The future of Bryce?

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Comments

  • Retro LadRetro Lad Posts: 471
    edited April 2015

    Hi

    Post edited by Retro Lad on
  • David BrinnenDavid Brinnen Posts: 3,136
    edited December 1969

    Yes post some of your images, I am sure they will be warmly received in the Bryce render thread, there is no apartheid that I am aware of, all Bryce images are welcome including earlier versions.

    What you've said, I agree with. Bryce is the most "artist friendly" software I've found for this application. Though I have accommodated to Modo for modelling, it does not encourage creativity as readily as Bryce and the interface is rather pedestrian, it is nice to use. Modo will talk to Octane via a plugin, all of this though comes at a hefty price tag and working and getting everything talking nicely is an art in itself that is above and beyond what should be required of the artist. Like you, I contest that Bryce still has the workflow edge when it comes to creating artworks.

  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,643
    edited December 1969

    @FlashGarcia - welcome to this forum and thank you for your kind words. Why not show some of your earlier works? Then, go ahead using 7.1 Pro and show us with what you can come up with. Apart from your nice words about Bryce, the Bryce community is the friendliest.

  • Retro LadRetro Lad Posts: 471
    edited May 2015

    Hi

    Post edited by Retro Lad on
  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    Love to see this degree of enthusiasm. Welcome indeed. :coolsmile:

  • NimosNimos Posts: 39
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    Love to see this degree of enthusiasm. Welcome indeed. :coolsmile:


    Hey, my enthusiasm for Bryce used to be way, way, way bigger ... until it got crushed and flattened by the lack of serious updates.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited March 2015

    My enthuisiasm for Bryce has never waned, not since the guys in the computer shop I used a lot showed me it on a Mac. I cried when they said it was Mac only and cheered when they told me it was now available for a PC. That was in the days before we had the big sotres like PC world etc. Heck that was back in the last Century lol.
    I have bought every version since, only bought Poser in order to use it to put characters into Bryce and I love watching what David and Horo and others do with what we have got in Bryce 7. They really encourage people to push what we have got to it's limits, and to experiment.

    DAZ 3D has really improved Bryce since they have had it, and hopefully, if we keep asking them they will eventually try and improve it further for us.

    I agree it would be nice to have a 64 bit version and other improvements, but what we have is still keeping me enthralled.

    Hi, my name is Pam and I am a Bryceaholic.

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • Peter FulfordPeter Fulford Posts: 1,325
    edited December 1969

    My memory is getting worse as I age, and I have always been a long-winded windbag in forums.

    Looks like you forgot you joined the forum eleven and a half years ago, or that was the longest winded first post in history.

    So, welcome or welcome back to the forum. ;-)

    .

  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    My memory is getting worse as I age, and I have always been a long-winded windbag in forums.

    Looks like you forgot you joined the forum eleven and a half years ago, or that was the longest winded first post in history.

    So, welcome or welcome back to the forum. ;-)

    .

    for sure :-)
    +1

  • Retro LadRetro Lad Posts: 471
    edited April 2015

    I found this Bryce render in a file folder for old stuff. Looking at the "create date" for this render I am stunned at how old this scene model is.
    Bryce 3, or Bryce 4? I don't remember.
    The attached render file says 2002, but the model scene construction files say 2000, and 2001.

    Anyway, I do remember that it was about 75 percent finished, and that I was going to touch it up in Painter, or even re-render it with some alterations. I never got around to it.

    made_in_2002_1280.jpg
    1280 x 960 - 139K
    Post edited by Retro Lad on
  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    I found this Bryce render in a file folder for old stuff. Looking at the "create date" for this render I am stunned at how old this scene model is.
    Bryce 3, or Bryce 4? I don't remember.
    The attached render file says 2002, but the model scene construction files say 2000, and 2001.

    Anyway, I do remember that it was about 75 percent finished, and that I was going to touch it up in Painter, or even re-render it with some alterations. I never got around to it.
    That's a distorted, warped, version of my face on the balloon
    I titled the image, "One Mushroom Too Many"
    This is nothing like the big oak tree that turned into a Lovecraftian octopus when I experimented with mescaline in my youth. and watched a fat kid collecting aluminum cans turn into a human rat, an old man walking down the street turn into a vulture man, etc.
    Later on it was booze nightmares.
    What a life.
    One of my favorite foreign films is "Heart of Glass" made in Germany, many decades ago. A bizarre film. I live in the USA.


    a render to remember :ohh:
    yup you got to stay away for the little mushroom

  • Electro-ElvisElectro-Elvis Posts: 883
    edited March 2015

    @FlashGarcia: Outstanding Picture! Not only from a technical poin of view, also from an artistic point of view.

