I was just wondering as it will be free (Bryce2 that is) on Computer Arts magazine next month. (issue 89) Will it give me a good idea of what Bryce is like, or is it so different now it will be no help at all? Shanna :-)

ive never used anything but bryce 5, but i know that metaballs, treelab, and alot of better rendering options (Depth of field, true ambience, soft shadows) so it will be very basic.

You will have to dig deep to find a Bryce2 user I'm guessing. I started with Bryce 3D. BTW, Bryce5 is available for about $80.

i've used bryce 2 (the demo) it is extremely basic. no skylab and stuff. i personally wouldn't bother, but thats me. i got poser 3 off PC Formats cover CD a few months back. having never used poser before i thought it was a bit iffy but ok. THEN i got poser 5, bloody hell the difference was amazing. the program actually does stuff you want it to! going back to bryce.... i used to have Bryce 4 (actually i still have, a friend gave it to me on a CD which is over here.....), i used it for about 9 months THEN i got Bryce 5 from work (hey it was lying around unused...) and the difference between 4 and 5 is immense. if the gap between those two is the english channel (about 43 miles across) then the gap between bryce 2 and 4 is like the pacific. is that helpful or a load of tosh? John

i've just checked amazon.co.uk bryce 5 is 74.99, remember you will get free delivery with that! http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000094ADI/ref=sr_aps_software_1_1/202-0929288-2338252 interestingly the training CD is 84.54! http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000694T7/ref=sr_aps_software_1_2/202-0929288-2338252 hope this post is slightly more helpful than my last one!!!!! john

I currently work with Cinema4d, the result of another magazine cover giveaway, although I now use the r8 version having upgraded. Poser went from 3 (on the same magazine cover disc as Cinema v5se last year) to Poser 4 reasonably quickly. I like this way of trying out programs much better than using the demos, being a slow learner it gives me months to mess with a program and see how I like it. I'm well aware they never give away the good stuff, otherwise there would be no point in getting a newer version. I've seen some beautiful work in the bryce gallery, so I wanted to check the program out. What formats does Bryce import/export? Shanna :-) (ps, thanks for the uk prices.....however did you know I was a brit?)

:) I started with Bryce 2, - never got the hang of it,- but enough to get me really! interested and upgrading (for a very fair sum of moeny) to Bryce 5. And yes, you'll get the general interface, and see how the Material lab works, so go for it.

Information below taken from Bryce's online help file: Importing 2D Images Windows Bitmap (.bmp) Enhanced Metafile (.emf) CompuServe GIF (.gif) JPEG (.jpg) Photoshop (.psd) Targa (.tga) TIFF (.tif) PICT (Mac only) Exporting 2D Images You can export images to the file formats listed below: Windows Bitmap (.bmp) JPEG (.jpg) Photoshop (.psd) PICT (Mac only) TIFF (.tif) Importing and Exporting 3D Objects Bryce can import objects saved to the following file formats. TrueSpace (.cob) Versions up to 4.0 are supported. Material properties are supported. VideoScape (.vsa) All versions are fully supported. VRML1 (.wrl) Imports all properties relevant to Bryce, including camera, light, and surface and material textures. LightWave (.lwo or .lws) Both objects and scenes are supported. The camera, lights, and all objects (with material information) are imported. Versions 6 and up are not supported. Heightfield (.hf) Used to import descriptions of heightfields (terrains). USGS DEM (.dem) All forms of DEM files are supported. USGS SDTS (.ddf) This format is the new USGS format which will replace DEM files. Portable Greyscale Map (.pgm) Used to import descriptions of heightfields (terrains). 3d Studio Objects (.3ds) 3DMF (.3mf) AutoCad (.dfx) Direct 3D (.x) Wavefront (.obj) WCS Elev (.elev) WorldToolKit (.nff) You can also export a rendered object to the following file formats: Ray Dream Studio (.rds) RayShade (.hf) Infini-D 4.0 (.id4)

Thank you all for your kind and informative replies. Good old .obj and .3ds, where would we be without them? I'm looking forward to trying it out next month. Shanna :-)

how the hell do you export in those formats? you can only export terrains or lattices in 3DS format. well thats all i've been able to do.... shanna - i'm a brit too so i like to work in real money ;] John PS: i got C4D off a cd too, we must read the same magazines!!!!!!! i haven't really played with that much because of bryce hugs cd case PPS: for sale exclaimation marks!!!!!!!!!!! Five for 2 beanz, get 'em while their cheap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! have a free sample [!]

Burgi, only terrains, rocks, lattices and imported objects can be exported in those formats. After selecting the item, in wire mesh mode, click on the terrain editor (the small "E" next to the mesh or wait until the polygon smoothing dialog comes up) and hit CTRL. + "D ", the export dialog window comes up allowing you the different formats.

