According to Agent Smith: "You save your Poser file as a pz3. Import the pz3 into Daz Studio. Then export it right back out as a Bryce5 obj. It coverts the transperencies so that they automaticly load." Well, how useless is that? AFAIK Daz|Studio doesn't support P5 materials, so exporting a Poser model as a pz3 file means you are stuck with crappy basic P4 materials when what you want to use is nice sparkling Bryce materials. In fact, texturing the figure in Poser AT ALL means using the Poser materials editor (boo) instead of the nice Bryce one (yay). The task is made slightly less repulsive by the existence of MAT files, but these tend to restrict you to other people's texturing decisions, and are really a graceless kludge of a way of doing things, given the awkwardness of the Poser library. So once you go through the rigmarole of processing your pz3 with Daz|Studio and importing it into Bryce, unless you are content with dull materials, you still have to attack the figure and fix all the materials with the Bryce editor, bit by bit. Which means that adding the transparencies is actually not much extra labour, especially if you have many standard ones stored in your materials library. No, Grouper is still the way to go if you want figures to look decent in Bryce.

I find it only too easy to import using Grouper, but I am only using version 4. I hope they get the animation plug in going so I can get animations into Bryce.

If it's useless to you, do not use it. Poser figure traditionally use parametrically wrapped, picture textures, since probably version 1. As are MANY meshes. Ever play a PC video game? What has posed a problem is getting them to transfer into Bryce in a usable state, instead of having to select each mesh piece and tweak it by hand. This is NOT a plugin to make P5 mats work in bryce or vice versa. It makes the PICTURE textures, transparencies, bumps, etc, come through into Bryce as they should be. AgentSmith

Exactly AS. And Phantast - it gives you a fast starting point to using the bryce materials on them in a hurry. You can easily finesse all the texture maps - add reflection, etc and make the figure really come to life using all the cool bryce materials. I can't believe how much people are bitching about this. DAZ could have just bought Bryce5 and started selling it right away. The fact that they made a cool value-added plug-in shows they are DEVELOPERS. That plug-in architecture has been there since Bryce3 - but they are the first developer to actually use it and build something useful with it. Look how fast they did it. I think their developers are going to take us into features in Bryce that we've been asking for a long time. Wouldn't HDRI just be a plug-in to the current rendering engine? You get my drift.... Scott

Right On AgentSmith and Scott...

The bitching about this whole thing is already making me want to vomit. BRYCE WAS DEAD... NOW IT LIVES AGAIN. Not very many people seem to be happy with that.
Bitch, bitch, bitch.

Bitch cause Corel forgot about developing Bryce any further.

Bitch cause DAZ bought Bryce.

Bitch cause they think that DAZ won't support Poser content, only DAZ Studio content. (I can't believe this one)

Bitch cause there is a plugin to seamlessly import Poser content into Bryce....

Bryce is either going to have to stay dead or to live. One or the other.

I want to see it live. I am quite excited about it and I refuse to let the people that want to bitch bring me down. I am anticipating some good stuff out of DAZ's purchase of Bryce.

Plugin or no plugin.... the plugin makes it easier to bring the textures into Bryce in a usable state as AgentSmith stated. And like Scott said... If you want you can tweak the shit out of your textures once you have them imported if you aren't happy with them. When I use a Poser character I do tweak the hell out of the textures I want to tweak and leave the rest alone. Now I can get started tweaking the ones I want to tweak much quicker. This is mostly cause I don't have to bring each texture in one at a time. Nothing bad about it that I can see. Pretty darn nice if you ask me. But then you didn't ask me. lol
I am just happy that Bryce has been brought back from the grave.

Wade

Exactly - Swade. This is all good news. The old saying seems to apply here: be careful what you wish for. I heard 1,000 voices saying corel sucks and why did you kill Bryce - now that it is alive a bunch of those voices are having 'buyer's remorse.' I just don't get it. This is all great news

Actually it doesn't really, but it is great for being able to set up an entire scene in Poser then transfer it into Bryce, which was a problem for me before. The plugin doesn't take away the need to tweak all the textures to get everything just right, I would do that anyway, but I am disappointed that the supposed rememberance of transparency settings doesn't cross over. Well some did and some didn't and it lost some of the textures completely, at least that's what happened when I used it today. But like I said the ability to get complete scenes into Bryce is a great thing and the only thing I'd really like them to sort out with it is to give all the obj's a short name as in calling something r_arm, etc. rather than giving the entire directory address to the texture, which just makes it difficult to figure out which item you are selecting. And no I'm not bitching 'cos I couldn't be happier that DAZ have given new life to Bryce, I think I was just anticipating more from this plugin, but that's me, head in the clouds as usual. lol 8) Catlin

You can start vomiting now then. Dan Farrs own words, taken from the Poser forum: "Our business is based on supporting the Poser market. We hope through our acquisition of Bryce we can expand the possibilities within this market. We hope through the development of DAZ Studio we can expand the possibilities further. We have spent tremendous amounts of efforts being able to support the Poser file formats within D|S because we see the value of what is available in this community. We plan to extend that support within Bryce." Yeah, sounds like DAZ is doing whats best for Bryce alright. Now go ahead, throw some more crap on me for caring about whats going to happen with Bryce!