    BTW I belong to the group of 50+.

    Post edited by Electro-Elvis on
  • adorna50adorna50 Posts: 19
    edited December 1969

    Couldn't believe the timing of this thread. I have been making the 3D imaging rounds, so to speak, trying to find my niche. I started with DAZ Studio, went to Blender then Sculptris. After jumping around and trying about everything I've discovered what I want to do is landscapes. Sooo, I've been exploring the options and that's what brings me to this thread.
    When I started researching the software packages out there, VUE was at the top. Terragen 3 was next but the interface about gave me a heart attack; VUE is not much better. I found an unbiased review of all of the programs with Bryce getting an.... ummm... honorable mention. They said that it is an excellent program with great potential but evidence suggests that it is on its last legs. My heart plummeted. I decided to look at the store anyway. After I typed Bryce 7 into the search I got pages of add-ons instead. My heart plummeted further.
    I have spent a fortune on DAZ Studio and I don't wish to spend another, so the real question is... How much does Bryce REALLY cost? What add-ons would you not want to do without? If you had to start from scratch, today, would you invest in an uncertain Bryce or would you go to something like the Pioneer version of VUE that costs nothing?
    I can understand the vets of Bryce wanting it to remain but if you were a new user, starting with nothing, knowing what you know now, what would you do; what advice would you give me?

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    adorna50 said:
    Couldn't believe the timing of this thread. I have been making the 3D imaging rounds, so to speak, trying to find my niche. I started with DAZ Studio, went to Blender then Sculptris. After jumping around and trying about everything I've discovered what I want to do is landscapes. Sooo, I've been exploring the options and that's what brings me to this thread.
    When I started researching the software packages out there, VUE was at the top. Terragen 3 was next but the interface about gave me a heart attack; VUE is not much better. I found an unbiased review of all of the programs with Bryce getting an.... ummm... honorable mention. They said that it is an excellent program with great potential but evidence suggests that it is on its last legs. My heart plummeted. I decided to look at the store anyway. After I typed Bryce 7 into the search I got pages of add-ons instead. My heart plummeted further.
    I have spent a fortune on DAZ Studio and I don't wish to spend another, so the real question is... How much does Bryce REALLY cost? What add-ons would you not want to do without? If you had to start from scratch, today, would you invest in an uncertain Bryce or would you go to something like the Pioneer version of VUE that costs nothing?
    I can understand the vets of Bryce wanting it to remain but if you were a new user, starting with nothing, knowing what you know now, what would you do; what advice would you give me?

    Buy it, install it and start playing. Bryce is serious fun. Bryce actually doesn't need add-ons. The bridge to take DS models into Bryce is part of the package. What is the real cost of Bryce. At teh moment it is $19.95 at full price. http://www.daz3d.com/bryce-7-pro

    What can you do with Bryce as it is, out of the box with just a little experience and playing around. Here's just one example

    http://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/27380

  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,643
    edited March 2015

    @FlashGarcia - great image, there was an artist behind. I fully agree with electro-elvis. Thanks for sharing it.

    @adorna50 - all great 3D artists started with Bryce but most use now different programs. Yes, I'm a bryce-aholic but I've looked left and right nevertheless and don't scorn other 3D software, there's very capable stuff around.

    For anyone starting with 3D art, Bryce is the first choice because it is quite intuitive, simple at the surface but goes very deep once you know it better, it doesn't limit you to a particular style of artwork and with a few clicks you already get a pleasing result. This is particularly encouraging when starting. I had started with PovRay but couldn't understand how to describe my scene as a script. Next I went to TerraGen (v.0.9) and found it quite good. Then I could afford Bryce. I've purchased Carrara from v3 up to 8.0 but I'm too dumb to really use it. And Studio is there to export the stuff I've been buying here - a great piece of software I'm obviously too stupid to manage.

    3D art is an artform that must be learned and any 3D application can be used for this but Bryce makes this step much easier. If/when you get stuck, there's the very helpful Bryce community.

