce this effect, choose an Over-sampling method:

None	No over sampling
Bi-linear	Bi linear interpolation between pixels
Normalized	Values proportional to the distance to the corners of the pixel
Bi-cubic	Bi-cubic interpolation between pixels (continuous derivative)
Indicate the Scale of the picture along the X and Y axes.

You can position the picture precisely on the object by using the Picture offset commands. This will move the picture around by increments of one pixel.

Procedural Colors

Vue d'Esprit can produce the colors of the material algorithmically, using a function, a filter and a color map.

This is how it works: for each point of the surface, the function calculates a value in the range of 0 to 1 (0 appears black on the preview of the function, 1 white). This value is then transformed by the filter into another value in the range of 0 to 1. From this last value, the color map produces the color of the surface (if this value is 0, the color will be the one at the left end of the map, if it is 1, the color will be the one at the right end).

To modify the function, double-click on the picture of the function. This will open the visual function browser.

Use the scaling controls to scale the function along the X and Y and Z axes.

If necessary, use the filter to modify the way the values of the function are transformed into colors (double-click on the filter).

Finally, indicate which colors are assigned to the values of the function by editing the color map (double-click on the map). Note that if the color map is solid (only one color), whatever the function and filter values might be, the material will always yield a uniform color.


Editing Material Bumps

This tab describes bumps and holes that appear on the surface of the material.

Vue d'Esprit generates bumps and holes on the surface of the material using a function and a filter.

This is how it works: for each point on the surface, the function gives a value in the range of 0 to 1 (0 appears black on the preview of the function, 1 white). This value is then transformed by the filter into another value in the range of 0 to 1 that indicates the depth of the hole (or height of the bump) at this point (0 for a deep hole and 1 for a high bump).

To change the function, double-click on the picture of the function. This will open the Function Visual browser.

Use the scaling controls to scale the function along the X, Y and Z axes.

If necessary, use the filter to modify the bump profile relative to the values of the function (double-click the filter).

Finally, indicate a Bump gain in the corresponding box. The bigger the value, the bumpier the surface will be.


Editing Material Highlights

This tab describes the surface quality of the material (shiny or dull). The specular highlights create spots of light on the surface of the object, in the direction of the light sources. The smoother the surface, the more concentrated and bright the spots will be (i.e., think of polished marble).

The highlights are built with two parameters: the intensity of the light spots that appear on the surface and the size of the spots.

The Highlight global intensity corresponds to the average intensity of the light spots. Indicate a brilliance percentage (0% = no spots, 100% = very intense spots).

The Highlight global size controls the average concentration (size) of the light spots. Indicate a concentration percentage (0% = big spots for dull materials, 100% = small spots for smooth materials).

Highlight color gives a uniform color shade to highlights. This is useful for modeling pearly materials (highlights take on a blue color).

Variable Highlights

If you want the characteristics of the specular highlights to depend on position, select Variable highlights.

Vue d'Esprit can generate variable highlights from a function  and two filters, the first of which indicates the highlights intensity and the second the highlight size.

This is how it works: for each point of the surface, the function returns a number in the range of 0 to 1 (0 appears black on the preview and 1 white). The number is then transformed by the filters into an intensity and a size at this given point (0 for a dull surface, 1 for a shiny one). The maximum variable highlight values are equal to the overall highlight values.

To modify the function, double-click on the picture of the function. This will open the visual function browser.

Use the scaling controls to scale the function along the X, Y and Z axes.

Indicate a highlight intensity with the Intensity filter (double-click the filter).

Indicate a highlight size with the Size filter (double-click the filter).


Editing Material Transparency

This tab controls transparency and refraction over the surface of the material.

Incident light arriving on the surface of a material divides into 3 different lights:

•	diffused light, sent by the surface in all directions, more intensely in the highlight direction; this makes the color of the surface,

•	reflected light that bounces off the surface of the material, and

•	refracted light (or transmitted); it is the light that goes through the surface and penetrates the material.

Global Transparency

The quantity of light diffused is equal to the quantity of incident light less the quantity of refracted and reflected light.

Indicate the amount of light that penetrates the surface of the object using the Global transparency control.

If you would like objects seen through the material to be blurred (because the material is unpure or distorted), raise the value of Blurred transparencies up to non zero.

Refraction Index

The refraction index identifies the optical density of the material. It modifies the direction at which refracted light travels through it, thus making a magnifying glass effect, and giving the impression that a stick in the water is broken. The refraction index of water is equal to 1.33, for the air, it is 1, and for glass, it is 1.52. You can modify the Refraction index of the material using the Refraction index control. Note that refraction indexes less than 1 are seldom observed, and would correspond to materials less dense than air…

Fading Out

When light travels through a material, it progressively fades out with distance. This is why deep water always looks blue. Vue d’Esprit captures such effects: indicate a Fade out rate, that is the depth at which light has completely disappeared and the color becomes that of the fade out color. If the value is small, the material will be clear, and you will see deep into it. If it is zero, no fading out will ever occur.

Indicate the Fade out color (double click on it), that is the color of the material when light has traveled deep into it.

Objects placed behind a transparent material, receive light of a color depending on the distance traveled through the transparent material. As light travels further through the material, it takes on a particular color that can be defined using the Light color control. This is how you make blue water look green when sand gets close to the surface.

Flaring

When light is seen from behind a partially transparent material, it will cause the surface of the material to become very bright. This is called flaring. Flaring is a bit to transparency what highlights are to reflectivity. It will not occur at the surface of perfectly transparent materials. It is maximum for a transparency amount of 50%. Flaring is particularly useful for clouds.

You control flaring through two settings: Flare intensity and Flare span. Flare span is the area around the light that will flare-up. Larger values yield bigger flares.

Turn Reflective with Angle

When a transparent refractive (i.e. IOR different from 1) material is seen at a low angle of incidence, it sometimes happens that it becomes reflective. Take a piece of glass, and look at it from the side. You will notice it acts as a mirror. The same thing happens with water: looking vertically, you see through it, but in the distance, it becomes reflective.

This behavior can be captured by Vue d’Esprit, using the Turn reflective with angle control. You can even fine-tune that effect using the slider. Zero cancels it. Values around 40% yield good results.

Fuzzy Materials

Selecting this option will make the edges of the object become fuzzy (blurred) instead of being sharp. The Fade out control changes into a Fuzziness control, letting you adjust the strength of the effect. This, combined with variable transparencies, is the key to making realistic clouds (see tutorial on making clouds).

Additive Materials

When this option is selected, the color of the material is added to that of the background, yielding luminous, immaterial objects. This is an interesting effect for making light rays (see tutorial on making light beams).

Underlying Materials

To let another material show through this material, select Underlying material. You must then specify the underlying material by loading a material that exists on the disk with the Load button (or select the option in the menu you get by clicking with the right mouse button on the picture of the material), or by editing directly the material (double click on the picture of the material).

Variable Transparency

If you want transparency to be dependent on position, select the Activate variable transparency option.

Vue d'Esprit generates variable transparency from a function and a filter that indicates the amount of transparency depending on the value of the function.

This is the way it works: for each point on the surface, the function generates a number in the range of 0 to 1 (0 is black on the preview of the function and 1 is white). This number is then transformed by the filter into a transparency value. The maximum variable transparency is equal to the overall transparency.

To change the function, double-click on the preview of the function. This will open the Function Visual browser.

Use the scaling controls to scale the function along the X, Y and Z axes.

Indicate the values of the transparency using the filter (double-click on the filter).


Editing Material Reflections

This tab controls how the surface of the material reflects light.

Incident light arriving on the surface of a material divides into 3 different lights:

•	diffused light, sent by the surface in all directions, more intensely in the highlight direction; this makes the color of the surface,

•	reflected light that bounces off the surface of the material, and

•	refracted light (or transmitted); it is the light that goes through the surface and penetrates the material.

Global Reflectivity

Indicate the amount of reflected light in the Global reflectivity box. Note that if the amount of reflected light + the amount of transmitted light exceeds 100%, the material will actually be emitting light.

If you would like the surface of the material to be imperfectly reflective, resulting in distant objects appearing blurred inside the reflections, push up the value of Blurred reflections to non-zero.

Variable Reflections

If you want the reflection to be dependent on the position, select Activate variable reflectivity.

Vue d'Esprit generates variable reflections using a function and a filter that indicate the local amount of reflection depending on the value of the function.

This is the way it works: for each point on the surface, the function generates a number in the range of 0 to 1 (0 is black on the preview of the function and 1 is white). This number is then transformed by the filter into a reflection amount. The maximum variable reflectivity is equal to the overall reflectivity.

To change the function, double-click on the picture of the function. This will open the Function Visual browser.

Use the scaling controls to scale the function along the X, Y and Z axes.

Indicate the amount of reflection using the filter.


Editing Material Effects

This tab controls the lighting characteristics of the material, and miscellaneous effects.

Lighting

The surface of the material receives light from light sources (i.e. the sun) and from the environment, and may react differently to each. The first is called diffused lighting and the second ambient lighting.

You can modify the way materials react to these two forms of light by using the Diffuse and Ambient light controls.

However, great care should be taken not to give different Diffuse and Ambient settings to materials that are used in comparable situations. You should only use these settings on very specific objects, such as clouds, or light beams... (i.e. you could make a cloud more reactive to ambient light, because the cloud is far enough, and physically different from solid objects in the foreground). If you are not careful, you risk visual incoherences between objects.

By default, the values are respectively 60% and 40%. Use the light balance from the Sun and Light Editor to adjust overall diffuse / ambient settings, rather than these controls.

Note that the sum of ambient and diffused light should be equal to 100%. If the total exceeds 100%, the resulting material will be over-exposed (and luminous).

The Transition to shadow control adjusts the speed at which the material goes from light to shadow. This is useful for capturing fluffy materials.

Global Transformation

Selecting options in this group will apply global modifications to the material. Press the corresponding Edit buttons to adjust the effects.

Turbulence

Pressing the Edit button on the side of the Turbulence checkbox brings up the Turbulence editor.

Click here for details on the Turbulence editor

Rotation

Pressing the Edit button on the side of the Rotation checkbox brings up the Transformation editor.

This dialog lets you indicate a rotation angle around each of the world axes, as well as a twisting angle of these axes one towards another.

Cycling

Cycling is a large scale perturbation of the material that helps to prevent it from looking too repetitive.

Influence of Surface Color

To give a metallic aspect to the material, select Color reflected light. This will make the highlights and reflections take on the color of the surface, giving a metallic aspect to the surface.

Selecting Color transmitted light will make light take on the color of the surface at the point of penetration. This is a good way of making colored glass, or church-windows.


Editing transformation
Editing Transformations

This dialog lets you indicate a rotation angle around each of the world axes, as well as a twisting angle of these axes one towards another.

Rotation and twist angles are expressed in degrees.


Editing Cycling

Cycling is a large scale perturbation of the material that helps to prevent it from looking too repetitive.

Enter the Amount of cycling, together with the Scale. 20% amount and 20 scale are good values.


Editing Turbulence

Using a noise, turbulence repeatedly displaces the location at which the material or the function is being evaluated. Turbulence is defined by 4 parameters (complexity, scale, amplitude and harmonics), a noise type and a combination mode.

Complexity defines the number of times the noise is repeated.

Amplitude is the average displacement applied by the noise to the material or to the function layer.

Scale controls the frequency at which the Noise functions vary relative to position.

Harmonics characterize the way the noise is scaled each time it is added: for each new addition, scale and amplitude are multiplied by the harmonic parameter. If the complexity is equal to 1, the harmonic parameter has no meaning.

Suggestion: to understand correctly the turbulence effects, watch the variation of a function constituted with one simple layer in which you will edit turbulence.

Basic noise defines the type of noise that is added to the current position, and

Combination mode indicates how successive noise applications should be combined.


Mixed Materials

A mixed material takes two materials and mixes them together. Mixed materials supply a number of rules that you can use to define the way the materials mix together, including rules that depend on the environment.

Using these rules, a mixed material decides if, at any given point, it should be the first or the second material that shows, or a blend of the two.

When you select the Mix materials option at the top of the material editor, the tab part of the editor changes, displaying only one tab.

A second one will appear if you select the Distribution of materials dependent on slope, altitude and orientation option.

The Mixing proportions slider lets you adjust how much each of the two materials that are mixed together will be visible. Pushing the slider to the right will have more of the second Material showing, while pushing it to the left will show more of the first.

Materials to Mix

The first tab lets you choose the materials that will be mixed together, and the way they will be mixed.

Change the materials by loading materials that already exist on the disk with the [image] button, or by double-clicking on the material preview to edit it.

Materials inside a mixed material can be scaled independently using the Scale controls. This only modifies the size of the material once it is applied to an object. A scale equal to 1 does not change the size of the material.

Distribution of Materials

To decide if the mixed material should display the first or the second material, or a blend of the two, Vue d'Esprit basically uses a function and a filter.

This is how it works: for each point on the surface, the Distribution function generates a value in the range of 0 to 1 (0 appears black on the preview of the function and 1 white). This value is then transformed by the filter into another value in the range of 0 to 1, which is then compared to the Mixing proportions setting. If it is much less than this setting, material 1 is displayed. If it is far greater, material 2 is displayed. If the result is close to the Mixing proportions, inside a range indicated by the Smooth blending strip, a blend of the two materials is computed, in order to get smooth transitions from one material to the other.

The way materials mix can also be modified by local slope, altitude and orientation. See second tab.

To modify the function, double-click on the picture of the function. This will open the visual function browser.

Use the scaling controls to scale the function along the X, Y and Z axes.

If necessary, use the filter to further adjust the distribution of materials.

Smooth Blending Strip

The width of the strip inside which materials are blended can be adjusted using the Smooth blending strip control. Pushing it to the right will make for smoother transitions, while pushing it to the left will yield fast transitions.

Blending Method

Inside the strip, materials are blended together. Bumps can be handled in several ways, depending on the result you are looking for:

Simple blend	The surface aspect of the two materials are mixed together. This is the default. This method is compulsory to mix materials that are themselves mixed materials.
Full blend (linear bumps)	The characteristics of the two materials are blended together before the material is rendered. Surface heights are blended linearly, resulting in a chamfer between both materials (provided one of them has a higher surface bump than the other).
Full blend (cubic bumps)	Same as blend bumps, except heights are blended following a cubic rule. The result is a rounded chamfer between the two materials (like snow on rocks).
Cover	No smooth transition for colors, only for bumps. Material 2 seems to cover up material 1. Inside the transition strip, only material 2 is visible.
Color and lighting blend	In this mode, only color and lighting (ambient and diffused) features are used from Material 2, retaining all other features of material 1. This is useful for shifting colors of a material, without having to duplicate it (for instance near the water surface).
Influence of Environment

The second tab of the mixed materials editor lets you define the influence of slope, altitude, and orientation on the way the two materials are mixed together.