My concern here is that people, as usual, have got the wrong idea about Poser-Bryce. You see this every time people talk about how Vue is better because it imports Poser figures with the textures intact. This is not an advantage, really. Swade says now he doesn't have to bring the textures into Bryce one at a time. This is still missing the point. You are trying to bring them into Poser and then into Bryce. You still have to bring them in, one at a time, somewhere. What I'm saying is, don't bring them into Poser. Don't use the Poser material editor. Do ALL the material editing in Bryce, whether picture textures or procedural. Really, it's a better way to work. Now you can call it bitching if you feel bitchy yourself, but now that there is a real chance of taking Bryce forward, I'm concerned that it be taken forward in the right direction, and that involves understanding the way that Bryce works best. And trying to import Poser-textured figures is not that way.

Rochr, I'm with you on that....I've been reading the promo materials, the announcements, all the posts with the excitment etc about Bryce being alive.....however, DAZ is Poser oriented, it's their bread and butter, the bottom line....

I see DAZ integrating Bryce into DAZ Studio for the betterment of D/S. I see their support for Poser formats infiltrating Bryce's libraries through D/S....but I'll wait until all the hoopla is over to actually see what DAZ has planned for Bryce.

Right now Bryce users are like hungry fish finding a stockpile breadcrumbs(Bryce being bought after so long a time), they're so delighted(ooooo, new plugin) they don't see the net..... I'm not bitching, I'm glad DAZ picked up Bryce for development, just not sure what type of development they have in mind, I'm just reserved about what's going on....

Message edited on: 06/24/2004 17:33

Catlin wrote -> "Actually it doesn't really, but it is great for being able to set up an entire scene in Poser then transfer it into Bryce, which was a problem for me before." You can actually set up a scene in poser??!!?? bows in worship (that is something I find impossible in poser)

I am not throwing any crap on you Rochr..... The bitching is in the DAZ forums, Renderosity forums.... and lots of the bitching is about things that aren't even decided or announced to the public. I will say I have heard some very valid arguments as well... I just think people could be happy that Bryce is alive.... we need to wait and see if DAZ in fact will improve Bryce as well as make it D|S ready. Hopefully they will keep on improving it and in the right direction. But I am not going to decide what is going to happen ahead of time. So I am not throwing crapn at you Rochr. Trying to import poser textures is just something nice we have now.... I whole heartedly agree with you Phantast that we need DAZ to take Bryce forward in the right direction.

You know? I think it will go the other way.....they bought Bryce in order to incorporate it into Poser, making Poser are much bigger/wider-ranging app......or did someone say that already.........?

They don't own Poser. They can't merge Bryce with Poser. They own Daz/Studio. Different app, does basically what Poser does, but still a diffent app.

Its funny how the people at that new "bryce" forum is avoiding/ignoring my questions about Dan Farrs statement... Ah well, screw them and Daz.

Pro's and con's aside... Everyone realizes DAZ IS creating a Bryce 6, right? Right? I think everyone is focusing FAR too much on this plugin, lol. If you don't have a use for it, then you won't use it. If your workflow is such that you like using Grouper or nothing at all, then don't use the new plugin. I won't have a big use for it, but will get it and check it out, basically just for the fact that I can give them notes on what works, and what doesn't. We have an opportunity to tell the new owners of Bryce what's what, imho. And, anyone is going to word themselves very carefully when replying to you Rochr. Humble or not, you are a Bryce star, period. You have a lot of pull, whether you have ever used it or not. They are going to tred lightly on your comments. I'm focusing on Bryce 6. That's what we all will truly be using more than anything else. AgentSmith

Actually the Bryce buyout is a good thing.

Think for a minute- in the four years or more I have known of the poser figure phenomenon one thing has been a constant-

So long as development in render engines / techniques / calulations / simulations move toward ever increasingly mimicing of real life then so is the benefit felt like a ripple throughout other softwares.

One thing is for sure- Poser characters must increase in render quality just as every other program that creates objects or mechanical deviations.

