Vu2U, a free converter for Vue Infinite skyboxes

Hello,

For the needs of my current big Unity project, I have just made a small companion app that automates the conversion of Vue Infinite skyboxes (of the "box" format) to sets of Unity-friendly files.

The package contains an example of a Vue skybox, to help people who don't have Vue Infinite to test the app.

Download here the latest builds :

Mac version

PC version​

Note : this tool is in early stage, it should grow up in time - if I do *have* time...

Hope this helps some of you,

Yann Le Bihan

 

Typo in your page by the way - you have the e-on link wrong. Should be http://www.e-onsoftware.com/ (you're missing a "t")

 

Corrected, thanks !

 

Cool! Will try it out maybe post some examples

 

Oh, that's cool! I found the Vue Infinite skyboxes really cumbersome to use in Unity and thus moved back to using Vue Esprit - but with that tool, I might have to reconsider ;-)

 

Cool that you find it cool

Here's a quick and dirty webplayer with a Vue imported skybox (resolution : 768 x 1024, giving six 256 x 256 images) :


http://www.tiviboo.com/Vu2U_test.html

 

@Yann, is there a specific setting to create the box shape in vue? I've seen it done, but theres no "skybox" or anything listed in the help, and I dont see it in the export settings. Im using the Pro Studio version. Cheers!

AaronC

 

Hi Aaron,

Unfortunately, the Pro Studio version needs an optional module ("Exporter") to enable skybox export :

http://www.e-onsoftware.com/products/vue/vue_7_modules/?page=exporter

 

Thanks Yann, I feared as such.

//Installs Bryce instead

Aaron

 

Aaron, I'm using Infinte but I'm going to assume you can do the same with Pro Studio if you can render without the Vue logo:

1. Set your camera focal to 18mm
2. Set pitch, yaw, roll to 90, 0, 180. IIRC this is your front skybox image image in Unity.
3. Set render quality to final and set the size you want (square tho).
4. Render your front image, set your camera roll to 90, render. Rinse and repeat until you render images for the 6 directions.

Then hook them up in Unity. Remember to clamp them to avoid seams. No exporting needed.

 

Hmm yes a generic file similar to podsters NewDawn file would be useful. I think I will do that..

Hey good to hear from you man, Happy New Year!

Azza

 

Cheers to you too! Haven't been around much cause of work. Still pop in now and again though. Hoping things chill out in the next couple months. Hope the hound's doing well!

 

Yann,

I went to your site but could not download Vu2U. It looks like a useful utility but unfortunately the link is broken.

 

Sorry for that ! I just updated the program : new version produces JPEG images instead of PICT, and adds an option for exporting to LightUp (lightmapping plugin for Google SketchUp).

I'll update it further this week-end with a few extra settings, but you can already download the current build from the original link (readme.pdf is still from version 1, but everything is so obvious...)

 

I got it, and it works like a charm! Thanks Yann!

 

Just posted the new version, with following enhancements :

- now supports drag-and-drop of files to the application icon (in the dock, etc.)
- better default export quality
- better behaviour of the window and dialog boxes
- settings for auto-reduce and auto-transparency are now saved as preferences

Grab it here : www.tiviboo.com/tiviboo/freeware.html

Next version will focus on image post-processing and import/export formats. I'm also working on a realtime feature that would update the Unity skybox in game mode, without having to switch to Unity. This can be cool for fine-tuning colors, contrast and so on, and seeing the result right in your Unity scenes, with no delay.

 

Hi Yann , thanks , this is working really great with Vue
Nice handy tool

 

Thanks glyomu ! having received so much help on these forums, I'm glad if I can help a bit too...

 

I know this thread is getting very old now, but I was wondering if there`s any plans on making a Windows version of this excellent app? If not, does anyone know if there`s something similar out there for us PC-users? I guess one could make a batch script in Photoshop though, so maybe that`s the only option for now

 

Yes, a Windows version would be great.

 

Hi,

A multi-platform update is on my todo list, with many more features and a better Unity integration. I'll see if I can release some intermediary version next week

 

That sounds awesome man!

Really looking forward to testing it out, so shout out loud when it`s ready for testing

 

Hi fellow PC users !

Here you'll find a Windows build of the current version :

www.tiviboo.com/tiviboo/freeware.html

Due to the fact that I first developed it on the Mac, it has two small limitations :

- no auto-transparency
- no drag-and-drop onto the app's icon

These should be fixed in the next release, when I'm more used to the Windows environment... ;-)


With kind regards,

Yann

 

Great stuff!

Will test the pc-version give some feedback later today


Cheers,

Roald

 

Ok man! Just did a quick test and it seems to work like a charm Great work! The only thing I would like to see though, is an "export to .tif" option, with the alpha channel intact. The reason for this is that for future image effects etc. one could maybe(?) use the alpha channel to control the bloom/glow/sunshafts etc.


But other than that, really cool to have this app available for the PC too


Cheers,

Roald

 

Thanks Roald, glad you appreciate it. And thanks for your suggestion : it should be possible to add this option to the next version.

 

Hi,

Here is version 1.3, which exports the alpha layer to PNG files - no more JPEG :

http://www.tiviboo.com/tiviboo/freeware.html

Is it OK, or will the TIFF format be more suitable for Unity 3 ?

 

What a great little app! Thanks so much for the windows version!

 

Hey its a great tool, works with Vue xStream. Thanks for sharing.

 

Great tool, thanks for sharing it!

 

Great software!

could you please make one more version without the padding in the images.
I think unity 3 has fixed a bug that required each image to have a little extra overlap.

 

@Lars : ok, just starting with Unity 3 beta... so I'll have a look at it

 

Perhaps I need to have another look myself.
I think it would be good to have two version of skybox textures. One suitable for dtx1 compression with a little overlap to prevent seems.
The other with neatly connecting edges suitable for uncompressed desktop skymaps.

I had made a skymap for iPhone before with compression and edge overlap this worked well in unity iPhone 1.7 but showed seems in unity 3.
Therefore I was thinking something had changed. However it could well be that the previous setting were ignored .

 

Thanks a lot Yann !
This tool is fantastic and very usefull !

 

The link to download is dead. Can you uploud again? Please?
Many thx!

 

@vitorfraga : indeed, I recently noticed that the Tiviboo name has been taken by a big compagny for a kids game console (how strange... ) so I am in the process of changing this... meanwhile, just updated the links in my first post so you can download again.

There might be an update to the app in the next coming weeks with new features, perhaps in the form of a Unity editor extension.

 

Thats an awsome tool, saves so much time! Thx a lot for sharing this

 

unity editor extension sounds good

 

@Yann I just signed in to thank you for the tool. Excellent work.

 

I was wondering, is there any way to have it output 16-bit files if the original file is 16-bit?
Thanks, Yann, for the great utility. I have found it quite useful.