Influence of Altitude

Influence of altitude adjusts the influence that altitude has on the distribution of materials. Zero means that the distribution is not affected by altitude. Non-zero values mean that material 2 will appear more often at high (or low) altitudes. Indicate whether the second material should appear at high or at low altitudes by selecting the requested box.

Influence of Slope

Influence of slope adjusts the influence that slope has on the distribution of materials. Zero means that the distribution is not affected by slope. Non-zero values mean that material 2 will appear more often on steep slopes (or on flat surfaces). Indicate whether the second material should appear on steep parts of your scene, or on flat surfaces by selecting the requested box.

Influence of Orientation

Influence of orientation adjusts the influence that orientation has on the distribution of materials. Zero means that the distribution is not affected by orientation. Non-zero values mean that the second material will appear more often on parts of the scene that are facing the azimuth indicated by the Azimuth slider.

For a realistic distribution of snow on a landscape, you could for example indicate that snow appears mostly at high altitudes and that it tends to gather on flat surfaces. You could also make snow accumulate on faces of the landscape that are in shadow (using orientation).

 Coordinate System

This group lets you indicate if the environment considered for mixing the materials should be linked to the object itself, or to the world. If the environment is linked to the object, rotating the object won’t change the distribution of materials on the surface (the distribution moves with the object).


Editing Functions

Description

Functions are the key to the visual quality of materials.

They are used every time it is necessary to generate a value depending on position (i.e. to indicate a transparency amount that depends on the position inside the material).

Basically, functions enable you to associate any point in space with a value in the range of 0 to 1.

The function editor is accessed by clicking on the preview picture of a function with the Control key pressed, or by selecting Edit function from the contextual menu. The editor can stay opened without stopping other parts of the software from being accessible.

Function Previews

Function previews are used to visualize the results of the function. The function is represented by a black and white object (sphere, cube, cone...) with the value of the function indicated on its surface. If the function returns 0 at a point, this point will be black; if it returns 1, the point will be white. Like the Material editor, the Function editor can display five previews (when you start, only the first is occupied, displaying the current function).

Store

Pressing Store copies your current function to the first available function preview, making it available for future retrieval (select Restore this version from the contextual menu).

Options

Pressing this button displays the Preview options dialog. This is the same as the Preview options dialog from the Material editor.

Zoom

As with materials, pressing Zoom displays a dialog that lets you view your function in a larger preview. The size of the view is linked to that of the dialog. Press Render to start rendering the preview; press Escape to stop.

Summary of Layers

Functions are built by combining together layers. Inside the function editor, a layer is a predefined routine that returns a value in the range of 0 to 1 for any point of space. These layers can be of two types: either based on a mapped picture, or procedure. A detailed description of layers will follow.

The value returned by the function at a given point is the result of the combination of values returned by each layer at this point.

The list of layers making up the function is displayed in the Summary of layers. This list indicates, for each layer, the number, the type, the amplitude, the scale, and the origin of the layer. The lower part of the dialog box gives details of the layer highlighted on the list (to highlight a layer in the list, just click on it).

To add a layer, click the Add button. The new layer, defaulting to type Null, is added at the bottom of the list.

To delete a layer, select the layer you want to delete by clicking it on the list, then press the Delete button.

New, Load, Save

To the side of the Summary of layers there are three “general utility” buttons. The first, called New, will reset all function characteristics so that you can start working from a clean state. Load lets you open and detail the characteristics of an existing function using the Visual function browser, and Save lets you save the current function in a stand-alone file, for use in future scenes. Saved functions will appear in the Visual function browser like any other of the predefined functions. By default, functions are placed in the Functions subdirectory. This means that they will appear in the User functions collection inside the visual function browser.

Combination Mode

This drop-down list defines the method used to combine the layers together:

Click here for a description of the different Combination modes

Extension

To expand the values of the function below and above the average value (to spread values further away from the average value), indicate an Extension greater than 1. On the contrary, to contract the values, indicate an extension less than 1. Values exceeding the range 0-1 are automatically clipped.

Function Profiles

Under the list of layers, you will find 3 curves. They represent the values of the function along the three axes X, Y and Z, starting from the origin. They are here to help you understand the shape of the layers, and the results of their combinations.

Layers

Layers in the Function editor have nothing to do with layers in the World browser.

Layers can be of 2 kinds: procedural values or mapped picture values.

Procedural layers generate values using a mathematical procedure. Mapped picture layers generate values by mapping a picture into a 3D world.

Choose a kind for the current layer by selecting either procedural values or mapped picture values.

The bottom part of the editor changes depending on whether the highlighted layer is procedural or a mapped picture.

Amplitude

The amplitude of a layer characterizes the influence of the detailed layer relative to other layers.

Offset

Values of a layer may be shifted up or down using offset. This is particularly useful when you want to adjust relative positions of layers (using max combination mode, for instance).

Scale

Indicate the scale of the layer along the X, Y (and Z for the procedural values layers) axes. The scale only influences the frequency of the layer, not the amplitude.

Big values mean that the layer is very stretched in that direction. Zero means that the layer doesn’t vary at all in that direction.

Origin

These controls indicate the position of the origin of the layer. Non-zero values shift the origin of the layer.

Fractal Layer

This command is only available for procedural layers. Selecting this option will result in the layers becoming “fractal”, which means self similar under scale variations (in a certain range of scale). To achieve this effect, the layer is repeated and combined together internally a number of times. The resulting value will be the one returned by the layer.

Pressing Edit brings up the Fractal layer dialog. Handling this dialog is not unlike handling the turbulence one.

Click here for details on the Fractal layer editor

Turbulence

If you want to add turbulence to the layer, select the Turbulence option. To modify the turbulence parameters, press the Edit button. The Turbulence dialog pops-up, letting you adjust the parameters (see the section about the Material editor for a full description of turbulence).

Click here for details on the Turbulence editor

Rotation

If you want to transform the layer, select the Transformation option. To modify the transformation parameters, press the button Edit.

This dialog lets you indicate a rotation angle around each of the world axes, as well as a twisting angle.

Procedural Value Layers

The procedural value layers are defined, first of all, by their type.

The Type of the layer characterizes the way the values vary with position. You choose the type of layer by selecting it from the drop-down list. It can be any of the following:

Null (returns 0.5)	Water cress	Triangular	Tooth (rectangular)
Noise (flat)	Sparse cracks	Wave	Tooth (triangular)
Noise (linear)	Cracks	Sine wave	Tooth (Gaussian)
Noise (smooth)	Stones	Saw teeth	Step
Vary block noise	Square stones	Leopard	Step (smooth)
Square blobs	Squares	Onion	Fractal (v1.2)
Pebble noise	Lines	Wavelet	Agate (v1.2)
Chipped	Fabric	Spiral	Wood (v1.2)
Crystals	Dots	Spiral (expanding)	Marble (v1.2)
Clumps	Granite	Water (Troubled)	Offset
Drought	Rectangular	Water (calm)	Radial sine
Layer types default to Null.

Filter

The result of the layer computation is fed through the filter before being combined with other eventual layers. Additional modifications to the profile of the layer values can be introduced by modifying this filter. For instance, a quantization filter will quantize the values of the layer.

Control-click on the filter to open the Filter editor.

Mapped Picture Layers

Mapped picture layers enable you to use any picture you want to generate the layer values. The value of the layer at a given point will be proportional to the brightness of the picture at this point.

You must first select the picture you want to use by clicking the Picture button.

Projection

To generate values in 3D from the picture (2D by definition), Vue d'Esprit must map the picture. There are several mapping modes available, each of them better suited for some types of objects. If you don’t know which to use, select Automatic. For details on available mapping methods, please refer to the Material editor section about material colors being mapped from a picture.

Tiling

If you want the picture to Tile symmetrically in the horizontal, select Mirror X; if you want the picture to tile symmetrically in the vertical, select Mirror Y.

Over-Sampling

When the function is very enlarged, you can see pixels, due to the limited resolution of the picture. To reduce this effect, choose an over sampling method (refer to the material color section for full detail).

Picture Offset

The picture can be positioned precisely by using the Offset controls. These will shift the picture around the origin (in pixel unit).


Editing Fractal Layers

This dialog lets you define how layers are “fractalized”, which means made self similar under scale variations (in a certain range of scale). To achieve this effect, the layer is repeated and combined together internally a number of times. The resulting value will be the one returned by the layer.

The first control in this dialog is Complexity. This indicates how many times the layer will be repeated internally.

Next comes Combination mode. This indicates how layers are combined together.

Harmonics behavior controls how Scale and Amplitude evolve at each new iteration of the layer. Scale and Amplitude are multiplied by the respective values at each iteration.


Editing Filters

Description

Filters are used to modify profiles (i.e. modify the profile of a mountain by filtering the altitudes, modify the profile of a function to generate values such as transparency, bump depths....).

Basically, they enable you to transform any number in the range of 0 to 1 into another number, also in the range of 0 to 1, following a curve that you define. The value returned by the filter at a given position on the horizontal ruler can be read on the vertical ruler of the curve.

To open the Filter editor, either click on the filter with the Control key pressed, or select Edit from the filters contextual menu.

Filters are built from key points, joined together by straight lines. You can modify a filter by adding, moving or deleting key points.The key points are figured by two cursors ( [image] and [image]) on the rulers below and to the left of the curve.All filters start from (0,0) and have a key point on the extreme right of the horizontal ruler (the corresponding cursor [image] can’t be moved).

Adding Key Points

To create a new key point, you can either:

•	double-click in the area where the curve is drawn. The new key point is created at the point you clicked. The curve is redrawn to use the new key point.

•	click the curve is drawn; the coordinates of the clicked point appear in the Position boxes. To create the new key point, press the Add key point button. The curve is redrawn.

•	type the coordinates of the new key point in the Position boxes, then press the Add key point button. The curve is redrawn.

You can’t create two key points at the same horizontal position.

Modifying Key Points

To modify a key point, you can either:

•	click one of the cursors ( [image] or [image]) of the key point you want to modify, and drag it with the mouse button pressed. The [image] cursor only allows modifications of the horizontal position of the key point, whereas the [image] cursor only allows modifications of the vertical position. Each key point must stay between the previous and the next cursor.

•	click the cursor ( [image] or [image]) of the key point you want to modify. The Position indicated is now the position of the key point. Type the new vertical position (Y) of the key point. Note that you can’t move the horizontal position of the key point using this method.

•	type the horizontal position of the key point you want to modify in the Position X box, then indicate the new vertical position of the key point. Note that you can’t move the horizontal key point position using this method.

Deleting Key Points

To delete a key point, click one of the cursors ( [image] or [image]) of the key point you want to delete, or type its horizontal Position in the box X, then press the Delete key point button

Smooth Filters

Vue d'Esprit offers two types of filters: standard (linear) filters and smooth filters.

Linear filters are generated with segments and smooth filters with splines.

To transform a linear filter into a smooth filter, select Smooth filter.

The behavior of a smooth filter is identical to that of a linear filter except that you can change the slope of the curve around the key points, yielding a smoother -round- profile.

To modify the slope around a key point, select the key point by clicking one of its cursors ( [image] or [image]), or by typing its horizontal position in the Position X box. The Slope boxes now indicate the slope to the left and to the right of the key point. Type in new slope values.

Selecting Smooth joint will make sure that the slope is the same on either side of the key point.

New, Load, Save

Pressing New will reset the filter by deleting all key points.

Press Load to load one of the sample filters using the Visual filter browser.

Press Save to save the current filter in a stand-alone file, for use in future scenes. Saved filters will appear in the Visual filter browser like any other of the predefined filters. By default, filters are placed in the Filters subdirectory. This means that they will appear in the User filters collection inside the visual filter browser.


Editing Color Maps

Description

Color maps are used to produce variable colors.

Basically, they associate a color to each of the values in the range of 0 to 1, following a gradation defined by the user.

To open the Color map editor, either click on the color map with the Control key pressed, or select Edit from the color maps contextual menu.

In the editor, the central color gradation displays the colors that will be returned by the color map for each value on the horizontal ruler.

Color maps are built from key colors. Key colors force the color of the map at given positions. Vue d'Esprit automatically generates a gradation to smoothly join the key colors. You can modify a color map by adding, moving or deleting key colors.

Key colors are figured by cursors ( [image]) on the horizontal ruler under the color map. All color maps have a key color at the extreme right of the ruler (the corresponding cursor [image] can’t be moved).

Adding Key Colors

To add a new key color, you can either:

•	double-click in the central area where the color map is drawn; a dialog box pops up letting you choose the new color that will appear at the point you clicked. Select the color and click OK. The color map is redrawn to include the new color.

•	click in the central area where the color map is drawn; the position of the point you clicked appears in the Position box. To create the key color, press Add key color or double-click on the Current color square in the middle of the editor; a dialog box pops up letting you choose the new color that will appear at the point you clicked. Select the color and click OK. The color map is redrawn to include the new color.

•	type the position of the new key color in the Position box then press Add key color or double-click on the Current color square in the middle of the editor; a dialog box pops up letting you choose the new color that will appear at the point you clicked. Select the color and click OK. The color map is redrawn to include the new color.

You can’t create two key colors with the same horizontal position.

Modifying Key Colors

To move a key color, click the cursor ( [image]) of the key color you want to move, and drag it with the mouse button pressed. Each key color has to remain between its previous and its next key color.

To modify the color of a key color, you can either:

•	double-click the cursor ( [image]) of the key color you want to modify; a dialog box opens letting you select a new color for the key color. Select the color and click OK. The color map is redrawn to include the new color.

•	click the cursor ( [image]) of the key color you want to modify. The Position indicated is now that of the key color. Double-click on the Current color square in the middle of the editor; a dialog box opens letting you select a new color for the key color. Select the color and click OK. The color map is redrawn to include the new color.

Deleting Key Colors

To delete a key color, click the cursor ( [image]) of the key color you want to delete, or type its position in the Position boxes, then press the Delete key color button.

New, Load, Save

Pressing New will reset the color map to a black-to-white gradation.

Press Load to load one of the sample color maps using the Color map browser.

Press Save to save the current color map in a stand-alone file, for use in future scenes. Saved color maps will appear in the Visual color map browser. By default, color maps are placed in the Color maps subdirectory. This means that they will appear in the User colors collection inside the visual color map browser.


Editing Terrains

Terrains are the primeval building blocks of landscape imagery. Together with vegetation, they give Vue d’Esprit incredible modeling power for natural phenomena.

When you create a new terrain, a mountain is automatically generated using random fractal algorithms. These algorithms guarantee that no two mountains will ever have exactly the same shape (unless they use the same seed).

