Attached Link: http://www.uisoftware.com/DOWNLOADS/AM3DBETA/AM3D_EXAMPLES/index.htm

Hi Guys; This may be why Corel's dropping Mac Bryce. Here's a comment from Eric Wegner (the original Bryce creator): "It is sad to see once again that theses corporations are only concerned with maximizing their profits. Interestingly, this take place just while i'm busily working again on a landscape software, but using very different technologies than Bryce. You can take a look at some of the first pictures at : http://www.uisoftware.com/DOWNLOADS/AM3DBETA/AM3D_EXAMPLES/index.htm And guess what : this will be Mac only :) Best, Eric " Best; Dan

He's just found his first customer!! :D God returns! ;)

Well.... That is a bummer,I am a PC user and I have stood behind Bryce even for the Mac users...Bottom line is...I wish I had a Mac too I just cant afford an extra Machine...It is a bummer...Is not MojoWorl Mac compatible?Isnt Doc trying to get funding up to help purchase Bryce?

Very nice! Now, let's hope this app will take advantage of the IBM 970 and OS X 10.3 - but if you want to release it sooner than that, feel free. ;)

No idea what Doc Mojo is going to do, but Corel are dumping the Mac side of Bryce 5 - so it's all conflicting info, as it suggests they may continue with Bryce 5, maybe even 6 for PC - who knows... All I know is that Eric Wenger is the man behind the app (several apps in fact) that I have always preferred, and those examples look sweet to me - if he has another landscape app up it's sleeves with better code, and more features than Bryce 4, I want it! :) Whether he will make a PC version as well - who knows!?

Those renders look very mojoworld. Looks nice, but unfortunately I don't have a Mac.

Macs are overrated!!! goes to a corner and cries

I have a PC and have no desire to work on a Mac at this point and time. Nothing against Mac users, I know plenty of them, but I just prefer Windows. :- Ok, you all may tar and feather me now :( MD

{Macs are overrated!!!} Yes, and that being the case, OSX isn't the most advanced OS yet and crashes as often as Windows... ...I am off to LaLa land to wait for my new landscape app! ;D Jokes aside - they may decide to do a PC version from the revenue point of view, but as a Mac user, I can tell you, it's really nice to hear this after the amount of shafting the platform gets from the 'money over creativity corporations' ;)

Yes ! I will keep my MAC!.. thanks god Eric was here! l

I view and respect Eric Wenger as a gifted creative artist and Mac programmer. Over time, I have purchased each application offered by UI Software and marvel at the creative possibilities that these applications offer. Judging by the link address and being an owner of AMPro (ArtMatic Pro), AM3D should be an exciting addition to the UI application line!! I'll be his second customer!! PS- Check out the other apps UI offers!!

A bummer, but i dont want to trade away my PC. We have a brand new MAC at work, OSX, dual CPUs and loads of RAM, and although it doesnt crash, it goes down on its knees when working with pics ive run with ease on my machine! But never mind, its great that they do stuff for MAC as well, (wouldnt it be boring with only one system, and god help us all, Microsoft...?)and the app looks like a killer so far, judging by the pics! Just hope he will do one for PC as well... :)

I'll be a customer too. I'm glad I don't have to give up my Mac anymore :-) Josselin

His images are pretty damn good but it is a shame it's only for MAC. If he did make a version for PC I'd certainly give it a try. Catlin

UI sofware makes some of the best Mac software out there becuase Mac is all they do. Problem for Corel is that they let go the MC Bryce " consultants", Brian Wagner (the father of PC Bryce), Todd Bogdan (B3) and Josh Bates (B4). These guys were largly responsible for the Mac version of B5 and without them I'm not surprised that they're having problems. This business about not having a big enough market (in my opinion) is just to cover their own inabilities. Also without the "impossiable Guys", I'd be amazed if Corel can get a significant/stable PC version out the door As far as a PC version goes, UI has for years tried to interest someone on the PC side to do a PC port but so far, no takers. I do indeed hope that Pandromeda gets Bryce - the Mac version of mojoworld (especially under OSX) is one of the best PC to Mac ports around. Best; Dan