Hi there. I started out with Bryce 2 when i was in grade 12 (I'm 25 now). Basically Bryce 2 can ONLY do the stop motion one frame at a time (a la render one frame, move the camera render the next frame and so on--with the frames being assebled in quicktime later) Also Bryce 2 does not have a sky lab, or at the very least it is not a very advanced one. You would have to make do with the sky presets (which are not bad- I used them all the time) The DTE (deep terrain editor is not to advanced--if ther e is one--I can't remember) There is no tree lab, nor metaball support, but that does not mean you can not do really cool things. If your mail box is large enough i can email you a video I made through stop motion (for history class--I toook over 80 hours of rendering--15.6 mb) I know there is other things i should be telling you, but I can't think of them, right now. If I remember more I will post it later. Pedrith :)

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=466410

Aye, I remember when Bryce 3d came out... We used to go to 3D chatrooms and bash all the Max users. They'd taunt us, and we'd reply, "Whatever, Bryce moves now, loser." It was great fun, reversion to childhood...! I think the difference between 2 and 5 is vast. Bryce 5's a well-made product, and rarely screws up. The new rendering options alone are worth the price difference, which is NOT vast at all...! Bryce is an environmental package, which up until v.5 didn't have the ability to generate 3D trees... Although limited, the Tree Lab rules, as do metaballs!

Bryce 4 is a lot like 5. If it weren't for the lack of the metaball based stuff and more advanced render options available - you'd probably not notice the difference. (Ok some will note that the editor menus have cosmetic differences.) Now how much has changed between 2 & 3, and 3 & 4, I dunno... I'm still using 4. I haven't seen the software at any of the computer stores around here. I suppose I could stop being lazy and try to get them to place an order. I've even seen Bryce5 installed on one of the new G5 Macs at a computer store I was browsing through. Dunno if that was one of the employees tinkering about in their spare time or part of the software bundle. Makes me wonder though. I fiddled with it for a bit. Seems those machines are fast, because the render finished in the time I browsed through the adjacent aisles.

I started on Bryce 1. I worked that poor Quadra to death. People used to brag on the Bryce List of renders that took weeks. I could never live without my machine that long. 8) It was cool waking up in the morning and rushing to see your new world. Bryce could really teach you patience then.

I've used Bryce 2 for more then 2 years, it's basic interface is the same, but there's no lightlab, skylab, treelab or advanced rendering options. The texture editor has another interface, and I don't know if there's a DTE. There is a terrain editor and I think it's not much different from the one in B5. There's no animation options, so you'll have to make them manually frame by frame. Bryce 2 is cool to try out bryce, but I think Bryce3D would give you a better feel of what the program is like now. And B5 isn't very expensive ($79 in the US) and certainly worth the money. You can still make lot's of nice things with Bryce2, so it's not a useless app.

Computer Arts and Bryce2 as a give away? They have done that before, years ago. It's how i got started with Bryce.

I got my Bryce 2 from a Computerarts CD too :) I got Bryce 3D from 3DWorld and I got Bryce 5 in a local computerstore.

I remember they sent out a revised edition of Bryce 2 for Windows because the original was so buggy that it would just shut itself down on start-up. I could hardly do anything with it and was so disappointed with it that I just kept emailing them letters letting them know that I thought they were thieves for taking our money and offering up squat for it. How laws should be written to protect the unsuspecting customers against such dispeakable actions. I guess they knew they had a bad piece of software when they sent out the revision for free plus a goodies CD.

And then all of us Mac guys complained so they sent us a CD too. I think I still have old KPT List archives from then. They sure made you guys suffer a long time.

LOL...left a bad taste in my mouth about the company with that. But they owned up to their errors even if it took many months after having paid good hard earned cash for a piece of software that one couldn't use. I had been icthing to get my hands on that Bryce program that the Mac world was abuzz about and was coming to the Windows platform for the first time.

Bryce 2 was the first version I had. As far as I remember it is nothing like Bryce 5 apart from the interface but it was a good introduction to 3D. So if you're getting it for free give it a try and if you like it save your pennies and buy v5, it's too good a price at the moment to pass on. 8) Catlin

I got bryce 2 ages ago (as a cover disk on computer shopper, just when bryce 3d was launched) and used it for a long time before upgrading to 5 earlier this year, the addition of the tree lab, groups that work, the sky lab, and metaballs make 5 a much more useful product. An interesting point is that the 5 upgrade is from ANY version, so you should be able to upgrade from the freebie to version 5 (it worked for me and the guy on the helpline said it was ok to do it)

I didn't know that Gog! I just went out and bought the Bryce 5 new. Catlin

I'm surprised anyone is giving away Bryce 2 when Bryce 3 has already been given away. Yes, I started with Bryce 2 as well ...

Too late now Catlin, those pennies are gone for ever :-)

I think I'm getting my moneys worth though Gog. 8)