However, terrains can be made to capture other shapes than this basic shape. This is done by using the terrain editor. The terrain editor provides a set of powerful tools designed to let you easily model realistic terrains.

To access the terrain editor, either:

•	Double-click on the terrain you want to edit in the wireframe views or in the World browser

•	Click on the Edit object button ( [image]) on the Object properties panel, when the terrain is selected

•	Use the menu command Edit | Edit object.

Inside the terrain editor, the terrain that is being modified is displayed as a 3D map viewed from above, like an airplane or satellite view.

The tools for modifying the terrain fall under 7 categories:

•	Terrain map

•	Terrain resolution

•	Predefined terrain types

•	Painting altitudes

•	Erosion

•	Geological effects

•	Miscellaneous tools

Terrain Map

The terrain you are working on is displayed in the middle of the editor, using a 3D map. This map shows terrain altitudes by coloring the map with a gradation dependent on altitude. The colors of the map can be modified by double-clicking on the Scale below the map.

If you select a Shaded map type, shadows will be added to the map, helping you understand the shape of the terrain. This is the default setting, and is usually recommended. However, selecting an Altitude map type will remove these shadows, and slightly improve display speed.

You may enlarge or reduce the zooming on the terrain view by pressing the Zoom buttons ( [image] and [image]). All this does is change the scale at which the terrain is viewed in the map. You can move the map around to show other parts of the terrain using the two scrollbars on the side of the map, or by dragging the map with the right mouse button pressed.

Terrain Resolution

Terrain resolution is handled using the controls of the Resolution group.

The current terrain resolution is indicated at the top of the group. The default terrain resolution is 128x128.

This resolution can be doubled or halved using respectively the x2 and /2 buttons. A resolution of 512x512 will yield a very detailed terrain surface. 1024x1024 is a massive resolution that should only be used when an extremely detailed terrain surface is to be seen from close up. Please understand that such a terrain involves over 2 million polygons. Few 3D packages would even survive this… Making even larger terrains is possible but is usually unnecessary.

The terrain can also be resized directly to any resolution using the Resize button. The resize terrain dialog pops-up, letting you select the new terrain resolution and the method for generating the new altitudes. Resampling altitudes will stretch the old terrain so that it fills up the new one. Cropping / Zeroing will add new altitudes (at zero) if the terrain is enlarged, and crop away altitudes that fall out of the new terrain resolution if the terrain is reduced. Press OK to start resampling.

Predefined Terrain Styles

On the left side of the terrain editor is a vertical set of predefined terrain styles. Clicking on any of these will generate a terrain of the requested style, based on the data from the current terrain.

These terrain styles are:

 Reset: resets all terrain altitudes to zero.

 Mountain: creates a terrain with higher altitudes near the center. The terrain is generated using a fractal terrain generation algorithm that captures the shape of natural mountains. This is the default style used to create terrains.

 Eroded: uses a series of terrain size changes combined with different types of erosion to generate a natural looking, eroded terrain from your existing terrain data.

 Canyon: applies a filter to the altitudes of the terrain, generating ridges in the terrain profile.

 Mounds: basically the same as the Mountain style, at higher frequency, thus generating several lower mounds that are added to existing terrain data.

 Dunes: uses a function to add dunes to existing terrain data.

 Iceberg: transforms existing terrain data into an iceberg, with a gently sloping, flat top surface.

 Lunar: uses erosion and crater effects to create a moonlike, crater-pitted surface from existing terrain data.

 Picture: lets you import a picture to be converted into a terrain. The brighter the picture, the higher the corresponding terrain altitude. These altitudes are blended with existing terrain data. The picture is resampled so that it fits exactly onto the terrain.

 Options: opens a dialog box that lets you customize the algorithm that is used by Vue d’Esprit to generate the mountains.

Painting Altitudes

Paint tools are accessible when the Paint tab to the right of the terrain map is visible. These paint tools let you modify manually the shape of your terrain by adding to or digging from it, and selectively applying effects.

The first three sliders let you configure the shape of the brush.

Size

This is pretty straightforward. The size of the brush is depicted by a circle on the terrain map.

Strength / Altitude

The effect of this slider depends on the current brush effect. For Raise, Dig, and Undo brush effects, the slider modifies the amount of material added to or removed from the terrain each time you use the brush. It also controls the strength of the Undo effect (if the slider is halfway up, using undo brush will blend equally the old and the new versions of the terrain).

For Altitude, Maximum and Minimum brush effects, the slider controls the reference altitude.

Softness

This slider controls the profile of the brush. When it is completely to the left, the brush profile is conical. As you move it to the right, it becomes rounded, and then swells to achieve a square profile on the right side.

Using this slider lets you precisely control the shape of material added to or removed from your terrain.

Brush Effect

The six pushbuttons in this group control the effect of painting with the brush.

Raise: selecting this will make the brush raise terrain altitudes. The higher the brush strength, the more the altitude will be raised.

Dig: opposite effect to Raise. The brush lowers terrain altitudes.

Altitude: forces terrain altitude to the altitude indicated by the Altitude slider. If the terrain is lower, it will be raised. If it is higher, it will be lowered.

Undo: a very powerful effect that lets you unpaint / repaint any modifications just applied to the terrain (i.e. could be used to locally unpaint erosion).

Maximum: forces terrain altitude to be at least that of the Altitude slider.

Minimum: forces terrain altitude to be at the most that of the Altitude slider.

Erosion

Using the controls of this tab you can achieve in seconds the effects of erosion that are achieved in millions of years by nature!

The Rock hardness slider influences all of the erosive processes. Unlike real rock hardness, this one may be modified at any time between successive applications of erosion...

There are 4 types of erosion to chose from:

Fluvial erosion is caused by streams of rainwater. As rain falls over the terrain, it gathers in streams of increasing strength, tearing away pieces of rock as it goes by. When the rock surface is hard, streams tend to remain parallel longer, and slowly dig furrows with vertical sides. When the rock surface is soft, they join up more rapidly, and earth collapses on the sides of the streams, creating wide, gently sloping furrows.

Thermal erosion results in the loosening up of substratum that subsequently falls down to pile up at the bottom of an incline. Thermal erosion creates scree slopes of a constant angle. It is caused by rocks bursting because of strong exposure to heat, or ice. Although this is not geologically correct, the Rock hardness slider here controls the angle of scree slopes: the harder the rock, the steeper the scree.

Diffusive erosion is the result of the application of numerous types of erosion (including vegetal growth, grazing animals…) over millions of years. It results in the rounding off of any sharp features on the terrain. Harder rocks are less subject to diffusive erosion than softer ones.

Wind erosion rounds off features of the terrain that are directly exposed to the wind. In Vue d'Esprit, this wind blows horizontally from left to right. Features that are sheltered by other parts of the terrain will not be eroded as much as ones that are fully exposed to the wind. Harder rocks are less subject to wind erosion than softer ones. You can change the direction of the wind by rotating the terrain in another 2D app (using Copy-Paste).

Maintaining one of the erosion buttons depressed will keep eroding the terrain until the button is released.

Geological Effects

The last tab of the terrain editor displays a group of geological effects that can be applied to the terrain. Holding any one of these buttons down will keep applying the effect until the button is released.

Grit: adds random noise all over the surface of the terrain, resulting in a surface covered by little bumps and holes. Maintaining this button down creates higher bumps and deeper holes.

Gravel: same as grit, except gravel concentrates on sloping areas of the terrain.

Pebbles: adds randomly distributed pebbles all over the surface of the terrain. Useful for modeling pebble beaches… Maintaining this button down creates thicker pebbles.

Stones: adds randomly distributed round, bulging stones all over the surface of the terrain (a good base for rocky terrains). Maintaining this button down creates thicker stones.

Peaks: filters the altitude to emphasize high areas, while digging deeper valleys. Results in peaks separated by deep valleys.

Fir trees: adds tiny, randomly distributed cones all over the surface of the terrain. Very useful for modeling distant forests. Maintaining this button down creates taller cones.

Plateaus: very useful effect that causes high altitudes to swell, resulting in plateaus. Yields interesting results when used in conjunction with stones.

Terraces: gradually transforms any part of a sloping terrain into terraces. Ideal for cultivating rice!

Stairs: quantizes altitudes in your terrain, resulting in stair-stepped terrain structures. Very useful for modeling desert plateau structures. Keep the button pressed to reduce the number of steps.

Craters: bombards the surface of the terrain with random meteorites. The distribution of meteorite size is varied realistically.

Sharpen: this effect will increase the steepness of already steep parts of your terrain.

Cracks: adds random vertical cracks to your terrain surface, not unlike those created by an earthquake.

Undo

Pressing this button will undo your last operation. Please note that this command is not available after having changed the resolution of the terrain.

You can paint an effect selectively by applying the requested effect, then pressing Undo. Now use the brush with Undo mode activated to repaint the effect where you want it.

Invert

This button inverts all the altitudes of the terrain, making lower altitudes high, and vice-versa.

Copy-Paste

Use these buttons to exchange your terrain data with standard bitmap applications. You can Copy your terrain to the clipboard, then paste it into your favorite 2D app, modify it as you like, then copy it back to the clipboard, and Paste it into Vue d'Esprit.

Clipping Terrain Altitudes

The idea behind clipping altitudes is simple: anything under the clipping altitude will be left out of the terrain when it is rendered. This means you can make lower parts of the terrain actually become holes in the terrain. The creative power behind this is incredible. Please refer to the tutorial on making stone arches for an example using this feature. The result of clipping altitudes is the same as using a Boolean operation to remove low parts of the terrain.

When you move the clipping slider up, lower parts of the terrain become black. These are the altitudes that will be left out of the terrain when it is rendered.

Lower Edges

Pressing this button applies a Gaussian bell curve to the terrain altitudes. This lowers the altitudes that are close to the edges of the terrain, thus ensuring that the terrain will link smoothly with the ground.

Other Commands

Filter altitudes

Add function

Export terrain

Fractal terrain options

Hint

Applying effects at different terrain resolutions will result in these effects having different resolutions themselves.

For instance, a good way of achieving realistic fluvial erosion would be to start from a terrain with a resolution of 128x128 and adding fluvial erosion, then doubling terrain resolution, applying diffusive erosion, and then some more fluvial erosion. Then repeat this process again to raise the terrain resolution to 512x512.


Filter Terrain Altitudes

This powerful feature acts like the Altitude distribution filter of the fractal options. It lets you reorganize the altitudes of your terrain using a filter.

Modifying the shape of the filter will modify the altitudes accordingly (i.e. adding ridges to the filter will create ridges in the resulting terrain). To edit the filter, double-click on it. This will open the Filter editor.

Notice how the modifications in the filter are displayed in real time in the terrain preview. If you want to see a larger preview of the modified terrain, press Preview. This will apply the filter to the large terrain map in the terrain editor.

A special collection of filters is available for terrain altitude filtering (Select the Terrain profiles collection in the visual filter browser).

When you are done with adjusting the filter, press OK to apply it to the terrain.


Add Function to Terrain

This is one of the most powerful features in the terrain editor.

What it does is let you create terrains from any arbitrary function. This means that you can use all of the elaborate tools in the Function editor to customize every detail of your terrain. The “Dunes” predefined terrain style uses such a function.

To define the function that should be added to the terrain, double-click the picture of the function to open the visual function browser.

To the right of the function is a filter that lets you change the profile of the function.

The Scale control lets you adjust the scale of the function when it is mapped onto the terrain.

Amplitude controls the intensity of the perturbations added by the function to the terrain surface. The greater the value, the more noticeable those perturbations will be.

Adding the function can take some time…


Export Terrain

Clicking on this button enables you to export the terrain to other 3D packages.

Along with the terrain, you can also export color and bump maps that will fake the procedural materials used by Vue d’Esprit inside most other 3D packages.

First select the file under which the terrain should be exported. You may opt for an export as a DXF 3D mesh file, a picture file, or a script for the PoV package. Press the file button to browse the file. If you choose to export the terrain as a PoV script, you will have to indicate a filename for the terrain map. Terrains are converted to grayscale pictures by making high altitudes bright, and low ones dark.

If you would like to export a color or a bump map to dress up the terrain in your other application, select the Generate material maps option. You will have to indicate the files that should be used to store the color and the bump maps. You can also indicate the resolution at which these maps will be generated. The higher the resolution, the more detailed the maps will be, but the longer they will take to generate.


Fractal Terrain Options

This dialog lets you customize the fractal algorithm used by Vue d’Esprit to generate terrains.

Seed: this is a random number used by Vue d’Esprit to generate the terrain. The same seed will always lead to the same terrain, but you cannot predict the terrain that will be generated from a given seed.

Horizon profile: gives you an idea of the profile of the terrain. A new horizon is displayed any time a parameter is modified.

Noise distribution: specifies the distribution of random perturbations added to the terrain at each iteration step. By default, the noise is distributed randomly around 0.5, which means that bumps and ditches have the same statistical characteristics. By modifying this distribution, you can get interesting effects. Modify the distribution of the perturbations by changing the corresponding filter. If the specified distribution is not balanced (i.e. asymmetrical filter), the terrain may have a tendency to swell or shrink.

Altitude distribution: is, by default, linear, which corresponds to a terrain in which bumps and holes have the same shape. By modifying this distribution, you can get interesting effects. Modify the altitude distribution by changing the corresponding filter. You will associate a new altitude to each existing altitude, proportionately to the value of the filter. Depending on the filter, you will get canyons, plateau... A special collection of filters is available for terrain effects (Select the Terrain profiles collection in the visual filter browser).

Amplitude of perturbations: the fractal process is iterative. For each new iteration, Vue d'Esprit adds perturbations to the terrain, the scale of which depends on the iteration step. The higher the iteration step, the finer the perturbations.

Vue d'Esprit lets you adjust the average amplitude of the perturbation at each iteration step. Values in the range of 0 to 3 are reasonable. To understand correctly the iteration process, indicate 0 for each iteration step, then, going from the smallest step (on the left) to the highest step (on the right), indicate 1. Watch the shape of the horizon profile as you adjust the values.

When you are done with adjusting the parameters, click OK to accept them. A new terrain will be generated, using the new settings. Any future terrain that you create will use these settings.


Material Summary

The Material summary dialog is a dialog that can stay active on screen without blocking access to other parts of the software. It displays a list of all the materials that are used on objects of the current scene. It does not, however, display materials used for clouds. This list is designed to show only the materials that are used at a given time. It is displayed by selecting the menu command Display | Display material summary.

Using this list of materials lets you approach your scene in a different way: clicking on a material will select all the objects of your scene that use this material (this feature can be turned off using the Options dialog).