    Post edited by Horo on
  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    Couldn't believe the timing of this thread. I have been making the 3D imaging rounds, so to speak, trying to find my niche. I started with DAZ Studio, went to Blender then Sculptris. After jumping around and trying about everything I've discovered what I want to do is landscapes. Sooo, I've been exploring the options and that's what brings me to this thread.
    When I started researching the software packages out there, VUE was at the top. Terragen 3 was next but the interface about gave me a heart attack; VUE is not much better. I found an unbiased review of all of the programs with Bryce getting an.... ummm... honorable mention. They said that it is an excellent program with great potential but evidence suggests that it is on its last legs. My heart plummeted. I decided to look at the store anyway. After I typed Bryce 7 into the search I got pages of add-ons instead. My heart plummeted further.
    I have spent a fortune on DAZ Studio and I don't wish to spend another, so the real question is... How much does Bryce REALLY cost? What add-ons would you not want to do without? If you had to start from scratch, today, would you invest in an uncertain Bryce or would you go to something like the Pioneer version of VUE that costs nothing?
    I can understand the vets of Bryce wanting it to remain but if you were a new user, starting with nothing, knowing what you know now, what would you do; what advice would you give me? [/quote

    I have used both - if you want better plants and trees in your work then I would get Vue - also it is 64bit .
    They are both fun to use .
    Vue cost a lot more .

  • David BrinnenDavid Brinnen Posts: 3,136
    edited December 1969

    adorna50 said:
    I can understand the vets of Bryce wanting it to remain but if you were a new user, starting with nothing, knowing what you know now, what would you do; what advice would you give me?

    Before parting with any hard cash, what I do is watch tutorials, I bought Octane and Modo on the strength of watching tutorials and trial versions. Here's some Bryce tutorials http://www.bryce-tutorials.info/bryce-tutorials.html And you will find many videos on my youtube channel that cost nothing to watch, have no ads on them and explain how to achieve many different things in Bryce without the need for additional content.

  • Retro LadRetro Lad Posts: 471
    edited May 2015

    Thank you, electro-elvis, and Horo, for the encouraging comments.

    Post edited by Retro Lad on
  • adorna50adorna50 Posts: 19
    edited March 2015

    I thank you all for your kind responses. Chohole, I love the render you posted, calm and serene and more importantly to me, done without add-ons. That meant a lot.. And Flash.... I don't have enough years left to catch up to you, any of you! I have watched an enormous amount of tutorials and will continue to do so. Thanks for the link, David, that helps.
    My son is going from Blender and learning Python into Houdini, which you can also download for free to learn. If I want to help him in the future I'm probably gonna have to take a deep breath and dive into the deep end. Bryce is still on my list and will remain there until my mind settles. Know what I mean? Decisions decisions. They keep me up nights. LOL

    Hey, it just went on sale for $13.97! Hmmmmmmm............................................ Decisions, decisions.

    Post edited by adorna50 on
  • adorna50adorna50 Posts: 19
    edited March 2015

    Ok, I've discussed this with my husband and here's the poop. I'm going on a tutorial crash course with David, Horo, and apparently, a whole bunch of other guys over the next several days to see what I think. David, if you used any add-ons I hope you said so so I know what I'm looking at and what to expect. Chohole, the sale is a 30% off sale. Typically, do they last for one week? I really need the sale to last through April 1 due to financial reasons. I figured you would know what the odds are better than most. Typically, how long do they last? In advance, I thank all of you, for your knowledge, helpfulness and expertise. And THAT is value without price!!!

    Post edited by adorna50 on
  • Dave SavageDave Savage Posts: 2,433
    edited March 2015

    Don't worry about Add Ons.
    David does use some of his own commercial products sometimes, but he always mentions when he does and most of the time, everything he does is just pure Bryce work.

    And you'll find after a while that getting content into Bryce is mostly easy and there is plenty of free content on places like ShareCG and 3D Archive. But these aren't strictly Add Ons, they are just imported models. Bryce will do everything you need for landscapes. It has excellent pre set sky libraries and a comprehensive sky lab so you can make your own. It has plenty of materials (especially the Pro Materials from David which come free with Bryce and are much better than the historic ones) and a great material lab and the Deep Texture Editor which is complex but still fun to play with to create your own materials or edit the ones in the libraries. The clouds are infinitely editable in the Cloud Tab of the sky lab, the sun and moon can be set how you want them and Bryce has built in Image based Lighting and HDRI support for photographic skies and backdrops. There's a reasonable Tree Lab that let's you edit the trees to customise the leaves, number of branches trunk thickness etc.

