VUE and related software (for AAA film CGI landscaping) now free!

[JasonPratt]

Wasn't totally sure where to put this, but since the software is/was primarily used for creating digital landscapes for the film industry (their first big hits being the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise!) I took a guess for this subforum.

VUE, PlantFactory and PlantCatalog are now free to use
 

Dear e-on customers, partners, and resellers:

For over 27 years, e-on software products have served the media and entertainment industry, and we couldn't be prouder of what we've have achieved with your ongoing support and passion for our tools. Since Bentley Systems acquired e-on in 2015, these products have been used in other Bentley solutions and by valued partners all over the world.

As Bentley continues to grow, however, we realized the need to reevaluate our product portfolio to strengthen our business. For over 39 years, Bentley's main focus has been to serve engineers and other professionals responsible for designing, constructing, and operating sustainable infrastructure, essential to the quality of life for everyone, everywhere. 

To ensure we can continue driving towards that mission, Bentley has made the difficult decision to end sales for and the further development of VUE, PlantFactory, and PlantCatalog products. In addition, support for these products will be limited to critical security patches only going forward.

Though we will no longer be allowing the purchase of new licenses, we want to ensure that you can continue using all the e-on products and technologies you've come to rely on over the years. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that VUE, PlantFactory, and PlantCatalog are now free to download and use. By downloading these perpetual builds, you will acknowledge the new end-user license agreement (EULA) and agree to use the software without support.

To learn more about this decision and how to continue using these products, we have created an FAQ section you can review.

Go to FAQ and Downloads
We apologize for any inconvenience this announcement may cause but hope you will continue finding joy and creativity using our free e-on technology. Thank you for your support, and we hope to see you again in the future.

Sincerely,

Bentley Systems & the e-on software team

Bought VUE 6 Infinite for my Falcon NW supercomputer eons ago (if you'll pardon the pun), along with some related software (not from the same studio), with vague plans of learning to do graphical design work, and it was nifty, but I had too many other thing to work on for the time to learn it, alas. This is why I got the notification. (E-on has sent updates to VUE and its plant-work subpackages over the years.)

The link to downloading these tools is here: https://www.bentley.com/software/e-on-software-free-downloads/

I checked it out with the latest version of Avast and everything looks kosher.

The programs are totally free, and can be used for commercial projects. VUE 2023 and its plant things are the last stable releases; 2024 will be in perpetual beta, although open-source code fans may polish them up perhaps indefinitely. Both are available from Bentley in perpetuity.

The E-on Software tutorials on Youtube will remain operational, although I suspect fan channels will have better ones over time if better ones don't already exist!

So, if you ever wanted to see how Disney and other studios do (or used to do) CGI landscapes, here's your chance at no charge for however long Bentley (or whoever buys them perhaps) cares to keep them up!

My guess is that the design team, for whatever reasons, couldn't keep up with the new cutting edge competitors in performance and/or pricing, and so the film industry phased out use of the system. But I have great sentimental fondness for something I barely ever paid attention to (as any true grog might  ) -- right this moment I can see those boxes on my shelf about two arm lengths away. 

Also I wanted to archive access to the downloads in case I lose the email link by accident. 

[ArizonaTank]

Good stuff! thanks!