This is a powerful, and complementary method for navigating inside the scene. You may rapidly modify one of the materials (i.e. change the scale), without having to worry about all objects that use the material being updated …

And you can drag from one material onto another to make all the objects that used the old material use the new one (notice how the old material, having now become useless, disappears from the list).

The title bar of this dialog indicates how many materials are currently being used inside the scene. You may navigate through the list using the scrollbar at the bottom of the dialog.

Loading, Editing and Scaling Materials

Like anywhere, materials can be loaded, edited or scaled using the material summary.

To load a new material in place of another one, click the corresponding Load material button ( [image])and select a new material from the Material browser. All objects that used the old material will now use the new one.

Change the scale of a material using the corresponding Scale control.

And edit a material by double-clicking on the corresponding preview.


Batch Renders

Demo version: this option is not available.

This paragraph doesn’t describe a dialog box; it describes an application, that you will find in the same directory as Vue d’Esprit, called Batch.exe.

This application lets you create a list of files to be rendered one after the other (overnight?). Instructions and syntax are detailed inside the application. When you start rendering the batch, it takes control over Vue d’Esprit, instructing it to render each file in turn.

Before you start rendering a batch, please make sure you have sufficient disk space available to store all the pictures, plus some extra space for rendering. If some picture files already exist, they will be overwritten without notice.

It is good practice to test your batch with low resolution pictures to be sure that everything is OK before starting the full quality batch and going to sleep…


3D Mesh Editor

Aside from displaying information relative to the complexity of the selected 3D meshes, this dialog lets you adjust rendering characteristics of the meshes.

The Double sided checkbox indicates that the polygons making up the mesh should be traced from both sides. This is generally the case, and keeping this option selected is recommended. However, if you are sure that your mesh will support tracing with one sided polygons, deselecting it can slightly improve render speed. If it is not the case, you will notice holes in the rendered object.

When Smooth mesh is selected, the surface of the 3D mesh object is smoothed by averaging the normal vectors of all polygon faces, giving a less rough, “polygonal” aspect to the object. Sharp angles will be rubbed from the surface. You can adjust the maximum angle between polygons where smoothing should take place by using the Max smoothing angle box. For instance, giving a value less than 90° (i.e. 80°) would preserve right angles inside a cube, while still smoothing other, less angular features.


Selecting Objects

Before you make any modification to an object, this object has to be selected.

Selected objects are displayed in red, and are framed by black dots inside the active wireframe view. They are also highlighted in the World browser.

The information that is displayed inside the Object properties panel is relative to the selected objects.

To select an object, you can either click on it once in the active wireframe view, or click on the name of the object in the World Browser. Clicking while in an inactive wireframe view will activate it first, so you’ll have to click again on the object to select it.

Inside the Wireframe Views

You can also select objects in the wireframe views by clicking outside all of the objects, and dragging the mouse: a rectangle is drawn, showing the Selection area. All objects that have their center inside the rectangle will be selected.

If the object that you want to select is inside a group, clicking on it in the wireframe views will select the whole of the group. The only way to select that particular object is to use the World browser.

You can extend the selection to other objects by clicking on them while the Shift key is down. Re-selecting an object that is already selected will deselect it.

Pressing Control when you click to select an object will cause all objects under the mouse cursor to be selected at the same time.

Inside the World Browser

Selecting objects using the World browser will reposition the wireframe views so that the selected objects appear centered. This feature can be turned off using the Options dialog.

You may select group members independently, provided the group is expanded on the list (see section About the interface). You can extend the selection with the standard Windows™ method, using Shift and Control keys.

By Category

Selecting all objects that have either the same type, wireframe color, or material as the selected object is achieved through menu commands or icons in the left toolbar. The menu commands are found in the Edit | Select by sub-menu.

Also, clicking on a material inside the Summary of materials will select all the objects that use this material. This feature can be turned off using the Options dialog (see Other Dialog Boxes section for further details).

Walking through a Selection of Objects

When you have selected several objects, it becomes possible to select each of these objects, in turn. This operation is called “walking the selection”, and is achieved by the menu item Edit | Walk selection, by pressing Tab, or by using the icon [image] from the top toolbar. So, repeatedly pressing Tab will cycle you through all of the objects that you have selected, letting you pick out any one of them easily. For instance, you could select all objects under the cursor (pressing Control as you click), and then walk through those objects pressing tab until you reach the one you want.

Deselecting Everything

To deselect everything, either click on an empty part of the World browser, click outside the icons on the toolbars, press Escape, or select Deselect All from the Edit menu.


File Browser

The file browser lets you select a file to open or save.

When you save an item (i.e. a scene, an atmosphere, a material, a function, a color map, or a filter) you can add a title and a comment to the file. This title and comment will be displayed inside the Visual browser. For the sake of clarity when browsing your items, it is recommended that you add such comments and titles.


Picture Browser

The picture browser lets you select a picture to open or save.

When loading a picture, a preview of the selected picture is displayed at the bottom of the browser.

Vue d'Esprit can read the following picture formats :

BMP (*.bmp)	16/256/16 millions of colors, uncompressed
Gif (*.gif)	256 colors compressed without loss
Targa (*.tga)	16/256/65000/16 millions of colors compressed RLE or not
JPEG (*.jpg)	16 millions of colors, compressed with possible losses
USGS DEM (*.dem)	65000 different altitude values
Vue d'Esprit can write the following picture formats :

BMP (*.bmp)	16/256/16 millions of colors, uncompressed
Gif (*.gif)	256 colors compressed without loss
Targa (*.tga)	16/256/65000/16 millions of colors compressed RLE or not
JPEG (*.jpg)	16 millions of colors, compressed with possible losses
You can choose the file format using the file extension drop-down list.

When saving a picture, after pressing OK the Picture options dialog pops up, letting you select picture options supported by the selected file format.


Picture Options

This dialog lets you choose the file options for saving the picture.

These options depend on the selected file format.

If you want to save under JPEG format, indicate the requested picture quality (the lower the quality, the higher the losses; but the smaller the file). A quality of 100 % generates a picture compressed with a ratio of approximately 2, without any quality loss. If you tolerate a slight picture quality loss, you can reach compression ratios greater thanto 10, but don’t go under a quality of 50 %, you would visually degrade the picture too much.

If you want to save under BMP, GIF, or Targa format, you must specify the number of colors in the picture. If you select 256 colors, indicate if you want Vue d'Esprit to dither colors to simulate gradations (recommended), or if you would rather have flat colors.


Preview Options

This dialog box lets you customize the previews of material and functions.

First select the object that will be used to display the material or function among Cube, Marble, Sphere, Cylinder, Cone or Plane.

You can choose the type of background for the preview (Uniform or Checker), and also the background colors by modifying the color map (double-click the gradation).

This dialog box can stay opened all the time. Your modifications are taken into account immediately, and the material or function is redrawn using the new options.


Color Editor

To select a color, use the central color square to choose the color hue and saturation, and the slider to the right of the dialog to adjust color luminosity.

Alternately, you can enter numerical values for Hue, Saturation and Luminosity, or directly indicate the composition of the color in amounts of Red, Blue and Green (in the range of 0 to 255).

Click Ok to accept the color.


Zoomed View

This dialog lets you visualize a larger material or function preview than that available in the editors.

Click Render to see the preview of the material or function. Press Escape to stop rendering.

This dialog can stay open without blocking access to other parts of the software.


How to?
Quick Reference Tutorials

The following is a series of quick reference tutorials to help you achieve simple effects. More elaborate tutorials (such as using Boolean objects, making clouds, faking volumetric lights, making distant planets and forests, creating underwater scenes, simulating rain...) are available in the printed documentation.

Rendering a picture

Rendering a full size picture

Creating a checkerboard function (or other)

Accelerating the update of material or functions

Creating a rock material

Mapping a material using a picture

Bump mapping a material using a picture

Creating tropical water (deep blue, green close to the surface)

Creating fog at low altitudes

Adding blue haze in the distance

Making a custom canyon terrain

Creating terrains with snow-covered tops

Building a sunset atmosphere

Adding a sense of depth to landscapes

Mixing materials with tilted stratum

Creating undulated furrows

Modifying a terrain manually


Rendering a picture?
Rendering a Picture

1.	Create a new file by selecting the menu command File | New. Select an atmosphere from the visual atmosphere browser, and click OK.

2.	Create a Terrain by selecting the menu command Objects | Create | Terrain.

3.	Select the menu command Picture | Render and watch as the picture is rendered.

4.	You can stop the rendering process by pressing Escape.

5.	You can save the picture once it has finished rendering by using the menu command Picture | Save last render.


Rendering a Full Size Picture

1.	Select the menu command Picture | Render options.

2.	In the Render options dialog, select Render to screen.

3.	Select the requested picture resolution. Select Full screen for the biggest possible picture on your machine.

4.	Press OK. Watch the picture as it is rendered. Press Escape to stop rendering.

5.	You can save the picture once it has finished rendering by using the menu command Picture | Save last render.


Creating a Checkerboard Function (or Other)

1.	Open the Function editor by Control clicking on the preview of the function that you want to modify (or select Edit from the menu that appears when you press the right mouse button over the preview).

2.	If the list of layers indicates other layers than the Null layer, delete all the layers (by using Delete) or press New.

3.	Select a layer of style Procedural values.

4.	In the drop down list Type, select a layer of type Rectangular. The views of the function along the 3 axes are regenerated. (To choose another layer type, select it from the list). Note how the preview of the function is updated in real-time.

5.	Change the size of the checker tiles by modifying the Scales along each axis.

6.	To add a second layer, for example cracks, press the button Add, then indicate the layer type Cracks.


Accelerating material or function update
Accelerating Material or Function Updates

1.	Select the menu command File | Options.

2.	Click the Display options button (Functions or Materials).

3.	To increase rendering speed, select the preview object Marble (it is the fastest of the available objects); to increase rendering speed even further, select a Uniform background. (but it won't change much)

4.	You can modify the Background colors without influencing rendering speed.


Creating a Rock Material

1.	Open the Material editor by double clicking on the preview of the material that you want to modify (or select Edit from the menu that appears when you press the right mouse button over the preview).

2.	Press the New button to reset the material.

3.	Go to the Colors tab. Select a Procedural colors coloring type.

4.	In place of the color map, load the map named Rock from the Rock and Grass collection (to load a color map, select the menu option Load which appears when you press the right mouse button above the color map).

5.	Open the color production Function editor by Control clicking on the preview of the function (or select the option Edit from the menu which appears when you press the right mouse button above the preview).

6.	Select a Procedural values layer kind.

7.	Select the Noise (smooth) type of layer from the Type drop down list.

8.	Press OK to close the function editor.

9.	The material surface is smooth; we are going to add bumps to it. Got to the Bumps tab.

10.	Open the bumps production Function editor.

11.	Select a Procedural values layer kind.

12.	Select the Noise (smooth) type of layer from the Type drop down list. Select the Fractal layer box, and press Edit. In the Fractal layer editor, select a Complexity of 4. Close the function editor by pressing OK.

13.	In place of the bumps production filter, load the filter named Cracks from the Other filters collection (to load a filter, select the menu command Load which appears when you press the right mouse button above the filter).

14.	Notice that the surface of the material is now cracked. Many more effects can be added to the material to make it more elaborate…


Mapping a Material Using a Picture

1.	Open the Material editor by double clicking on the preview of the material that you want to modify (or select Edit from the menu that appears when you press the right mouse button over the preview).

2.	Press New to reset the material.

3.	Go to the Colors tab. Select a Mapped picture coloring type.

4.	Press the Load button, and indicate the name of the picture file you would like to use, then click OK.

5.	Select an Automatic mapping mode, and None for over sampling.


Bump Mapping a Material Using a Picture

1.	Open the Material editor by double clicking on the preview of the material that you want to modify (or select Edit from the menu that appears when you press the right mouse button over the preview).

2.	Press New to reset the material. Go to the Bumps tab of the editor.

3.	Open the Function editor by Control clicking on the preview of the function that you want to modify (or select Edit from the menu that appears when you press the right mouse button over the preview).

4.	If the list of layers indicates other layers than the Null layer, delete all the layers (by using Delete) or press New.

5.	Select a Mapped picture values kind of layer.

6.	Press the Picture button, indicate the name of the picture file, then press OK.

7.	Select an Automatic mapping mode, and Bi-linear over sampling (to make the layer continuous).


Creating Tropical Water

(deep blue, green close to the surface)

1.	To add water to the scene, select the menu command Objects | Create | Water plane.

2.	Open the Material editor by double clicking on the preview of the material that you want to modify (or select Edit from the menu that appears when you press the right mouse button over the preview).

3.	Press New to reset the material. Go to the Colors tab.

4.	Select a Procedural colors coloration mode.

5.	Control-click on the color map to start the Color map editor, and create a uniform blue color (surface color).

6.	Go to the Reflections tab.

7.	Make sure Variable reflections is unselected. Indicate a Global reflection amount of approx. 10%.

8.	Go to the Transparency tab.

9.	Be sure that the boxes Variable Transparencies, Fuzzy, Additive and Underlying material are unselected, then indicate a Global transparency amount of ~90%.

10.	Indicate a blue Fade out color (color in deep areas), and a green Light color (color near the surface).

11.	Indicate a Refraction index (IOR) of ~1.33. Set Turn reflective with angle to 40%.

12.	Adjust the Fade out depth to get a rather clear material. Something around 30% should be nice.

13.	Watch as the preview updates. Computation is slow because Vue d'Esprit has to generate internal reflections / refractions.

14.	The water we have just created has a flat surface. To add waves, go to the Bumps tab, and create a function with a procedural layer of a Water (troubled) type.


Creating Fog at Low Altitudes

1.	Select the menu command Atmosphere | Fog and Haze to bring up the fog and haze editor.

2.	Go to the Fog tab, and position the Uniform Fog thickness slider to the left for a thin uniform fog.

3.	Move the Altitude dependent fog slider to the right to create altitude dependent fog.

4.	Select the Fog gathers at low altitudes box.

5.	Indicate the Altitude at which the fog accumulates. Select an altitude lower than that of the camera. You will need to make several test renders to adjust precisely that altitude. It may take some amount of adjustment to get it just right…

6.	The Preview curve is here to help you understand how the thickness of the fog operates.


Adding Blue Haze in the Distance

1.	Select the menu command Atmosphere | Fog and Haze to bring up the fog and haze editor.

2.	Go to the Haze tab, and position the Haze thickness slider half-way up.

3.	Choose a blue haze color by Control clicking on the color. Press OK to validate color changes. Getting the right shade of blue may require several test renders. Bright colors will yield an overexposed horizon, whereas dark ones will make for a dark horizon.

4.	Haze reduces contrast by giving all objects a bluish color. In order to get it to turn white as distance increases, you will need to add a bit of fog.