Based on the title AM3d it looks like he is calling it artmatic3d. Those fractals look like something from Ken - which means Eric has upgraded his landscape algorithms to the new ones in Ken's books. Also good news. What Eric does is make killer software for Macs in a PC-centric world. It is not a slam against PC users - but it is a slam against corporations and PC greed! Corel's recent posting is ludicrous and their stupid way of trying to keep investors happy - look at us we're dumping the Mac - see how forward-looking we are. Corel is desparate and I have a feeling Corel is done and this is all whitewash to calm down the investors. Artmatic and all of Eric's products take advantage of the platform they are on - multi-platform code is always a compromise. Bryce2 runs like a fast racehorse on a Mac and Bryce5 runs like a snail (in comparison). The b2 interface (GUI) ran very fast on a 233mhz mac - that's right I said Mega-hertz! Why does b5 poke along on a 1 ghz Mac now? The reason is multi-platform code and the old codebase that started in Bryce 3d. I have a feeling if Corel does re-write Bryce for the PC it will have the same generic UI as Vue D'esprit - which I know a lot of you dislike. Corel has been itching to kill the Kai interface and that codebase for a long time. If they survive I am sure that is the Bryce we will see. Good for you Eric - count me in as a future user too.

I am a PC Bryce user, and probably always will be. That said, "BRAVO!" and "WELL DONE!" to Eric Wenger for his work, both in the past for Bryce, and now for his UI work. Like Rochr, I believe this would be a sad world indeed if everyone marched to the M$ drumbeat.

P.S. I really don't think Eric shoulda used photos as demos pics....that's cheating! (Just kidding! grin)

Aye, It's great that Eric Wenger is doing this, even though I am as anti-fruit-based-computing as they come. There's a big difference between toys and tools. Those screenshots are pretty good, but alas, there was nothing there that couldn't be done in Bryce 5, on a Mac or a PC! But, as a political statement, it's a good move! I appreciate the hard work he did back in the day, but still... Those landscapes pale in comparison to what Mojoworld produces. I mean, it's really not even a comparison. Sorry Eric, maybe Doc Mojo would hire you on to make Mojoworld work better on the Mac or something? I don't even use Mojoworld, not yet (too busy modeling), so I have no vested interest in promoting it. I am merely judging these different apps based on the images that I've seen, and I've seen a LOT of CGI landscape work. Also, the technology behind Mojoworld is much more promising, it has the brightest future of all the landscape-making apps... Imagine Morrowind with the Mojoworld engine incorporated... What is reality, anyway?!?!? (grins)

Attached Link: http://www.metasynth.com/PPlaces/PossiblePlaces.html

Well, this is just a guess but I'd think Eric's going to incorporate his synthesis/audio/animation stuff or at least be able to integrate stuff from the UI product line. Decent audio support would make it unique among landscape apps. For what I think he'd be shooting for is at the link above (using his version of Bryce 3 Mac that was never released). For what it's worth, I don't think the intial pictures shown 2 years ago of the app that would become MJW were much better then these are. I'm also not very fond of scan-line renderers like MJW's. To be sure, even if Bryce Mac doesn't go forward, I'll still use it as long as I have an OS that'll run it. They may be slow but I do love ray tracers, especially Bryce5's. Best; Dan

Makes me wish I had a Mac, unbelievable images!!

I use PC's at home and use Macs about 50% of the time at work, they both have their quirks. I wasn't aware of some of the things written about here. "It is sad to see once again that theses corporations are only concerned with maximizing their profits". So, I assume Mr Wegner will be giving this app away ? I don't know what Corel's problem is, they generally make passable software, so long as you don't push it to hard. I have the Graphics 8 and 10 suite. Corel's reluctance to communicate their intent as far as Bryce is maddening in the extreme. I know for a fact they do not respond to inquiries from individuals, at least not this indivdual. I don't feel it's as much a question of profits, as it is incomptence. In my opinion Corel's products, on a scale of 1 to 10, have always lingered somewhere between a 6 and a 7. Sort of the Buffalo Bills of the graphics software world.(no comments please, I AM a Bills fan). One can only hope and pray that Corel will see the light and continue with or sell Bryce to someone who can do it justice.........sackrat.