For more realism, you are going to need HDRI, you are going to need on the horizon - interference light wave calculations and so on.

If Bryce is to improve the content of what you can render then by default it will be improved upon in that manner.

In other words, this is a good thing- I expect as a natural reaction that Bryce will benefit in Daz's support for the poser line because all things must continue improving to match and keep pace.

If the line of progress in this area of rendering was flat- then we would still be in amazement over that MTV 3D video from the 80's that at the time was the advantgarde of computer 3D.

Message edited on: 06/24/2004 22:37

HEY....Everybody chill out and take a Breather here....Just be happy that Bryce is no longer DEAD....It could be worse...Just Plain DEAD...

I don't really care if Ray Charles(God rest his soul) bought Bryce and tried to make it better as long as he does a good job.DAZ,Corel,Wave Front etc... makes no difference to me, as long as they can make it better and more powerfull. I don't like Poser as much as any Brycer but i don't think i'm selling out by being happy that someone finally cares about future of Bryce.

My main point is right along the lines of what AS said - they are heading toward Bryce6 and they are very good at coding because they cooked up that plug really fast. Metacreations owned Poser, Bryce Painter, Detailer (Painter 3d), Raydream, Infini-D, Kai's Power tools, and Metastream - and in the 3 or so years they had all these apps the best they could do was create a Poser plugin for Raydream and Detailer. When all these apps merged and became Metatools and then Metacreations the number two request was being able to import Poser files into Bryce and all those other 3d apps. Number one was getting animation into Bryce and that is still an unfinished symphony. SO whether you like Poser or not there has always been a big demand for this capability in Bryce. Why kill DAZ for delivering on something that Meta NEVER delivered on. IF you don't like Poser, see it as a potential gateway to Bryce6. They finally made use of that damn plug-in architecture. I am gonna be optimistic on this (like AS is) and hope this means they have the programming talent to deliver a lot more. I'm focusing on Bryce6 too. Right now DAZ is just taking stock of what they have and it is up to us to tell them what it is we want out of Bryce6. Also - they are not Brain-dead - they know the Bryce installed base is large and they want us to buy Bryce6. Sure - they will use it to help sell DAZ merchandise so the plug is a no-brainer. My hat is off to them for not waiting until the release of Bryce6 and calling this a feature. That leaves room for real features that would make it deserve a new version number. Hopefully things like HDRI and all our usual suspects. Tell them what you want - at least they are listening. Scott

I will admit I realize where all the emotion is coming from; I too do not want OUR Bryce to be assimilated into another program. I too want it to be "Bryce", as we know it, just updated. I'm just gonna have (blind) faith, lol, and see if I can help out. :o AS

Folypro, 220volt, AgentSmith and Scotttucker3d.... you guys said all that needs to be said.

Like I said earlier in this thread.... Bryce either needs to remain dead or alive. I would rather see it alive.

Rochr.... AgentSmith is right in saying, "And, anyone is going to word themselves very carefully when replying to you Rochr. Humble or not, you are a Bryce star, period. You have a lot of pull, whether you have ever used it or not. They are going to tred lightly on your comments."
You can take that to the bank.

I personally really admire your work. Always will. 8)

Wade

Message edited on: 06/25/2004 00:33

Man, a bunch of you folks seem ready to bitch at the drop of a hat. I won't deny that change can be confusing and fraught with peril, but all this is good. I have been playing with Vue for a few weeks and now I'm going to buy Bryce, download it (and the free plug-in) and see how I like it. I'm looking forward to this synergy.

Like I said, 'right now Bryce users are like hungry fish finding a stockpile of bread crumbs(Bryce being bought after so long a time), they're so delighted(ooooo, new plugin) they don't see the net.....

No one knows whether there will be a Bryce 6, but knowing DAZ is Poser oriented and D/S is their baby, I don't look to see the kind of development everyone is soooooooo sure is going to happen....it may be a totally different way they're going than you think.....
BTW, Brycers can't upload to the Bryce gallery there, and although there are other tutorials for Bryce at DAZ, looks like the only ones to get into their official Bryce tuts area are the ones from the CD...

