One reason for my not using VCs is that they appear much too dark comparted with the 2D versions. Is there anyway I can incease their brightness? My monitor has been set up with a Gretag-Macbeth Eye One so its display is correct.

Are you talking about daytime conditions?The easiest was to deal with this issue is simply to turn on your 'dome light' when necessary.If you are talking about night time conditions, there is a variety of things you can do within the config/lights being used, etc. But depending on how the lighting was originally designed it can become less, or more, complicated.