    Now maybe some of that is like Greek to you, or you may already be familiar with some of it, but rest assured in short, it means you can make great landscapes without finding out you have to buy another special module or plug in.

    I hope the sale lasts as long as you need it to and that you can start having fun with Bryce very soon. :-)

    Here is my latest purely Bryce created landscape (OK, I just realised it does have an HDRI sky as the base for the clouds, but with Bryce clouds layered on top)... Everything else is pure Bryce.

    Coast3ALT.jpg
    1666 x 832 - 650K
    Post edited by Dave Savage on
  • adorna50adorna50 Posts: 19
    edited March 2015

    Okay, these are the first ones I did with Blender, via a tutorial by Andrew Price, and is what I'd be comparing to. They are by no means perfect but it is a start. Can I make grass like this in Bryce? This was done using his grass pack but there is a particle system that can be used a well for grass and I've done both to good effect.

    Lake.jpg
    1280 x 720 - 107K
    GrassScene5.jpg
    1280 x 720 - 330K
    Post edited by adorna50 on
  • Tim82Tim82 Posts: 859
    edited December 1969

    the big tree with red flowers looks like a Australian bottle brush :) ...very nice renders by the way :)

  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    adorna50 said:
    Okay, these are the first ones I did with Blender, via a tutorial by Andrew Price, and is what I'd be comparing to. They are by no means perfect but it is a start. Can I make grass like this in Bryce? This was done using his grass pack but there is a particle system that can be used a well for grass and I've done both to good effect.

    yes you can these in Bryce

  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    bigh said:
    adorna50 said:
    Okay, these are the first ones I did with Blender, via a tutorial by Andrew Price, and is what I'd be comparing to. They are by no means perfect but it is a start. Can I make grass like this in Bryce? This was done using his grass pack but there is a particle system that can be used a well for grass and I've done both to good effect.

    yes you can these in Bryce

    all Bryce -

    000_326.jpg
    1274 x 695 - 715K
  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    Bryce - turtle from Daz Studio

    000_326_T.jpg
    1505 x 661 - 275K
  • adorna50adorna50 Posts: 19
    edited March 2015

    Nice renders, bigh and Savage. I was happy to see grass and water since I'll probably have it in 90% of the scenes I do.

    Post edited by adorna50 on
  • c-ramc-ram Posts: 376
    edited December 1969

    adorna50 said:
    Okay, these are the first ones I did with Blender, via a tutorial by Andrew Price, and is what I'd be comparing to. They are by no means perfect but it is a start. Can I make grass like this in Bryce? This was done using his grass pack but there is a particle system that can be used a well for grass and I've done both to good effect.

    Yes, of course! With practice, you can instance lots of grass recipe.

    Here's a render example from me :

    alpin30.jpg
    1820 x 670 - 560K
  • adorna50adorna50 Posts: 19
    edited March 2015

    Absolutely stunning, c-ram. Those ground plants and grass are more in line with what I'm looking for. Thank you.
    You know,'instance' and 'recipes' are not words I hear coming from the Blender community and are unfamiliar to me. The trees, ground plants and grass would all be done using particle systems in Blender. Bryce is a different animal it seems. I'll have to find tutorials that explain more than I thought. Thank you all again.

    I found it! It IS a particle system but different from what I'm used to. It's blessedly simple! And the erase tool...... way cool!!!! That is something to die for. You have no idea what I've been going through with Blender. Can't wait to show my son and husband!

    Post edited by adorna50 on
  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited March 2015

    adorna50 said:
    Ok, I've discussed this with my husband and here's the poop. I'm going on a tutorial crash course with David, Horo, and apparently, a whole bunch of other guys over the next several days to see what I think. David, if you used any add-ons I hope you said so so I know what I'm looking at and what to expect. Chohole, the sale is a 30% off sale. Typically, do they last for one week? I really need the sale to last through April 1 due to financial reasons. I figured you would know what the odds are better than most. Typically, how long do they last? In advance, I thank all of you, for your knowledge, helpfulness and expertise. And THAT is value without price!!!

    It's March Madness. No one can really tell what happens during March Madness. Even we Mods get caught up in the Madness and never know what to expect next. :coolsmile:

    And thanks for your comments on my image.

    BTW I started with Bryce before the internet was a common thing, but once I had internet I learned more from the forums I visited than I ever did from manuals. Forums and forum members are great. :coolsmile:

    Your images are great.

    Post edited by Chohole on
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