Vexus

[pg1]

Anyone used this yet ?

http://cgpress.org/archives/vexus-released.html

wondering how it deals with real world productions heavy scenes.

[pg1]

and how does it compare with http://animathings.com/post/142799835029/reindeer which is currently a lot cheaper for the early release version

It's crazy that max doesn't have a basic render layers system.

I have been using RP manager for years now and it is nice to see some real competition arrive. I know a lot companies have their own in-house tools for render/scene management but its great to see some solutions that smaller companies can purchase.

[NicoC]

Good morning

Yes, Vexus seems interesting, but too expensive IMO. I use Reindeer since its first beta, and I'm delighted with it. All the more than David, the dev, is really responsive and open to suggestions, it's a pleasure to exchange with him. Only the UI of Reindeer seems somehow outdated, but to me it's secondary TBH.

[Ihno]

Good morning

Yes, Vexus seems interesting, but too expensive IMO. I use Reindeer since its first beta, and I'm delighted with it. All the more than David, the dev, is really responsive and open to suggestions, it's a pleasure to exchange with him. Only the UI of Reindeer seems somehow outdated, but to me it's secondary TBH.

So, you'd call it Production ready? No big bugs in major features?

[NicoC]

So, you'd call it Production ready? No big bugs in major features?

Well, it's still beta, so as any beta product, it can be risky to rely on it on production stuff. However, I've used it on several projects recently, without any "show-stopping" issue. Little bugs here and there were quickly fixed by David, he's very reactive. Release isn't that far anyway.

[Vizioen]

The way I see it reindeer is only rendermanagment related as Vexus is complete scene control. Or not? They also changed the name from nexus to vexus. http://forums.chaosgroup.com/showthr...ighlight=nexus

[NicoC]

The way I see it reindeer is only rendermanagment related as Vexus is complete scene control. Or not? They also changed the name from nexus to vexus. http://forums.chaosgroup.com/showthr...ighlight=nexus

No, Reindeer isn't limited to rendering stuff only. However, I haven't tested Vexus, so it's hard to compare TBH.

[pg1]

Thanks for the info NicoC.
Its a bit difficult to compare Vexus and Reindeer on price. Reindeer is only cheap at the moment...which is making me think I should buy it now!
Vexus is in a similar price range to RP Manager.
They have a lot of cross over in functionality but am loving the node base structure of Vexus and Reindeer. Might be enough to make me ditch RP manager and try them out.

[NicoC]

Yes, best thing is to try both I guess.
I've spent quite a lot of time on Reindeer, being part of the beta testers since first beta release, and I love the approach it allows. Vexus seems similar, but with a more attractive UI that's true, that can have some importance if features are equivalent ... but there's still the price ! I don't know precisely the pricing Reindeer will be released at, I can't talk for David on this point, but I think I can say that he plans a yearly subscription at a very reasonable price, much lower than Vexus. That being said, one could argue with the fact that Vexus licence is sold once, whereas Reindeer will go yearly. Well, we'll see with Reindeer release, which will certainly be out in the next weeks or let's say the next couple of months.

[pg1]

I have taken the plunge and got Reindeer off the back of your good review NicoC, will trial it for a bit and then get Vexus.

I am not sure of the future plans for Vexus but I think at its core it different to Reindeer. From what I could tell it is a standalone app that calls to 3dsMax. This means that in future it could be software agnostic which would be very cool.

[NicoC]

From what I could tell it is a standalone app that calls to 3dsMax. This means that in future it could be software agnostic which would be very cool.

Good point, pg1. Then I guess it would concern a different type of users / studios.

[Syclone1]

I wont buy anything again from JokerMartini, bought a plugin from them and my HD had died and after several emails over a month of trying to get a new auth or any response at all I gave up and they will never get any more of my money, I don't care how useful it seems. Amd yes there is a possibility of getting stuck in a spam filter but I tried from 4 different accounts/domains so that's unlikely.

[NicoC]

I wont buy anything again from JokerMartini, bought a plugin from them and my HD had died and after several emails over a month of trying to get a new auth or any response at all I gave up and they will never get any more of my money, I don't care how useful it seems. Amd yes there is a possibility of getting stuck in a spam filter but I tried from 4 different accounts/domains so that's unlikely.

Interesting, Syclone1. In fact, there are similar issues with (yet amazing) Animator Toolkit, JokerMartini developped several years ago with Andru Phoenix aka "artkitekt". Several users on the forums asked for help, plugin authorisation, things like that, and don't seem to get any answer ... for a WHILE. I had bought ATK and would like to reinstall it to play a bit, but it kind of cools me down ...

[glorybound]

Support is one of the most important things, in my opinion. I went to Itoo Software, from iCube, for that very reason. The Random Control guys have gone MIA, which isn't good at all. Everyone has an excuse, but I would go out of business if I blew off my customers. A total lack of respect!

[Syclone1]

Interesting, Syclone1. In fact, there are similar issues with (yet amazing) Animator Toolkit, JokerMartini developped several years ago with Andru Phoenix aka "artkitekt". Several users on the forums asked for help, plugin authorisation, things like that, and don't seem to get any answer ... for a WHILE. I had bought ATK and would like to reinstall it to play a bit, but it kind of cools me down ...

YUP that's the very plugin I was talking about and just saw a post they made on their site just last month that they are still developing it.I wrote a not to positive comment in the cust review but it will most likely never be see by the public as its currently "up for review". At this point Im no longer angry, just don't want anything to do with them. I didn't expect my ass to be kissed but I do expect a certain level of service and they were no where near that.