Making a Custom Canyon Terrain

1.	Create a new Terrain by selecting the menu command Objects | Create | Terrain.

2.	Double-click on the terrain in the wireframe views, or in the World browser. This brings up the Terrain editor.

3.	Press the Canyon predefined terrain style. The map of the terrain changes to display the canyon.

4.	Go to the Erosion tab, and add a bit of Fluvial erosion. Press OK to exit the editor.

5.	An alternate method for creating the terrain would have been to select the menu command Objects | Create | Terrain in editor (right click on the terrain icon). This brings up a dialog box letting you select the dimensions of the terrain. Pressing OK creates the terrain and opens the terrain editor directly.

You could also take a look at the paragraph on Modifying terrains manually for an example of another (graphical) way to create canyon terrains.


Creating Terrains with Snow-Covered Tops

1.	Create a scene with several terrains. Select all the terrains and the ground together (by Shift clicking on them in the wireframe views), and Load a rock material for these objects (SandStone for instance; press [image]).

2.	Now we want to add snow to these terrains. Open the Material editor for the SandStone, and select the Mixed materials box. Notice how the tabs on the bottom of the editor change to exhibit the features of mixed materials.

3.	In the Materials to mix tab, mixed material 1 is the old SandStone material. Load the Snow material in place of material 2, using [image].

4.	Indicate a Smooth blending strip width of 20%.

5.	The trouble is that the SandStone and Snow materials are equally mixed everywhere. We want snow at high altitudes only, and accumulated on flat surfaces … Select the Distribution of materials dependent on altitude, slope and orientation box.

6.	A new tab appears, entitled Influence of environment. Select this new tab.

7.	Indicate that the altitude has an average influence, by pushing Influence of altitude up to 50%.

8.	Indicate that material 2 (the snow) gathers at High altitudes.

9.	Indicate that slope also has an average influence on the way snow accumulates by pushing Influence of slope up to 50% also.

10.	Indicate that the material 2 (the snow) gathers on Flat surfaces.

11.	The material is nearly ready. You could make the snow more dense on the sides of the mountains that are less exposed to sunshine. To do this, you’d have to indicate some Influence of orientation, and adjust the orientation using the Azimuth control.

12.	To adjust the amount of snow that is visible in your landscape, push the Mixing proportions slider to the right to increase the amount of snow, and to the left to reduce it.

13.	You can improve the material by making transitions from SandStone to Snow more realistic. To do this, you need to add noise into the mixing process. Go back to the Materials to mix tab, and edit the Distribution of materials function. Create a Noise (smooth) layer, and make it Fractal with a complexity of 2. You can adapt the influence of this noise by varying the extension of the function.

14.	You could give the impression that snow is resting on the SandStone by using a more elaborate blending algorithm: select a Blend bumps cubic Blending method. The result is subtle, but you’ll notice that Snow now looks like it has a thickness.


Building a Sunset Atmosphere

1.	Obviously, the quickest way of doing this is to load a sunset atmosphere using the menu command Atmosphere | Load atmosphere.

2.	To build a sunset atmosphere from scratch, select the menu command Atmosphere | Sun and light. In the Sun tab, indicate a sun Pitch of approximately 8° (sun close to the horizon).

3.	Go to the Light tab, and create an orange sunlight color. Push Light balance to get less Ambient light.

4.	Select the menu command Atmosphere | Fog and haze.

5.	Give an orange color to the fog and to the haze.

6.	Select the menu command Atmosphere | Sky and clouds.

7.	Instead of the current color map of the sky, load the color map called Sunset from the skies collection (to do so, double click on the map, or click on the right mouse button above the map and select Load).

8.	Darken the clouds by pushing the Cloud exposure slider to the left.

9.	Indicate an important cloud illumination close to the sun by moving the slider Near sun illumination boost to the right.

10.	If necessary, push up the cloud flaring by editing the cloud material (Transparency tab).


Adding a sense of depth to landscapes
Adding a Sense of Depth to Scenes

1.	To give the impression that your scene runs far away in the distance, you have to give it a sense of depth. To do that, create several Terrains, and move them progressively away from the camera. Keep in mind that, in order to see far away terrains, they must be very large. So you should enlarge them as they get further.

2.	The use of an atmosphere that has strong fog or haze will help give the impression of depth.


Mixing Materials with Tilted Stratum

1.	Open the Material editor by double clicking on the preview of the material that you want to modify (or select Edit from the menu that appears when you press the right mouse button over the preview).

2.	Reset the material by pressing New. Select the Mixed materials box.

3.	Load rock materials of your choice into Material 1 and 2 using the [image] buttons.

4.	Indicate a Smooth blending strip equal to 5%.

5.	Open the Material distribution function editor.

6.	Select a Procedural values layer of a Noise (smooth) type.

7.	Scale the layer along X and Y up to 5. Leave Z scale at 1.

8.	Select the Rotation box and press Edit.

9.	Indicate a rotation around the X axis equal to 20° (in order to tilt the stratum).


Creating Undulated Furrows

1.	Open the Material editor by double clicking on the preview of the material that you want to modify (or select Edit from the menu that appears when you press the right mouse button over the preview).

2.	Make sure Mixed materials is not selected. Go to the Bumps tab.

3.	Open the Bump production function editor.

4.	Create a Procedural values layer of type Wave.

5.	Scale the layer along X and Z to 20, and along Y to 0.7. (Creating furrows along Y; to position them differently, use Rotation).

6.	The furrows are currently parallel. We need to make them undulate. Select the Turbulence box, and press Edit.

7.	Indicate a turbulence Complexity of 3, based on a Noise (smooth) noise, Blend combined, with a turbulence Scale of 1.1, an Amplitude of 0.13 and Harmonics of 1.2. Close the function editor by pressing OK.

8.	Indicate a Bump gain equal to 0.5.


Modifying a Terrain Manually

1.	Create a terrain by selecting the menu command Objects | Create | Terrain in editor. Indicate the size of the terrain you want to create and press OK. This brings you to the Terrain editor.

2.	Press the Copy button.

3.	In the 2D application of your choice (e.g. Photoshop™), create a picture of the same resolution as the terrain, and Paste into it.

4.	Now you can modify the terrain as you like. You can use filters on it to generate astounding effects. Remember that when you lighten a point of the picture it means that you are increasing the altitude of the corresponding point in the terrain.

5.	When you have finished modifying the picture, copy it back into the clipboard. In the Terrain editor, press Paste. The modified terrain appears in the map.

6.	When you are done, press OK to validate the new terrain.

The Canyon terrain object was created in the following way: a meandering black river was drawn on a white background; then, a gradation was introduced around the river; the picture was then filtered to create steps and imported into Vue d’Esprit; last, the terrain was slightly eroded (Diffusive erosion) to smooth the steps and dig water streams (Fluvial erosion).


Interface Overview

The interface of Vue d'Esprit 2 was designed with three goals in mind: it should be intuitive, functional, and fast.

This is why the final layout dedicates as much possible space to the wireframe views, because this is where the user spends most of his time. Aside from the now standard toolbars positioned on the top and right side of the interface, two big palettes are available on the right, displaying all useful object characteristics within mouse reach, thus allowing quick navigation inside the scene.

There is one important thing you must understand: since the interface has been designed to deliver speed, any modifications you make will give instant feedback, without slowing down the process. Although this may seem unusual at first, we're sure you'll rapidly grow to love it.

There is one important thing you must understand: since the interface has been designed to deliver speed, any modifications you make will give instant feedback, without slowing down the process. Although this may seem unusual at first, we're sure you'll rapidly grow to love it.

In keeping with our goals, graphics design of the interface came after; the biggest issue became how to achieve a look that embodied the essence of the software, a symbiosis of nature and technology, while still fitting inside a standard Windows™ environment. Hopefully we have succeeded…

Please select the topic that you would like to get help about.

Wireframe Views

Double Action Icons

Unfoldable Icons

The Top Toolbar

The Left Toolbar

The Object Properties Panel

The World Browser

Visual Browsers

Clipping Plane

Drag and Drop

Contextual Menus

The Status Bar

Mouse and Keyboard Operations


Wireframe Views

These are the four main windows sitting in the middle of the interface. This is where you get to build your pictures. These windows display four different wireframe views of your scene: the Top view displays your scene as seen from above, the Front view displays the scene as if looking at it from straight ahead, and the Side view as if looking at it from the right. Since all of these views are orthogonal projections, they are also known as the orthogonal views. They are ideally suited for moving, rotating and sizing objects. The last view, which is the bottom right one, is the Main camera view. It displays a preview of your scene, as seen from the camera. If you move the camera around, you will notice that this view changes interactively. This view enables you to best take care of picture framing and composition.

At any given time, there is one of these views that has a brighter title bar than the others. This is the Active view. Keyboard operations (i.e. nudging with the arrows) will be directed to the active view.

Views can be moved around by clicking and dragging them with the right mouse button. You can also zoom into or out of them by pressing Control while you drag. Furthermore, the main camera view can be moved by Shift dragging it.

If you would like the Main camera view to fill up the display area, click on the Only display main view icon in the top toolbar, or select the menu item Display | Only display main view. You can toggle back to the 4 views by doing this again.

If you let the mouse cursor stand still over the interface, a tooltip will pop up, telling you what is under the cursor. This works for icons, controls in the Object properties panel, as well as for objects in the wireframe previews.

To the top and to the left of these wireframe views are two toolbars. Before taking a closer look at these, we would like to introduce you to two new types of icons living in Vue d'Esprit:

Double Action Icons

Unfoldable Icons

The Top Toolbar

The Left Toolbar


Double Action Icons

Some icons in the toolbars can perform differently, depending on the way you click on them. If you click on them in the normal way, that is using the left mouse button, they will perform the default action, as displayed in the icon. However if you do any of the following, they will perform an alternate action:

•	Click with the right mouse button

•	Shift click with the left mouse button

•	Control click with the left mouse button

•	Click with left mouse button, maintaining the button depressed until the icon changes to the alternate display

Such icons are identified by a small black square dot on the right border.


Unfoldable Icons

Other icons in the toolbars can have multiple actions, also depending on the way you click on them. If you click on them in the normal way, that is using the left mouse button, they will perform the default action, as displayed in the icon. However if you do any of the following, they will unfold, to display a set of alternate actions:

•	Click with the right mouse button

•	Shift click with the left mouse button

•	Control click with the left mouse button

•	Click with the left mouse button, maintaining the button depressed until the icon unfolds

To select an alternate action, drag the mouse through the unfolded icon, onto the requested action, and then release it. The default action of unfoldable icons switches to that of the last selected icon. Such icons are identified by a small black triangle on the right border (i.e. the Sphere icon unfolds to reveal other Primitives).


Top toolbar
The Top Toolbar

This toolbar is placed at the top of the interface, immediately below the menu. It provides shortcuts for most common operations (file manipulation, editing, atmosphere, zooming, and render controls). The Duplicate and Render icons are double-action icons. Respective alternate shortcuts are Scatter and Render options.

Clicking on empty parts of the toolbar will deselect all selected objects.


Left toolbar
The Left Toolbar

This toolbar is also known as the object bar. It provides shortcuts for creating, grouping, and selecting objects.

In the object bar, the following icons are double-action ones:

•	Create terrain icon. The alternate action is Create terrain in editor

•	Create vegetation icon. The alternate action is Load vegetation and create

•	Load object icon. The alternate action is Save object

•	Flip vertically icon. The alternate action is Flip horizontally

In the object bar, the following icons are unfoldable ones:

•	Water / Ground / Cloud

•	Sphere / Cylinder / Cube / Pyramid / Cone / Plane

•	Boolean difference / Boolean union / Boolean intersection

•	Point light / Spot light / Directional light

•	Align centers vertically / Horizontally / Align left / Right / Top / Bottom.

•	Select by color / Select by type / Select by material.

Clicking on empty parts of the toolbar will deselect all selected objects.


Object properties panel
The Object Properties Panel

This is a contextual panel that displays information relating to the selected objects. It can be detached and moved to another position inside the display (you first need to unlock it using the Options dialog).

When no objects are selected, the panel displays a stylish picture.

When some objects are selected, the object properties panel displays a dialog box with 2 tabs. The first tab, labeled Aspect, gives information on the visual aspect of the selected objects. The second, labeled Numerics, gives you numerical control over the position, rotation angles, size, and twist of the selected objects.

At the top of the panel, a text element indicates the Type of selected objects, followed by the number of selected objects in square brackets. If objects of different types are selected together, this element displays Mixed objects. Underneath this text element the Name of the selected object is displayed. You can edit the name. If several objects are selected, and if they carry different names, this item will be blank. Typing in a new name will rename all selected objects to the new name.

The contents of the Aspect tab depend on the type of the selected object. On the contrary, the contents of the Numerics tab is always the same, whatever the type of selected object.

The following is a description of the Object properties panel for each type of selected object. Whenever different types of objects are selected together, the object properties panel displays only controls that are available for all selected objects. If all selected objects don't have the same value for a given control, it is left blank.

Primitives, Planes, Vegetation, Groups

If the selected object is either a primitive object (sphere, cylinder, cube, pyramid, cone, plane) or an infinite plane (water, ground, or cloud), or a vegetation, or a group (groups or Boolean objects), the Aspect tab of the Object properties panel displays as illustrated in the figure at bottom, right. Please refer to the section on “Creating Objects”.

The elements on the panel are, from top to bottom:

Picture of the material assigned to the object. You can edit the material by double-clicking this picture. If several objects are selected, that use different materials, this picture remains gray.

Underneath this picture, is an indication of the Scale of the material. This only affects the size of the material when it is rendered in your scene. Once again, if several objects are selected that use materials at different scales, this item will be blank.

On the right of the material scale is the Load material button ( [image]) which opens the visual material browser, letting you select a new material for the selected objects.

On the bottom line is a drop-down list of Wireframe colorsHID_WireframeColor. This lets you select the color of the wireframe display for the selected objects. When you select a new color, the selected objects will be flashed inside the wireframe displays to show the new color. Changing the wireframe color of some of your objects is good practice, since it enables easier identification and faster selection.

To the right of this drop-down list, is a checkbox that, when selected, will display the selected objects as Boxes. It can be used with complex objects like terrains or vegetation, to speed up display and/or avoid screen clutter.

Terrains, 3D Meshes

If the selected object is either a terrain object or a 3D mesh, the Object properties panel is identical to the previous panel, apart from one extra button sitting on the top right of the panel. It is the Edit button ( [image]).

Pressing it will launch the editor for the type of selected object: Terrain editor for terrains and 3D mesh options dialog for 3D meshes.

The same result can be achieved by double-clicking on the wireframe display of the object, or on the name of the object inside the World browser.

