I just learned I can move up to Bryce 5 for only $80! Okay, probably not news to most of you, but it's news to me. There's just one thing that will tip me over the edge, and I haven't been able to find the answer yet - can the trees created in the B5 tree lab be exported for use in other applications? Say yes, and I'll be making the purchase. :)

Sorry to say no. They are basically made of metaballs which is strictly a Bryce engine render. But don't let that put you off from upgrading, there are many useful things in 5 that aren't in 4 or lower.

No exporting of Trees. Honestly upgrade. There is more then tree lab (which I think I have used all of once cause I love the leaves not the trunk) that makes 5 worth it.

Thanks for the quick response, but arrgh... :( I've had B3 and currently have B4, but Bryce has never been my primary app. So I don't think the other features would help me. I've seen some great trees, though...was really hoping.

Bryce not your primary app (this could be blasphemous here!). I am sorry I can't help you any more...LOL

Yeah, I know. I'm saying that part in a whisper. ;x You guys are great, thanks!

Too Late tooooo laaate! Begone blaspemer! J/K you can stay.

LOL, good thing I wore Kevlar. ;)

I saw a cool little app called TreeGenerator, that the trees can be exported for use in other apps, let me check and I'll post a link if I have one....

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12445&Form.ShowMessage=1551013

Sorry it was a 'procedure' for creating trees in Wings3D

I've got Tree Druid and TreeMaker. They just have very different appearances than what I'd like to achieve. You know hobbit's gnarly old oaks? Love that kind of look. Thanks anyhoo. :)

See if you can find a copy of a now defunct(I think) app called MECN Tree Factory. It's a bit of a pain to learn, but can produce some very interesting trees(see image). It may no longer available, if not let me know,.........I believe this was a free program towards the end of the existence of the company that made it.....TOM(sackrat)

I dont' know if this is any help or not, but I've managed to save trees as .obp's and those can be exported, but i have NO CLUE if anything else can import obp files...

Yeah, the only prog I know of that will open OBPs is Bryce itself. (That's how I ended up getting it in the first place, lol.) Tom, those are some great samples. I googled until I couldn't google anymore, but apparently MECN Tree Factory is extinct. It had been licensed to Digimation as a plugin for Max, but even that's gone, too. Sad tale - be sure to hang onto the copy you've got! I've had a bit of luck building trees in Vue, using the native trees (image), getting something of the old, gnarly look. It's not difficult, but it takes a lot of time. I'll just keep working on that when I have the time to spend. If I keep at it, one day, I'll have an entire forest. *grin*

But if you build a tree in Vue, you can only use it in Vue, sorta like Bryce's obps are only useful in Bryce...:(

Varian, Bryce really can't do the gnarly trees unless you use metaballs to create the tree (do a search on the forum for my oak tree) but then the file is enormous. What hobbit does with his trees is mostly postwork painting.

Ah yes...well I guess I'll just keep plugging along with whatever works for the time being. Some day, OBPs and VOBs will be interchangeable, all software will work seamlessly with all other software, and we'll all have powerful systems that render 5-million-polygon images under two minutes. Okay, I'm dreaming, but it's a nice dream! :D