Message edited on: 06/25/2004 02:22

Actually, yup we DO know. (trust me...) There WILL be a Bryce 6. And, DAZ REALLY does want to have a Bryce users wish list to help them out with new versions. Yup, you can bet Bryce will have a strong integration with Poser and Daz Studio. To NOT have that would put Bryce 6 in a weaker position up againt Vue, Vue Pro, Truespace, and others. Then..if there is a better integration like (Poser has) with C4D, 3DSMax, Lightwave, etc....all the better to keep Bryce in the game. Yes...this is not the cool updates we the regular Bryce users want to see for Bryce, yet. They are coming.... AgentSmith

I have only one complaint.. I thought this plug-in would be a great idea.. Untill I read that you have to import your poser file to DazStudio then to Bryce.. Since I can't use DazStudio.. But no one can tell me why.. I have dabbled in Bryce for a while.. I'm not great in it but I love to make Wallpapers so I got Bryce and started practicing and made some decent pictures. Then I decided I wanted to put people in them.. So I got poser 4. Then poser 4 pro.. Then Poser 5 I have used lightwave.. But I always go back to Bryce.. My only gripe has been when I do pose a Vicky or Mike or The Dragon. (I'm into Fantasy pictures.) I'ts a pain and time consuming when I import it into Bryce.. Going through all the meshes and setting up the textures and trasmaps.. But I guess we all do it.. So Today I read the bit about the Plug-in.. Then found out I needed DazStudio.. Well I've downloaded and tried out 3 different versions.. And every time they start up get to the first window and crash.. I reported it to Daz.. Over and over. Asked for help.. Reported it as a bug.. All anyone at Daz can tell me is try and get a new video driver.. Well my video card has the latest driver.. My computer is only 11 months old.. And I've checked and there was only one update to the video driver which I got. Daz says it may be some wierd thing, like a video driver conflict and they can't help me.. Why can I run Bryce. Poser, Lightwave and every thing else?? Am I the only with a Compaq presario computer trying to run DaZ Studio.. They really were no help at all And just had no suggestions of anything to try..... So I guess I will not be purchasing there Bryce plug-in.. All I can hope for is they make a new version of Bryce alone that I can purchase and use..

I think we're all being taken for a ride (I'm in Paranoid mode) DAZ buys Bryce, DAZ makes plugin, Brycers get plugin, Brycers get happy, DAZ sells lots of stuff to Brycers, DAZ gets happy, Poser buys DAZ, DAZ execs get lots of money, DAZ execs move to condos in Florida, Poser releases Poser 6 with Bryce/DAZ as incorporated apps like TREE LAB is to Bryce 5, Brycers buy POSER 6, Poser gets happy, Brycers realise that they are really POSER users after all, Brycers commit Hari-Kari in droves, Poser gets happy, Poser sells Poser 6(incorporating Bryce) to Terregen, Poser execs get lots of money, Poser execs move to condos in Florida, Poser execs see Florida is full of DAZ execs and move to Burmunda, Poser execs realise Burmuda is really a render in Vue D'Sprit and in doing so cause Vue to crash sending Burmuda to the bottom of a virtual Atlantic, Terregen release new version with Poser 6 plugin... ...Hey! haven't we been here before?

thememistress, what video card do you have? (who is the manufacturer?) Nvidia, ATI, etc. AgentSmith

I have a ProSavageDDR video card.. It says the manufacturer is S3 Graphics Co.

You could always try using drivers from either the company who makes your video card board, or the company that makes the actual chip. It IS kinda at your own risk, but it might be worth a try. AgentSmith Drivers from Pro Savage http://www.savagenews.com/?action=articles&article=14&section=1 Drivers from S3 http://www.s3graphics.com/drivers8d04.html

And, you motherboard company might even have drivers, especially if it is integrated into the motherboard. AS

At first I was over the moon in my happiness but now that I've come back to my senses I feel that we should all write in the wishlist forum at DAZ all that we want for Bryce, I'd even go as far as writing directly to Steve Kondris or Bryan Brandenburg. They do not want to loose the Bryce user base and I believe they will listen 'cos they'd be daft not to since we know the program better than they do. It's all just going to take time, but we must tell them what we need and want otherwise it will definately not be a good day. Folk also really shouldn't have a problem taking pz3's from Poser puting them into DS, then exporting as objects 'cos you don't have to do anything in DS with it apart from export. So it's basically Made in Poser, imported to DS, exported to obj, which goes into Bryce no probs at all. My only problem with the plugin I have stated before so I won't go over it again. 8) Catlin

I left two big posts in the Bryce wishlist. One bugfixes, and one for new attributes for a v6. AS

Zhann, the form to upload images to the Bryce Gallery at DAZ has been added today. And the reason that the tutorials secion only have the Content CD ones up is because that's what they had available at the time. Others will be added as folks submit them.

We are not going to turn Bryce into Poser or DAZ|Studio. We are going to develop a stand-alone version of Bryce 6 or Super Bryce and will probably do so working closely with some of the original creators of Bryce who we will be meeting with in Europe next month for extended discussions.