If Mr. Wenger's new app reaches a marketable product phase, and is successful, there would likely be a PC version developed. Remember Bryce and all the KPT products were Mac only at one point. More power to Mr. Wenger.

Looks good but I wonder how good the importing is. Can the program do anything besides landscape pictures? Most of my pictures are not landscapes. I would be interested in a mac/pc version because pcs and macs don't handle color quite the same way. Its easier for me to render some pictures on pc to get yellow/red lighting down right.

I'll buy two copies of that software when it's released!

All I can say is wow!. The landscapes look great. The clouds are a little "veiny" looking, IMO.

Bryce is/was very dear to me. I first got into computer graphics when I saw a demo at IBM HQ in NYC. They were showing a fractal landscape image with a rising and lowering tide. I was besides myself when I saw it.

At that time, I owned an AMIGA computer and there was no fractal programs at that time. Eventually someone came out with a little program called Scenery Generator. I bought it in a heartbeat. Eventually, Vista and Vista Pro were released on the AMIGA. I got those too.

Some point later I moved to Apple Macs. I used Vista Pro at first until I saw the first version of Bryce. I almost cried (really). That was THE program, the reason I got so hooked into computer graphics. I felt as if the program was built specifically for me. It was a long wait but a worthwhile one. I've been using Bryce ever since.

[Some background info - I'm a photographer who also loves CG and I use it in my imagery all the time. Some samples - go to http://www.amrosario.com and search around. All the CG stuff I did (and those are older images) I did with Bryce.]

Anyway, I realized that it wasn't just the program that inspired me but it was also Eric W's vision. When I see that he is working hard on another program, I get excited all over again. When I saw those images of the beta software, I got that same feeling I did when I first saw the IBM fractal image.

At first, I was very unhappy to hear that Corel is stopping development of the Mac version of Bryce. Now, I think that I can turn that around and have something to look forward to.

I owe so much to Eric's vision and his work that I cannot even begin to quantify.

Thanks, Eric!

I wonder how big the market is for 3D landscape generators. There was a time when Bryce was nearly the only game in town. Now we have Bryce (soon to be PC-only, dammit), Terragen, Vue d'Esprit, Mojoworld, and Eric's Artmatic3D (sometime), while a lot of the 'straight' 3D packages are also adding landscape and atmosphere effects. Eric may develop ArtMatic3D as a labor of love, but there may be a shake-down and some of the smaller players may find it hard to continue.

The ArtMatic3D samples are stunning, but I'm wary of judging the strength of the product on those alone. Eric Wenger could probably take four melted crayons, a torn sheet of cardboard and a spoonful of rancid spaghetti sauce and use them to produce an image that would break your heart with its wistful beauty. I'd be more interested to see what an ordinary user can do with the same product. Hell, I'd be interested to see what I could do with the product (are you listening, M. Wenger?)

It's possible that ArtMatic3D may produce beautiful renders but have an interface that makes it impossible for most users to attain them. Kai Krause's big contribution was to take Eric's genius rendering engine and put an interface on it that people could use, thus bringing Bryce to the world at large. Bryce's quirky interfaces came in for a lot of criticism over the years, mostly from 'pro' users, but I generally found them very comfortable to work with, and was impressed by the intuitiveness and power of some of their solutions to representation and manipulation problems. Certainly, in terms of giving you access to the power of the engine without drowning you in incomprehensible complexity, it was a masterpiece.

So ArtMatic3D looks exciting, but I hope it turns out to be usable by mere mortals, and I also hope that the entry of yet another competitor to the marketplace doesn't kill off other promising programs.

Of course there's no law that says people can't buy more than one. I have Bryce and Mojoworld, and a copy of Vue d'Esprit is currently in a chocolate-brown truck heading for my house ...