Greetings all! I am a very very newbie to this community. I am an AutoCad user of 13 years and I want to branch out into other software. I have had my eye on bryce for some time. However, I cannot find any information (even from Corel website) that Bryce is a stand alone software. It almost seems as though you must have Corel in some fashion before Bryce will work, but maybe I am reading things that aren't actually there (it's been a long month!) I have read alot of the posts, but nothing (so far) has given me the info I need. The price almost scares me. Three years ago Bryce was about $150 from a mag I used to get. Current price on Corel site is $80. US. Thats why I figure there is something missing! HA! I can't wait to try out the software. I am into marrionette puppets and the wife & I have a web site as we are puppeteers & storytellers. I would like to use Bryce & (so far at least) Carrara (any other animation software suggestions would be appreciated) to make digital pics of the 150 puppets we have (so far). Thanks in advance for any and all help and I look forward to working with al of you in the future. Only recently did I find this website and so far it Rocks! Thanks, Dave

it used to be a whole lot more, nullster. they dropped the price so dramatically because the company doesn't intend to follow it up with any newer version and also because they're going through some hard financial times. To answer your question though, Bryce is completely standalone. Sure, you can augument its USES with 3D modellers and different semi-plug-ins, but the program in itself contains everything you need. Drac

Hey, thanks for the fast reply. I'm guessing from what I've read I can import photoshop files and even .dxf from autocad. I have read some of your posts and I appreciate your help. After I get the software, "I'll be back" to get some other info too! It looks like a kewl program. Does it have a long learning curve? I know all things to some folks can be hard. I am still learning Autocad after all these years, but then they DO have upgrades every other year or so. It is a shame that Corel is having problems. But then aren't we all? My company I work for used to have 700 employees and now is under 300 and dropping. And as a side comment, I read your "Please Read this message" and it seems like the folks at renderosity have a good thing going. Most places I will not even bother to send in responses or ask questions, but here it seems very friendly (I may find out otherwise later ... ) Again, thanks for your reply, The Nullster

Corel, the company that made Bryce5, has been sold, so the future of Bryce is questionable. But the $80 for the program is WELL worth it. I'd jump on it. Bryce is very easy to use but very hard to master. It's such a blast to use though. I've been Brycing for about 5 yrs now and I'm still in love with it. Doug

Thanks ocddoug! thats the kind of encouragement I need! Who cares if the company has been sold as long as the software works? I have an old version of a Ricco photo program, can't even remember where I got it but I still use it today and it is 8 yrs old at least! I think I'll jump on the software too. My B/D is coming up and I need an excuse to buy it! :+} Thanks!

Bryce (depending on the person), can have two learning curves. It definetely gives soem pretty immediate satisfaction with rendering, and I would say most of it is fairly easy to learn, especially if you can "be one" with the interface, lol. Some love it, some can't get into it. And, there are more difficult parts, it has it's own texture maker, while powerful can be complicated, the variables of animation are fairly vast, but then again, they are with any software. But, for only $80...if you don't like it, turn it into a present for somebody, lol! AgentSmith

Nullster..... You will not find out otherwise cause this is probably the friendleist forum you will ever run across. Lots of good people here. Welcome to this forum.8) If you are working with Autocad your learning curve with Bryce will be nothing to worry about. You will really enjoy it once you get started with it. There is always some new or improved way to acheive an effect that someone stumbles accross. Always something new making it's appearance. It will be a fun adventure for you I would bet. 8)

Dang! You's guys making me drool! I'll have to order it and get back with you all. So far it seems that this is a very nice community and I really look forward to chatting with everyone. Don't know if I will ever be of any help to anyone, unless they need some tips in Autocad! LOL
I am feeling all warm and fuzzy already! ooops, thats was the coffe I spilled....

If you start Brycing, you may find that you are quite a bit of help. All of us were newbies at Bryce once, and many short timers stumble on things we old timers hadn't found yet. If you want to speed up your learning curve once you have your Bryce, get Susan Kitchens' Real World Bryce 4. It doesn't have info about the tree lab or other additions new to Bryce 5, but it beats the !^$#@ out of the manual, and is much more productive a reference. Welcome to Bryce.

now it's just a matter of teaching you the secret handshake and inducing you into our ranks. AS, bring the usual glue gun, feathers, and fluffy handcuffs. Drac

If you're finding the learning the learning curve a bit steep, be sure to pop back in here and ask, there are plenty of talented people in here to show you the way. Be careful, though, Bryce in an addictive substance, lol. And drac, tisk, tisk, you weren't supposed to warn him about the glue gun and feathers! Now you've gone and spoiled the whole thing. ;D

I knew Drac was being nice for a reason! lol

Yup! Bryce is 'Standalone'! And is well supported by custom built plug-ins such as 3DMax, Maya, Cinema4, Poser, Vue and many others. These programs in themseves started out as standalones but realising that they could not compete with Bryce, slaved themselves solely to adding to Bryce's superiority, making it THE # 1 3d prog on the planet.....