Point Lights

At the top of the Aspect tab is the Light color control. Double-clicking this will open the Color editor, letting you select a new color for the light.

Underneath this color control, is the Softness control. Turning this up to a non-zero value unleashes a powerful feature of Vue d'Esprit: soft, natural looking shadows. This truly realistic effect is possible because Vue d'Esprit can handle surface lights. The greater the value, the larger the surface of the light, and the more progressive the transition from light to shadow. A value of 5° usually yields nice results. However, since surface lights are much more computationally demanding than standard lights, it is recommended that you use such lights judiciously.

On the bottom of the tab, above the wireframe color drop-down list, is the Power control. This governs the intensity of light emitted by the light source. The more powerful the light, the greater the range in which it can light up objects. This control also visually affects the length of the rays cast from the light source in the wireframe views. Resizing a light source yields the same result.

As for other objects, the Wireframe color drop-down list changes the color of the light display inside the wireframe views. Unlike other objects that have a black default color, lights have a yellow default color.

Directional Lights

If the selected object is a directional light, the Object properties panel is identical to the previous panel apart from the extra Always point at camera checkbox. When selected, the position and direction of light are linked in such a way that it always points at the camera. Note that this doesn’t mean the light is necessarily in front of the camera. Having this option selected is good practice, since it avoids misunderstanding the fact that only the orientation of directional lights is important.

Spot Lights

If the selected object is a spot light, the Object properties panel is identical to the point light properties panel, apart from two extra controls: Spread and Falloff.

Spread adjusts the spread of the light cone. The greater the value, the larger the angle of the cone of light. The maximum is 90°, which will spread light everywhere in front of the light source.

Falloff governs the speed of transition between light and dark on the edges of the cone. The greater the value, the more progressive the transition.

Camera

Whenever you think you have come up with an interesting view of your scene, you can store the current camera settings by pressing the Store camera button ( [image]). This lets you further modify framing, while knowing that you to can instantly revert to the previously stored settings. You can store as many settings as you like, but only the first ten are available through the Display | Activate camera settings menu item. Others should be activated from the Object properties panel.

The position of the camera can be modified by moving it inside the Top, Side and Front view, or by nudging the Main view, or by Shift-dragging the Main view with the right mouse button.

The camera can be rotated either using the usual Rotation handles, or by dragging with the right mouse button inside the Main view. When using rotation handles, it may happen that the camera gets tilted. Selecting Always keep level will prevent this from happening.

Control-dragging with the right mouse button will adjust the focal length of the camera.

Last, but surely not least, Vue d'Esprit can handle another complex effect that will add realism to your pictures: realistic depth of field. This is adjusted by two controls: the amount of blurring (i.e. the depth of field) and the "in focus" distance. Once again, use this feature judiciously, since the final rendering time of pictures using depth of field is several times longer than pictures that don't...

The Numerics Tab

This tab lets you enter precise numerical values for position, rotation, size, and twist along each axis. For a description of the axes, please refer to the Understanding Vue d'Esprit section.

Numerical values given for position are relative to the World origin, which is the center point of the orthogonal wireframe views when you create a new scene.

Numerical rotation angles relate to the object for Pitch and Roll, but relate to the World for Yaw.

Numerical values of size relate to the object. They are independent of the object rotation. Consequently, using Numerics to size an object that has already been rotated is a quick and precise method.

Numerical values for twisting are less straightforward. Basically, they will twist one axis of the object towards another axis. This is rather difficult to visualize, so the best is to try it out. However, please understand that, due to complex matrix operations, twisting and untwisting objects in several directions may not restore the initial object conformation.


World browser
The World Browser

The World browser is the list that sits on the right of the display, underneath the Object properties panel. It can be detached and moved to another position inside the display (you first need to unlock it using the Options dialog).

The World browser is used for fast navigation inside your scene.

You can select objects by clicking on them in the list. It also works for objects that are placed inside groups, which means you don’t have to Ungroup and re-Group groups or Boolean objects to modify one of their members! Click again, and the name of the object changes into a label that you can edit directly (press Enter to validate the new name).

You can move up and down in the list using cursor arrows.

And you can drag and drop objects from one position to another. You can also drag objects into or out of groups or Boolean objects!

Layers

At the root of the list are 8 layers which act as organizers for the objects inside your scene. Objects will render the same, whatever layer they are placed in.

The contents of the layers may be visible or hidden, depending on whether they are unfolded or not. Unfolded layers are depicted by a [image] on the left of the browser. To fold up and hide what the layer contains, click on that picture. The layer folds up, and the button changes to [image]. Please understand that objects inside the folded up layers still exist, although they are not listed in the World browser. Folding layers up is a good way of limiting the number of objects displayed by the browser. Empty layers are depicted by a [image]. Clicking on this has no effect.

Objects may be moved from one layer to another by dragging them out of the old layer and dropping them into the new one. Layers cannot be moved around.

Clicking on the name of a layer will select all objects inside the layer. Clicking again will let you rename it (press Enter to validate the new name).

On the right side of the layer is a little picture indicating the state of that layer. This can be any of the following:

 Active layer: objects inside active layers are visible and may be selected in the wireframe views.

 Locked layer: objects inside locked layers are displayed in gray and cannot be selected in the wireframe views.

 Hidden layer: objects inside hidden layers are not visible and cannot be selected in the wireframe views.

To change the state of a layer, click on the state picture. The state of the layer cycles through Active / Locked / Hidden. Double-clicking on the state picture always activates the layer.

The ability to change the state of a layer is the key to their organizational power. The fact that you can lock or hide layers means that you can decide to temporarily hide away parts of your scene by putting them into a hidden layer. In doing so, objects will still be there for rendering, but won't clutter up your wireframe views as you concentrate on another part of the scene. When you need them back, just click on the layer state, and here they come! Alternately, putting objects in a locked layer will keep them visible in the wireframe views (i.e. for reference), while not hindering selection of other objects you are working on.

The state of a layer has absolutely no influence on the way objects are rendered (unless expressly asked for - see Render options). Not convinced? Take a look at the SunRay sample landscape. Objects in this scene are organized in three layers, one for main scenery, one for shadows, and one for clouds. Only the first is visible. Try activating the other 2, and you will see how cluttered the scene becomes, making selection and progress tedious.

When you start a new scene, all objects are, by default, positioned in the first layer. Successive objects that you create will be placed in the layer that has the focus. The layer that has the focus is depicted by a red cross ( [image]). It is the last active layer you used. Selecting an object from an active layer will give focus to that layer.

Object Identification

Inside the browser, objects are depicted by small pictures placed in front of them. These pictures are designed to facilitate object identification. The signification of the pictures is:

 Infinite plane: this object is either a Water, Ground, or Cloud infinite plane.

 Primitive: this object is either a Sphere, Cylinder, Cube, Pyramid, Cone, or Plane primitive.

 Terrain: this object is a Terrain object.

 Vegetation: this object is a Vegetation object.

 3D mesh: this object is a 3D mesh (DXF) object.

 Light: this object is either a Point, Spot or Directional light.

 Group: this object is either a Group, Boolean Union, Boolean Intersection, or Boolean Difference object.

 Camera: this object is the Camera.

Groups and Boolean Objects

Group objects (see section on Creating objects for a definition of Group objects) also have a symbol ( [image] or [image]) in front of them.

The [image] symbol means that the layer is folded up; members of the group are not displayed inside the browser. Clicking on the picture will unfold the contents of the group.

The [image] symbol means that the layer is unfolded; members of the group are displayed underneath the group, and are linked to it in the list using a dotted line. You can access any of the members directly by clicking on them. Clicking on the picture will fold the group back up.

The ability to select objects that are inside groups makes for tremendously convenient use. Objects can be modified even once they are inside a group. Better still, objects may be added or removed from groups simply by dragging them into, or out of the group (in order to do so, the group has to be unfolded).

Pressing Control while dragging objects inside the World browser will result in a copy of the dragged objects being generated, and placed at the drop point.

Multiple objects can be selected inside the World browser by Control clicking on them.

Shift clicking will select all objects in the marked range.


Visual browser
Visual Browsers

Whenever you need to select a file, Vue d'Esprit will prompt you for one with a visual browser. The visual browser lets you select files using preview pictures instead of old, boring filenames. Clicking on one of the preview pictures will display it full size at the top left of the browser, along with the title of the file and a short text description.

Underneath the text description, you will also notice, written in gray and slanted, the name of the file. This is useful when you want to reorganize your files.

The item that is currently displayed at the top of the browser is framed in black in the list of available items. If you press OK, that is the item which will be loaded.

Collections

Inside the visual browser, items are organized in collections, a list of which is displayed on the left side. The items that are currently displayed belong to the highlighted collection. To display the items of another collection, simply click the requested collection in the list.

Collections are in fact shortcuts to directories containing items of the requested type. You may add as many collections as you’d like to the list, by clicking New at the bottom of the list. A standard file browser will appear, letting you browse and select any file from the directory that you would like to see added to the list of available collections. Once a file is selected, you will be prompted for a name. This is the name the collection will have inside the visual browser. Click OK, and wait for a couple of seconds while Vue d'Esprit builds the item previews and displays them.

If you add files to a directory that is listed by a visual browser as being a collection, the corresponding new items will automatically be added to the previews.

Collections may be removed from the list by clicking Del. A prompt asks you to confirm the withdrawal of the currently highlighted collection. Please note that removing a collection does not delete any files from the directory.

Loading other Files

If the file you wish to load is not displayed in any of the available collections, you may access it directly by clicking the File button. A standard file browser will appear, letting you browse and select your file.


Clipping Plane

You may have noticed that objects below the ground are not visible in the main wireframe view. This is because they are automatically clipped below the ground, to improve the visual comprehension of the view.

This feature can be turned off by using the Options dialog. It may also be activated in the orthogonal views using the same dialog.

To decide which plane is going to be the clipping plane, Vue d'Esprit looks through all of the layers of the scene, to find the first infinite plane that is perfectly horizontal, and facing upwards. If you rotate the ground plane, it is no longer a valid clipping plane, and will not be retained. If you add water to the scene, another infinite plane will be created, just before the ground, thus becoming the first available clipping plane. This is why everything under the surface of the water is now invisible (which is usually what is wanted). If you drag the ground above the water in the World browser, the ground will become the new clipping plane again.

It is important that you understand how Vue d'Esprit decides which is the clipping plane, to avoid getting confused after having inadvertently manipulated the infinite plane that happens to be the current clipping plane.


Drag and Drop

Drag and drop is probably one of the most intuitive features of modern user interfaces. As such, it had to be implemented in Vue d'Esprit.

Drag and drop is everywhere:

•	you can drag the material of one object onto other objects inside the Wireframe views or in the World browser, or onto other materials to copy it

•	you can drag materials onto several objects using the Shift key to extend selection

•	you can drag materials from the Summary of materials onto other objects or materials

•	you can drag functions from one material to another, and filters and color maps too

•	you can drag objects around inside the World browser, into groups, out of groups, duplicate them, move them from one layer to another…


Contextual Menus

Contextual menus are available almost everywhere in Vue d’Esprit. A contextual menu is a menu that lists operations relative to the object under the mouse cursor. It is called up by clicking on the desired object with the right mouse button. In the wireframe views, you have to be careful not to move the mouse in between the moment you press the mouse button and the moment you release it; if not the views will be moved and no contextual menu will appear.


Status bar
The Status Bar

This is the general information bar that sits right at the bottom of the interface. The left side of it displays current render status, and menu command help messages.

To the right, you will find an indication on the number of objects in your scene, and the number of lights. While the only limit to these figures is the power of your machine, we feel that keeping them under 200 objects and 20 lights would be reasonable. If you exceed these values, the display will turn red, just to let you know…

The rightmost figure is an estimate of the equivalent number of polygons that your scene would require if it were modeled inside a “standard” 3D package. This figure will turn red whenever you exceed 1 million polygons. You may go over, but this is the signal that your scene is getting extremely complex. Once again, “standard” 3D software would probably not even survive such an enormous amount of information…


Mouse and Keyboard Operations

Keyboard shortcuts are available for most common operations.

The following is a summary of all mouse and keyboard operations:

Mouse Operations

Inside the Wireframe Views:

Left Click in inactive view: Activate view.

Left Click: Select objects under cursor / deselect all if no objects under cursor.

Left Click+Drag inside objects: Move objects inside view.

Left Click+Drag outside objects: Selects all objects with their center in the drag rectangle.

Left Click+Drag on selected objects corner dots: Resize objects keeping proportions.

Ctrl+Left Click+Drag on selected objects corner dots: Resize objects equally along the two view axes, leaving third axis unchanged.

Left Click+Drag on selected objects middle dots: Resize objects along indicated axis.

Ctrl+Left Click+Drag on selected objects middle dots: Resize objects along indicated object axis.

Left Click+Drag on selected objects 4 arrows handle: Rotate objects around the 2 axes of the view (i.e. for Top view (XY), around Front (X) and Side (Y) axis).

Left Click+Drag on selected objects rotate handle: Rotate objects around the axis perpendicular to the view (i.e. for Top view (XY), around vertical axis (Z)).

Shift+Left Click: Extend selection.

Ctrl+Left Click: Select all objects under cursor.

Right Click+Release without moving the mouse: Bring up contextual menu.

Right Click+Drag: Move view / rotate camera if in main camera view.

Ctrl+Right Click+Drag: Manual zoom / camera focal if in main camera view.

Shift+Right Click+Drag: Move camera up-down and right-left if in main camera view.

Space+Drag: Move view / rotate camera if in main camera view.

Shift+Space+Drag: Move camera up-down and right-left if in main camera view.

Inside the World Browser:

Left Click on nothing: Deselect all objects.

Left Click on object: Select object under cursor.

Ctrl+Left Click on object: Add object under cursor to selection.

Shift+Left Click on object: Select all objects between last selected object and object under cursor.

Left Click on layer: Select all objects in layer.

Left Click on layer or group expansion box: Toggle Unfolded / Folded up state.

Left Click on layer state box: Toggle Active / Locked / Hidden state.

Left DoubleClick on layer state box: Activate layer.

Left Click+Drag: Move selected objects to the release point location.

Ctrl+Left Click+Drag: Copy selected objects to the release point location.

Right Click: Bring up contextual menu.

Keyboard Operations

Interface Shortcuts:

Ctrl+N: New file.

Ctrl+O: Open file.

Ctrl+S: Save file.

Ctrl+Q: Exit.

Ctrl+Z: Undo last operation.

Del: Delete selected objects.

Ctrl+X: Cut selected objects into clipboard.

Shift+Del: Cut selected objects into clipboard.

Ctrl+C: Copy objects from clipboard.

Ctrl+Insert: Copy objects from clipboard.

Ctrl+V: Paste objects from clipboard.