We have released an import utility within a week of owning the program and have already figured out how to increase render speeds, and not just a little.

We would like to think when the old-time Bryce users realize what we're going to do, that's when the excitement really starts. We're being very careful about managing expectations because of disappointments of the last few years.

We are more in touch with the Bryce community than you might think.

Best regards,
Bryan Brandenburg
DAZ Officer

Bryan: Thankyou for that. I for one, look forward to seeing Bryce 6 or whatever you are going to call it. There are a lot of Brycers here who have stayed faithful to the app despite many opportunities to change and as you have said, many disappointments. I sincerely hope however, that you choose to take onboard the mountain of input and suggestions that experienced users have come up with over the years. Regards The Bryster

Thanks Bryan, appreciate the post big time. You're right, once Bryce users get more of a feel what's going to be coming, emotions will relax, lol. AgentSmith

.

I am very happy to hear you say this Bryan and I'm looking forward to the next version of Bryce coming out. You may have noticed that we are all pretty emotional about this program and I think part of that comes from our having used and loved Bryce for so long. I wish you and all those at DAZ working on Bryce the very best wishes I can muster and hope your road only has little bumps. 8) Catlin

At last an answer. That was all i needed to know, Thanx!

;oD

YIPPEE...............8D

Bryan thanks for telling us what we wanted to hear. Hehe - you should have trusted us old timers Rochr and Phantast... We've been hooked up to Bryce a long time (like a human battery in the matrix) and we've just got a good gut feel when it comes to Bryce. The fact that they are gonna talk to Kai and Eric shows just how much they GET it. Scott (tuckersaur from the AOL days of Bryce - the original Bryce forum).

But you know how we kids are. We just scream and scream until we get what we want...

Rudy - You're emotional because you LOVE Bryce - and so do I. I can't complain about that kind of screaming : )

Scream along with us buddy. ;o) Maybe we can get them to create a Tentacle Lab in Bryce 6, lol. AS

If they want to do that, AS, they need to get Rochr in as an advisor. :^)

Cool Beans. Rochr is a little more at ease with an answer he needed. Actually an answer that we all needed. Thanks for that Bryan. I second what Scotttucker3d said Rochr.... You LOVE Bryce and we all know it. It shows in your work. 8) A tentacle lab...?? Lol

I too am excited about the DAZ acquisition of Bryce and am looking forward to many great advances for us users. I am impressed with DAZ products and admire the developers there. I think that adding more "eggs into the basket" will make all of DAZ a stronger company. Hopefully it will also allow them to continue to offer items at reduced expense to us. Aside from anxious anticipation of whatever changes may occur to Bryce itself here is my main concern about DAZ ownership of Bryce: DAZ has a number of great products marketed for Poser. Perhaps the single biggest product is the Victoria line of models. When you buy (for example) a V3 mesh model, are you all set up to do all the wonderful things you see others doing with V3? Or even half of the things you see them doing? The answer is NO! Well then, what is lacking? You need to get the body morph package, and the head morph package (both separate purchases). Then, and only then, can you apply some of freely available body and head morphs. And you know what else... she doesn't come with any clothes! There are "some" of those available in free places, but not many. Most clothes that are out there require you to have some of the DAZ or Renderosity Product clothes in order to apply their textures or morphs. And these cost even MORE money. (Hmmmm... now I know why there are so many nudes in the galleries. You can't afford to buy clothes!) Anyway... to get to the point. I am concerned that DAZ will do something with Bryce so that when you buy it you are "HOOKED" into needing to buy something else (from them of course) in order to actually get much functionality out of it. Hopefully this will not be the case, but their track record in this respect leads me to wonder. -- Jeff

I do hope that you're wrong Jeff, but I don't think any company would get away with bringing out a program without the user being able to do whatever they expect from the start. I mean open Bryce 6 and you need to buy mountains and a tree to make an island. lol 8) Catlin

The business of content is very different than selling software. The reason you don't sell the model with everything is because it makes it rather expensive. Second, not everyone will want the clothes, but maybe the morphs, and vice versa. I have friends who prefer to make their own morphs. I rarely get clothes to use in my images because I prefer to paint them. Software usually is sold as a total package. Some companies, such as Maxon with Cinema 4D, took the module approach to offer further functionality, but most of those modules can be done without until you get into some of the more intensive application uses of the program. Very rarely do you find that you cannot do most of what you need with a program when you purchase it. I see no reason for DAZ to do what you suggest with software. People sure like to speculate. I know it's human nature. At least it is interesting to see people extrapolate some of the things they do. Cris