Geetings nullster and welcome to the best forum on the planet. Everything Bryster has just said is true, NOT, but for us Brycers it could be. I think you'll have fun when you get your Bryce, just remember that once you start there's no turning back and there's no cure for Bryce addiction. lol 8D Catlin

Bryce is fun..addictive..and you shouldn't have any problem with .dxf's, I loaded many into Bryce when I was using Strata as a modeller..
If you're starting out, look through here (search on 'tutorial'), and screen caps, to figure out how to do stuff. I can mention that importing .dxf or .3ds files from other programs will come in with changed axes..(for Wings 3d, which I use as a modeller, I just have to enter '-90' on the leftmost axis to get things oriented right..;) there's loads of resources (materials, skies, objects, etc) that you can import into bryce to make pictures..I'll give you a couple of quick pointers -the more lights you add, the slower the render
-it is a guild requirement that you render a reflective sphere over water as one of your first pics..;) (Poser folks have to create a N*ked Vickie model in a Temple, but that's another package, and another story..;)
There's also loads of tutorials on the Web, so check the title area above to get some leads..if you get serious, go look for a 'Real World Bryce' (but if you can afford Autocad, it shouldn't be a problem..;) book. Welcome to the club..

oooooo is that what i was missing? the reflective sphere over water.... wondered what was wrong, i started right in on mountains....hahahahahah You know all this talk about RWB4 is gonna make me need to go get it, and i don't have time to read...LMAO lol welcome to Bryce, and be warned, using before bedtime can be hazardous to your sleeping routine. JenC

Greetings and Salutations, welcome to Bryce and the forum, you won't find a more helpful bunch of people than you will find here....a virtual cornicopia of information 8)

Well, a glue gun and feathers huh? Dang the fun I have been missing all this time! As a puppeteer and puppet builder, I use a glue gun ALOT! and feathers less frequent, so BRING IT ON! (can I model for ya'll when I'm done?) (I bet thats part of the deal tho eh?) :+] And to pakled, I CAN'T afford AutoCad, I am just a user in my workplace. $3,500 for software is a bit STEEP! (esp on my salary!) I bet the handshake is real cool huh? I can't wait! and the sphere, well no nekked pics of vikki in a temple on a sphere? with mood lighting? (I guess thats the ultimate for newbies to try?) I really appreciate all of your comments and I shall be back with MANY questions, you can bet! and maybe a few pics as well. Thanks all and I really do feel welcomed. (ahh, that warm fuzzy feeling again.... nope just my depends need changed) Dave

oh..well, last version of Autocad I used was 1.4, took my 8088 2 hours to render St. Pauls (this was back in the 80's, folks..;)
Actually, Bryce 5 and Poser 4 are both going for under a hundred bucks right now, so you could make a Vickie (have to download from www.daz3d.com..several makes and models..;) into Bryce, but that's probably down the road a bit..(you convert her to .obj file in Poser, it's getting the textures to come over that gets tricky..many use another program called Grouper..but learn to walk before ya fly..or just trip like I do..;)
Real World Bryce, I think, is somewhere between $35-50..I think..depending on where you get it (Amazon.com has been prominiently mentioned in dispatches..;), you don't have to have it, but it puts the 'M' in RTFM..;) it will give you all the information you need. Welcome..

Hey thanks for the tips pakled. And I started with acad 9 and it was on a brand new 286 @ 33mhz with a 500kb HD. (thats KB, not MB) It took (it seemed) like a year to zoom in on a view and then 2 yrs to zoom back out! I could go to toilet and get a drink, smoke one BS for 10 min and it would just be finishing up. Ahh, the good ol' days! Which do you think would be better/easier to use for animations or am I even in the right software range?? I Downloaded a trial of Carrara and it looks simply amazing! any thoughts? Thanks!

I've got a couple of books on how to use Autocad, but thats as far as it goes. 8)