Shift+Insert: Paste objects from clipboard.

Ctrl+D: Duplicate selected objects.

Ctrl+A: Select all objects in scene.

Escape: Deselect all.

Shift+C: Store Camera settings.

Ctrl+0..9: Activate camera settings.

Ctrl+Num +: Zoom into views.

Ctrl+Num -: Zoom out of views.

Ctrl+Shift+M: Select objects by material.

Ctrl+Shift+O: Select Objects by type.

Ctrl+Shift+W: Select objects by Wireframe color.

Tab: Walk to next objects in selection.

F1: Open help files.

F2: Display Sun and light palette

F3: Display Sky and clouds palette.

F4: Display Fog and haze palette.

F5: Load atmosphere.

F6: Display material summary.

F7: Toggle only display main view.

F8: Display last render.

Ctrl+F8: Save last render.

F9: Render.

Ctrl+F9: Render options.

Ctrl+Shift+F9: Resume render.

Object Creation:

Shift+W: Create Water.

Shift+G: Create a Ground plane.

Shift+A: Create a Cloud plane.

Shift+S: Create a Sphere.

Shift+C: Create a Cylinder.

Shift+U: Create a Cube.

Shift+O: Create a Cone.

Shift+Y: Create a Pyramid.

Shift+P: Create a Plane.

Shift+T: Create a Terrain.

Ctrl+Shift+T: Create a terrain inside the editor.

Shift+V: Create Vegetation.

Ctrl+Shift+V: Load a vegetation and create.

Shift+Q: Add a Directional light.

Shift+L: Add a Point light.

Shift+X: Add a Spot light.

Ctrl+L: Load Object.

Object Edition:

Arrow Up: Nudge selected objects up / if no objects selected: nudge views up / nudge camera down if in main camera view.

Arrow Down: Nudge selected objects down / if no objects selected: nudge views down / nudge camera up if in main camera view.

Arrow Left: Nudge selected objects left / if no objects selected: nudge views left / nudge camera right if in main camera view.

Arrow Right: Nudge selected objects right / if no objects selected: nudge views right / nudge camera left if in main camera view.

Page up: Nudge selected objects closer / if no objects selected: nudge views closer / nudge camera forward if in main camera view.

Page down: Nudge selected objects further / if no objects selected: nudge views further / nudge camera backward if in main camera view.

Shift+Nudge key: Nudge 1/10th of an increment.

Ctrl+Nudge key: Resize objects / change focal.

Shift+D: Drop selected objects.

Ctrl+G: Group selected objects.

Ctrl+Shift+U: Make Boolean Union.

Ctrl+Shift+I: Make Boolean Intersection.

Ctrl+Shift+D: Make Boolean Difference.

Ctrl+U: Ungroup selected groups.

Ctrl+M: Change selected objects Material.

Ctrl+E: Edit selected objects (if applicable).


Kick Start: a Fast Tutorial

We know you're eager to get at it, so here's a fast tutorial to help you discover the mainlines of generating pictures inside Vue d'Esprit.

	1. Launch Vue d'Esprit, and create a new File (menu File | New). 2. You are prompted to select an atmosphere for your scene. This controls the position of the sun, the color of light, the shape and size of the clouds, fog, haze, and a lot more that altogether make for realistic outdoor scenery. You may select any atmosphere you like. We chose Daytime. 3. At any time in this tutorial, you may render a picture of the scene by clicking on the rightmost Render icon in the top toolbar. 4. Look at the list on the bottom right of the display. This is called the World browser. It displays the elements that constitute the scene. There are 8 layers, which act as organizers for the objects of your scene. The Ground, the Main camera and the Sun light have been placed inside the first. Layers are used for efficient scene organization.  5. Click the sphere icon in the left toolbar. A sphere appears in the center of the wireframe previews. Click on the sphere, and, while holding down the mouse button, move the sphere around. Release the mouse button to let the sphere go. Notice that the Sphere has been added inside the World browser. The currently selected object (that is the object you are working on, i.e. the sphere), is highlighted. In the wireframe, it is displayed in red. 6. Click again on the sphere icon, but this time with the right mouse button. You will notice that when the mouse button is pressed, the icon is unfolded to reveal other primitives. Move the mouse to the right to select another primitive, say, a pyramid. Note that the sphere icon has now changed to display the primitive you just selected. All icons that carry a small black triangle on their right are unfoldable in the same way. 7. If it is not active, activate the Top view by clicking on the title bar of the top-left wireframe display. The active view has a brighter title bar than other views, and the selected object is framed by 8 dots. These are the resize dots. If you click and drag the corner dots, the pyramid will be resized globally. If you click and drag the middle ones, it will be stretched in one direction only. You can nudge the pyramid around using the cursor arrows and page up / down. 8. Notice there are two handles sitting on the right of the selected object. These are the rotation handles. Click on one and drag it with the mouse button down. The pyramid is rotated. One handle rotates the pyramid inside the view (around the axis perpendicular to the view), the other around the 2 remaining axes. 9. While the pyramid is still selected, take a look at the panel on the top right of your display. This is called the Object properties panel. It displays information about the currently selected object. The picture is a preview of the material assigned to the selected object. Click on the Load material button to select a new material. The material browser displays a list of available materials. Select anyone you like from the list, then press OK. We chose SandStone. Note that the material displayed by the Object properties panel has changed to SandStone. 10. Click the terrain icon in the left toolbar. After some computation, a mountain appears in the middle of the views, right on top of the ground plane. This may also be moved about. Notice that the parts of the terrain that are under the ground plane are hidden away. Notice also that the terrain has taken on the SandStone material, because this was the last material in use. 11. Now we also want to assign the SandStone material to the ground. Select the terrain, and drag the picture of the material from the Object properties panel onto the ground, either in the wireframe views, or in the World browser. When the ground is highlighted, drop the material. 12. Click on the water icon in the left toolbar. Water is added to the scene, changing the terrain into an island. 13. Click with the right mouse button on the Vegetation icon in the left toolbar. Notice that when doing so, the icon changes. This is a double action icon. All icons with a black dot on their right are double action ones. This means they will act differently whether you click them using the left or the right mouse button. The vegetation browser appears letting you select a vegetation. Pick the one you like best. We chose Coconut tree. A coconut tree is added to the scene. 14. The tree is partly hidden away by the terrain. We will now make sure it grows from the surface of the terrain. In the main camera view, grab the tree and drag it upwards, until it is way above the terrain. Then click the Drop icon from the top toolbar. The tree drops to the surface of the terrain. 15. Modify the direction the camera points at by Click-dragging with the right mouse button, inside the main camera view. Modify the camera position by Shift-Click dragging with the right mouse button, and the camera focal by Control-Click dragging. 16. Click on the Only display main view icon in the top toolbar. This zooms the main camera view so it fills up all of the display. Clicking again on this icon will revert to the 4 views. 17. Right click on the Render icon. This displays the render options. Select the Render to screen option, and pick another ratio from the Aspect ratio dropdown list. We chose Photo. Press OK. Vue d'Esprit renders a full blown Photo picture of your scene!
This kick start tutorial is finished. Congratulations: you now understand the main lines of building pictures within Vue d'Esprit.

Obviously there is a tremendous amount more to learn, like editing terrains, editing materials, adding lights… but, you know way enough to start creating your own pictures.


Terrain

A terrain is an array of points that define altitudes for each point. Those points are then mathematically joined in space so as to produce a continuous surface.

Terrains can be edited using the Terrain Editor.


Polygon

A polygon (or 3D face) is a triangle which is smoothed in space. Terrains and 3D mesh objects are made of an assembly of many polygons joined together in space.


Seed

The germ is a number that defines in a unique way the succession of pseudo-random values that lead to a terrain. A given germ will always give the same terrain. However, the value of the germ is not so important since the relationship between germ and terrain cannot be predicted.


X axis

It is the horizontal axis in the Top view.


Y axis

It is the veritcal axis in the Top view.


Z axis

It is the altitude axis.


Landscape

The landscape is the general word for the characteristics, the parameters and all the elements that enable to render a picture. The landscape files of Vue d’Esprit have the extension ".vue".


Noise

A noise is a series of random numbers such that there exists no relationship between any successive values.


Iteration degree

The iteration degree represents the number of times an algorithm has already been repeated. For a fractal calculation, it is linked to the scale of perturbation of the terrain. At each iteration, the scale is divided by 2.


Iteration

Repetition of an algorithm.


Fractal Dimension

The dimension of a fractal object is a non integer value that represents the complexity of the object you consider. This complexity is the same whatever the scale.


Fractal Model

The fractal model specifies that the structure of the fractal object does not depend on the scale at which the object is considered.


Perturbation

Local modification of the surface.


Key point or key color

A key point is a point at which the user defines a behavior.

For example, in a color map, a key point (then called key color) will specify that at a given position, the generated color is the one indicated. Between key points, Vue d’Esprit generates intermediate values automatically.


Spline

It is a succession of third degree links between key points.


Slope

The slope of a curve at a point is the pitch of the curve at this point, that means, the ratio of the vertical variation on the horizontal variation at this point.

One distinguishes the left slope and the right slope. Usually, they are equal, except for angular points.


Linear

A curve is linear when constituted of segments. Its slope suddenly changes for each new segment.


Smooth

A curve is smooth when its slope varies slowly and continuously.


Layer

A layer can be, depending on the context, either:

•	when inside the Function editor, an elementary wave that gives a value in the range of 0 to 1 for any point in space. A certain number of characteristics are linked to the layer, such as its scale, its origin and its relative amplitude.

•	when inside the World browser, a container into which objects can be placed to organize the scene.


Layer amplitude

It is the average amplitude of the perturbations inroduced by the layer, relative to other layers.


Layer Origin

It is the starting point of the layer.

To offset the layer in a certain direction, modify consequently the origin of the layer.


Scale

It is the ratio of zooming or reduction of a layer along an axis. To zoom a layer along an axis, increase the scale along the corresponding axis, to reduce, reduce the scale.

If the scale is equal to 0 along one axis, Vue d’Esprit considers that the layer does not vary along this axis.


3D

3 dimensions. Space is constituted of 3 axes: X, Y, Z.


Saturation

When you exceed a certain limit value. The given value is then the limit value, also known as saturation value.


Filter

The filters are used to represent profiles (cracks, transparency level, bump depth...).

Basically, they enable to transform a number in the range of 0 to 1 into another number in the range of 0 to 1, following a curve defined by the user.

To modify a filter, Control-click on the filter preview, or select the Edit option from the menu that appears when you click with the right mouse button above the filter preview.


Color map

The color table are used to indicate variable colors.

Basically, they enable to transform a number in the range 0 to 1 into a color, following a gradation defined by the user.

To modify a color map, Control-click on the map preview, or select the Edit option from the menu that appears when you click with the right mouse button above the map preview.


Function

Functions are used every time it is necessary to indicate a value depending on a position. For example, to indicate a variable transparency amount (depending on the position) of a material.

Basically, functions enable you to associate values in the range of 0 to 1 to all points in space.

The function is represented by a black and white preview indicating the value of the function at the surface of an object (sphere, cube, cone...). If the function value is equal to 0 at a given point, this point is black; if the value is equal to 1, the point is white.

To modify a function, Control-click on the function preview, or select the Edit option from the menu that appears when you click with the right mouse button above the function preview.


Material

A material characterizes the appearance of an object. It is represented by a preview of an object (sphere, cube, cone...) made out of this material.

To modify a material, double-click on the material preview, or select the Edit option from the menu that appears when you click with the right mouse button above the material preview.


Highlight Intensity

It is the intensity of the spots of light created by the specular highlights.


Highlight Size

It is the size of the spots of light created by the specular highlights. The more shiny the surface is, the more concentrated (i.e. tiny) and bright the spots will be. A mat surface has no specular highlights. A satiny surface has big spots of average intensity.

The physical explanation of specular highlights is that any surface, apparently smooth, is in fact made of micro reflecting facets randomly distributed around an average value. The highlight size is linked to the standard deviation of this distribution.


Normal

The normal to a surface is the local perpendicular to the surface. Modifying the normal of a surface will change the local orientation of the surface.


Azimuth

The azimuth is the angle compared to the North, in the horizontal plane. It is expressed in degrees. An azimuth of 0 corresponds to the North, 90 to the East, 180 to the South and 270 to the West.


Pitch

The pitch corresponds to the angle made with the horizontal line. It is expressed in degrees. A pitch equal to 0 corresponds to the horizontal line, a pitch equal to 90 to the vertical.


Apparent size

It is the size (expressed in pixels) of an object on the final picture.


Focal length

The focal length of a lens indicates the angular aperture of the lens, that means, the size of the field of view of the lens. It can be assimilated to the magnifying ratio of the lens.

A focal distance of 50 mm corresponds approximately to the human vision. A focal distance of 25 mm divides by 2 the apparent size of the objects, a focal distance of 400 mm multiplies by 8 their size.

From a physical point of view, the focal length of a lens is the distance at which all the light rays that reach the lens converge.


Lens

It is the virtual optical element through which Vue d’Esprit renders the picture of the landscape.

It is defined by its focal length.


Picture

It is a numerical photography of your landscape . Vue d’Esprit renders it following the characteristics of the camera.

You can save the picture on the disk under the formats BMP, Targa, Gif or JPEG with 256, 65.000 or 16.000.000 colors.


Color temperature

The color temperature refers to the color of the light emitted by an object at a given temperature.

In photographical terms, a warm light describes the reddish light of a sunset, and a cold light describes the blue light emitted by the sky.


Refracted light

The refracted light is the light that crosses the surface and goes inside the transparent environment.


Fade out

It is the absorption of the luminous ray by the environment it crosses.


Specular highlight
Specular highlights

The specular highlights control the dull or shiny aspect of a surface, that means, the capacity of a surface, reflective or not, to reflect light. Thanks to this phenomenon, you can see spots of light on the surface, in the direction of the light source.

Specular highlights are controlled through their intensity and size.


Camera

The virtual camera allows you to visualize your landscape. It is defined by its position, its orientation and its lens.


Demo version

This version is identical to the commercial version except for the following restrictions:

-	size of the pictures limited to 320x240,

-	no reflections and refractions in the water

-	no cast shadows.


Observation point

It is the position of the camera, and hence the position from which the scene is observed.


Preview of a material

Thanks to this preview you can identify the materials. They represent an object (sphere, cone cube....) made out of the material.

To open the material editor, double click on the preview of the material, or select the option Edit material from the menu that appears when you press the right mouse button above the preview.


Preview of a Function

Thanks to this preview you can identify the materials. They represent an object (sphere, cone cube....) made out of the material.

To open the function editor, Control click on the preview of the material, or select the option Edit function from the menu that appears when you press the right mouse button above the preview.


Wireframe Color

This is the color of the wireframe that displays the object. You have the choice between 8 colors that are selected using the drop-down list inside the Object properties panel.

By default, objects are created black, excepth lights that are created yellow, water that is created blue and vegetation that are created green.


Web Site

Check out the official Vue d'Esprit site on the Internet at the following URL:

www.e-onsoftware.com

You'll find pictures, objects, materials, vegetations... to download, but also hints and tips on getting better pictures. We are very keen on seeing what you do with our software, so don't forget to send your personal creations, and of course, comments and suggestions.

New vegetations will be posted regularly on the site for you to download. Make sure that you download those that are already available (some for free!)


Active View

At any time, one of the wireframe view is active. This is the view that has a bright title bar.

Selected objects inside the active view are framed by resizing dots and rotation handles.

When you use commands on objects (i.e. Nudge, or Align), it is the active view that defines the axes of movement.


Boolean object
Boolean Objects

Boolean objects behave as "bags" into which member objects are placed. They act upon their member objects using Boolean operations. The nature of this operation depends on the type of Boolean object. Members of a Boolean object are framed by a dotted box.

Boolean objects come in three flavors:

•	Boolean Difference

•	Boolean Union

•	Boolean Intersection

Like other objects, Boolean objects may be moved, rotated, resized, twisted, and have materials assigned to them. All of their member objects will be moved, rotated, resized and twisted accordingly. If you assign a new material to a group object, all member objects will take on that material. If all member objects of a group object don't use the same material, the picture of the material displayed in the Object properties panel remains gray.

Member objects may be added, removed or modified inside a Boolean object using the World browser.


Combination Modes

Add	Values are added together
Blend	Values are averaged
Variable roughness	Values are added depending on that of the first layer. Low first layer values mean lots of successive layers being added in, high values mean little influence of successive layers.
Variable roughness (abs)	Same as Variable roughness, except the distance to 0.5 is considered instead of the value of the first layer itself
Max	The biggest value is retained
Max (abs)	The value that is the furthest from 0.5 is retained.
Min	The smallest value is retained
Min (abs)	The value that is the closest to 0.5 is retained.
Multiply	Values are multiplied together.


Store Camera Settings

When you are working on a scene, searching for the best framing, you may find several settings that you like. Asking Vue d'Esprit to remember these settings will enable you to quickly restore them later. This can also be useful when you want to observe objects under different angles, or make close-ups of them.

This is done using the Store camera settings command, or by clicking on the corresponding button in the Object properties panel when the camera is selected.

When you use this command, a dialog box appears prompting you to give a name to the new camera setting, or to select an existing setting for replacement. This name will be used to identify the camera setting inside the Activate camera settings menu command or in the camera drop-down list of the Object properties panel.

If you are sure to no longer need a particular setting, you may destroy it by selecting it from the list of available settings and pressing Delete.

When a camera setting is stored, it becomes available for future retrieval. This is done using the Display | Activate camera settings command. Since only ten settings will appear in the menu, further settings can only be accessed through the Object properties panel, when the camera is selected.

By default, new landscapes are created with two camera settings: Main camera (the default) and Top camera (a satellite view of the scene).


Activate Camera Settings

Use this command to restore one of the available camera settings. Available settings are displayed in the menu. Select the one you request.

Another way of doing this is to select a camera setting from the drop-down list inside the Object properties panel when the camera is selected.

If you are sure to no longer need a particular setting, you may destroy it by selecting the Display | Store camera setting, picking the setting from the list, and then pressing Delete.

Since only ten settings will appear in the menu, further settings can only be accessed through the Object properties panel, when the camera is selected.


Frame All / Selected Objects

The effect of this command depends on whether objects are selected or not.

•	If nothing is selected, it will zoom the orthogonal wireframe views so that the whole of the scene is viewed as large as possible, while still fitting in the views.

•	If some objects are selected, it will zoom the orthogonal wireframe views so that the selected objects are viewed as large as possible, while still fitting in the views.

The Camera wireframe view is not affected by this command.


Frame Selected Area

When you select this command, the mouse cursor changes to display a small magnifying glass. Using this magnifying glass, frame the area of the views that you wish to enlarge (press the left mouse button down on the top-left corner of the area, and release it on the bottom-right corner).

When you release the mouse button, the views will be zoomed so that the selected area is viewed as large as possible, while still fitting in the view.

The Camera wireframe view is not affected by this command.


Zoom into View

When you select this command, the orthogonal wireframe views are enlarged by 150% increments. Objects inside the views will be seen larger.

The Camera wireframe view is not affected by this command.


Zoom out of View

When you select this command, the orthogonal wireframe views are reduced by 150% increments. Objects inside the views will be seen smaller.

The Camera wireframe view is not affected by this command.


Manual Zoom

Use this command to adjust manually the zooming factor of the orthogonal views: move the mouse cursor up to enlarge the views, and move it down to reduce them. Click once when you are done.

The Camera wireframe view is not affected by this command.


Display Material Summary

Use this command to display the Material summary dialog.

The Material summary dialog is a dialog that can stay active on screen without blocking access to other parts of the software. It displays a list of all the materials that are used on objects of the current scene. It does not, however, display materials used for clouds. This list is automatically managed to display only the materials that are used at a given time. Using this list of materials lets you approach your scene in a different way: clicking on a material will select all the objects of your scene that use this material (this feature can be turned off using the Options dialog).

This is a powerful, and complementary method for navigating inside the scene. You may rapidly modify one of the materials (e.g. change the scale), without having to worry about all objects using that material being updated… And you can drag from one material onto another to make all the objects that used the old material use the new one (notice how the old material, having now become useless, disappears from the list).

The title bar of this dialog indicates how many materials are currently being used inside the scene. You may navigate through the list using the scrollbar at the bottom of the dialog.

Loading, Editing and Scaling Materials

Like anywhere, materials can be loaded, edited or scaled using the material summary.

To load a new material in place of another one, click the corresponding Load material button and select a new material from the materials visual browser. All objects that used the old material will now use the new one.

Change the scale of a material using the corresponding Scale control.

And edit a material by double-clicking on the corresponding preview.


Display Control Bar

Use this command to hide or display the Control bar at the top of the interface.

The Control bar, together with the Object tool bar, provides a set of shortcuts for the most commonly used menu commands. These shortcuts are activated by clicking on the icons.

Letting the mouse stand still a second above an icon will display a tooltip that explains the function of the icon.

For full details on the Control bars, and the way double-action and unfoldable icons work, please refer to the printed documentation ("Interface overview" section).


Display Object Tool Bar

Use this command to hide or display the Object tool bar on the left of the interface.

The Object tool bar, together with the Control bar, provides a set of shortcuts for the most commonly used menu commands. These shortcuts are activated by clicking on the icons.

Letting the mouse stand still a second above an icon will display a tooltip that explains the function of the icon.

For full details on the Control bars, and the way double-action and unfoldable icons work, please refer to the printed documentation ("Interface overview" section).


Display Object Information

Use this command to hide or display the Object information panels (i.e. Object properties panel and World browser) on the right of the interface.

Since both of these panels are extremely useful, it is generally not recommended that you hide them. However, they may be detached from the side of the interface, and moved to another position (you will need to unlock them first using the Options dialog). They can also be temporarily hidden (e.g. while you render).

Using the Display object information command twice will restore the two panels into their initial positions.


Only Display Main View

Use this command to toggle the interface between "4 views" and "Only main view" modes.

When the "Only main view" mode is active, the orthogonal views are hidden, and the display area is filled up by the Main wireframe view. This gives a larger preview of the scene. To restore the 4 standard views, select the command again.

Please note that double-clicking on the title bar of a view enlarges the view window so that it becomes the only visible one. Double-clicking again restores the window to its original size.


Understanding Vue d'Esprit

3D Coordinates

World Space

To understand how objects are positioned and oriented relative to each other, we have to define a coordinate system. In Vue d'Esprit, this is (very classically) constructed from 3 axes, all at right angles from one another.

The center of the world, also known as the origin, is the point located in the middle of the orthogonal views, when you create a new scene. All positions are indicated relative to this point. The ground is also initially positioned at altitude 0.

The vertical axis is known as the Z axis, with positive numbers representing points above the ground, and negative ones representing points under the ground. Although this may seem unusual, it is the correct International Unit System.

Looking at Top view, the X axis is the horizontal one, with positive values representing points to the right of the origin, and negative values representing points to the left of the origin.

Also in Top view, the Y axis is the vertical one, with positive values representing points above the origin in this view, and negative values representing points under the origin.

Object Space

Object space is linked to an object, and is independent from the orientation of the object inside the World. You may rotate, stretch and twist an object in any way you like, object space will still indicate the same axes for the object, because it is relative to that object.

It is important to understand the difference between the two coordinate systems, and when each one is used. The wireframe views operate only in world space, that is, object independent coordinates. If you resize an object using the resize handles inside the wireframe views, the resulting object depends on the objects orientation: try creating a cube, resizing it vertically, and then rotating it 45°. Now create another cube, rotate it 45°, then resize it vertically. The result is not the same.

The Numerics tab of the Object properties panel operates in object space. Try repeating the above operations, this time using the Numerics control. As you will notice, the results are identical in both cases.

World and Object space can also be used inside materials. Imagine you have a cube, made out of a black and white checker pattern. If you rotate the cube, the checker pattern won't fit to the object any more. The solution consists in defining the material as being in Object space. Obviously, this is not what you would want all the time.

Ray Tracing

Ray tracing is probably the most powerful 3D imaging technique for rendering photorealistic pictures. It's incredibly complex too! The major drawback of this technique is long render times. It's the usual tradeoff: quality or speed.

Ray tracing was not invented for computers, as most people think, but for capturing the physics of rainbows. And this was back in 1637! The idea is that a picture is the result of the interaction of light with the objects that build up a scene. The optical principle behind ray tracing is that light follows exactly the same path, whether it travels forwards, or… backwards. So, what ray-tracing does, is follow all those light rays reaching the camera back through the scene, up to the light source. For each and every pixel of a picture, the render engine will trace the ray of light back into the scene, decide what objects were hit by the ray, bounce that ray back if the surface is reflective, transmit it through the object's surface if it is transparent, and eventually head for light sources, making sure nothing is getting in the way, that would shadow the object… A simple scene made out of a water plane and a ground plane requires tracing 7 rays per pixel ! (And this is if you are not using any elaborate features, like soft shadows, blurred reflections or transparencies, depth of field, supersampling; you could go up to hundreds…).

This complexity is the reason why ray-tracing yields such beautiful results. And also why it is so slow.

For Vue d'Esprit, we wanted the best. So we chose ray-tracing… However, numerous optimizations and special ways of displaying pictures as they render have enabled us to produce what we think is a render engine fast enough to be enjoyable. Because pictures are rendered in multiple passes, with more details being added each time, you can get an overall idea of the result before having to wait for render to complete.

Render Engine

This is the process that converts your 3D wireframe scenes into 2D pictures. It scans each line of the picture, deciding what should be the color of every pixel of the line. It proceeds in several passes, doubling the resolution of the picture at each pass. The first pass renders groups of 16x16 pixels, the second groups of 8x8, the third 4x4, the fourth 2x2, and finally, the last pass renders the picture at full blown resolution. In doing so, the user rapidly sees his picture take shape and can decide early if the result is going to be as expected, or decide to stop the process by pressing Escape. The render engine may be customized to a large extent through the Render options dialog. This is explained in detail in the section on Framing and rendering.

Soft Shadows

Real shadows seldom look as sharp as their computer generated counterpart. You always find smooth transitions between light and shadow. This is because light emanates from a surface rather than from a single point.

Such subtle effects can be captured by Vue d'Esprit.

When the render engine must decide if a point is standing in the light or in shadow, it casts a ray at the light source. If the ray reaches the source without hitting anything opaque, the point stands in the light, otherwise, it stands in the shadow. To generate soft shadows, the render engine sends a bunch of rays, aimed at the whole surface of the light. It then compares the results to decide if more rays are needed. When enough rays have been cast, it computes an average luminosity for the point. The quality and efficiency of the result depends on that of the algorithm that decides how rays are cast. This technique is so powerful that it captures soft shadows cast by one complex object (i.e. a tree) onto itself.

Soft-shadows are turned on, on a "per light" basis, using the Object properties panel. Use them with care, due to the extra computation they require. 5° is a good Softness value.

Blurred Transparencies and Reflections

Once again, the standard ray-traced, mirror-surfaced sphere (on a checkerboard ?) is a poor approximation of what would really happen in nature. Perfect reflections or transparencies rarely occur. Instead, as reflected (or transmitted) light travels further, it spreads out, due to imperfections on the surface of the objects. Therefore, the reflected (or transmitted) picture eventually gets blurred. Although some natural surfaces are really smooth, this effect always ends up happening, as light travels further.

Vue d'Esprit can also capture this extremely subtle effect, in much the same way as that used for generating soft shadows. Instead of casting one reflected (or transmitted) ray, it casts a whole bunch, spread out at an angle dependent on the quality of the surface. It then decides if enough rays were cast, and, if so, computes the average color. As for soft shadows, the quality and efficiency of the result depends on that of the algorithm that decides how rays are cast.

Blurred reflections and transparencies are turned on, on a "per material" basis, using the Reflections and Transparency tabs of the Material editor. 5° is a good value. You can even decide to vary the amount of blurring over the surface of the material! Use blurring with care, however, due to the extra computation it requires.

Depth of Field

Depth of field is what makes some parts of a picture blurred, while other parts, in focus, are clear. It defines the depth of the band inside which objects are in focus. This band is centered on the focus distance. All real-life lenses have depth of field. Even the human eye. This is because the depth of field of a lens is related to the proportion of light it lets through. This proportion of light coming through the lens is called the aperture. The higher the aperture, the shorter the depth of field.

With computer generated pictures, luminosity is not really a problem, since the lens is defined mathematically. Hence, it becomes possible to have a very large depth of field, so large, in fact, that everything is always in focus. Although it is straightforward, it is not natural… And don't think realistic depth of field can be achieved by blurring parts of a clear picture in a paint program: realistic depth of field can only be generated at render time, because of the way light is spread by the lens (see sample renders on the right).

Vue d'Esprit can also capture realistic depth of field. This is done by taking into account a real lens aperture, rather than considering it to be a pinpoint. Instead of casting one single ray through the center of the pinpoint aperture, a bunch of rays are cast from all over the aperture, and traced into the scene. Results are then compared to decide if more rays are required. If not, an average value is computed and displayed.

Depth of field is turned on by increasing the Blur value from the Object properties panel, when the camera is selected. The focus distance is adjusted using the Focus control. Beware, depth of field will make render times several times longer…