Attached Link: Link

Wow! Reading down the list makes this an even greater bargain and must-have-"faster rendering" and "3Delight Renderman compliant Renderer". Guess this means you can use displacement maps in the new Bryce now, Wooo Hooo!

($29.95) I...think there is more involved?
(I'm still reading it myself)

5.5 is going into alpha testing. DAZ is still aiming for a release "in the fall".

AS

Message edited on: 09/18/2004 04:24

AS you're a master at understatement! This is BIG news! :D Thanks for posting it. yeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

They are saying that you can get the starter bundle for $99.95 this is a non platinum club price and this includes: Bryce 5 full version
3D starter content
turbo Import Plugin
$30 coupon towards Bryce 5.5
1 month membership for Platinum clud
$15 coupon becomes $30 if you order before Sept 27
If you already have Bryce 5 then you can get the upgrade bundle but without Bryce 5 for $59.95 (thats the non platinum club price)
Some people on the DAZ forum are questioning what happens if you have most of this already - does this mean you will have to pay full price for the Bryce 5.5? The answer seems to be apparently so :(
I think the $29.95 starter content comprises :
2 premade scenes ready to Load and render
Optimized Materials for DAZ Studio
Optimized Materials for Poser 4
V3 and M3 Reduced Resolution Figures
Clothing hairstyles Morphs Maps and Props
Millenium Cat LE
Millenium Dog LE
Millenium Dragon LE
Milenium Gorilla LE
360 degree Millenium Environment including:
trees
plants
background
lighting

Message edited on: 09/18/2004 04:53

Message edited on: 09/18/2004 04:55

I think they've phrased it a bit confusingly.

Well I'm pleased to see that Daz are developing Bryce but I'm going to be VERY cautious until I see what the 5.5 upgrade is like! If the OGL viewport and faster renderer is using the same technology as DazStudio I won't be rushing to upgrade as I've found Studio to be apallingly slow. Nothing I've seen from the renderer has impressed me so far either. There's no upgrade path for existing Bryce owners apart from this 3d starter offer. There's nothing in this bundle that I want and it only promises $30 off the Bryce5.5 price. This immediately makes me think "if they're offering $30 off what is the full price going to be?!" If they have made substantial improvements to Bryce I'll probably upgrade but I'm certainly not putting a downpayment on it without seeing what I'll be getting! - Baz

Well, I bought the bundle and have an extra copy of Bryce 5 for my kids, but I only could download one thing from the list before Daz went dead. Anybody else has no access to daz? Warning: mysql_pconnect(): Can't create a new thread (errno 35). If you are not out of available memory, you can consult the manual for a possible OS-dependent bug in /home/store/store.daz3d.com/func.dat on line 7 Warning: mysql_select_db(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in /home/store/store.daz3d.com/func.dat on line 8 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/store/store.daz3d.com/func.dat:7) in /home/store/store.daz3d.com/cookie.dat on line 81

So just to summarize, Bryce 5.5 will be coming out near the end of the year. It will include: ? Faster Rendering Speed ? DAZ Studio Compatibility ? Open GL Texture Mapped Real Time Display We have just started the Alpha Testing and wanted to give ourselves time to ship a valuable upgrade to Bryce 5. Order your 3D Starter Bundle today and start using Bryce 5 right away. Then when Bryce 5.5 comes out, your already ahead of the game and you get to apply your $30 coupon(2) against this new product. This is the only upgrade available to Bryce 5.5. And remember, weve priced this bundle so that Bryce 5, the Turbo Importer and the $30 coupon are FREE! Yes, we are absolutely nuts! Wait, am I reading this right? the only way to upgrade to Bryce 5.5 is to get their whole bundle? Yeah, watch me not be a happy bunny. Drac

Well, I believe it's wise to wait a little bit. I usually hate special offers and sales (buy 2, take 3), specially when made on a future speculation: has anyone of you tryed the beta of Brice 5.5? I personally am curious about how the new number crunching (render) engine works, more than additional features like openGL and interface redesign. Since we all are waiting for a new Bryce, there is a risk of buyng items we may not need, caught by the entuxiastic idea of owning new Bryce . But, we have a great power as customers: if we can resist a little bit, there will sure be a suitable offer for old Bryce 5 (or 4) ownwers. /matteo

The other part of the offer not mentioned here yet, is $25.00 coupon good on any DAZ original; which is doubled to $50.00 if you buy before Sept 27th. If you might buy something from DAZ, this is a pretty good offer. You do not have to buy the full bundle to get the $30.00 upgrade coupon. If you already have Bryce 5, then get the Upgrade Bundle which includes the $30.00 upgrade coupon. I already have most of the content that is offered; but since I am a Platinum Club member, I will spend approx $41.97 and get $80.00 worth of coupons which I can use. Plus, in the bundle you get a free month of PC membership. Which is a way to buy any item in the PC for $1.99. Some of the items are a very good buy at that price.

I'm getting a bit confused here... do I need this bundle to be able to buy bryce 5.5 later?? will bryce 5.5 come in a bundle like this? or can I just wait for the 5.5 release then buy 5.5 and 5.5 alone without a bundle of crap I dont need?

Here's what DAZ's website says: "The only way to get version 5.5 at an upgrade rate is to purchase this bundle." I see this as an ongoing trend in DAZ's Bryce support. I, myself will not support companies who leverage some of their products to force others on me that I would never purchase otherwise. I think giving out a discount for purchasing another product is possibly fair, but forcing an upgrade price only by purchasing a different program is unacceptable. I've used Bryce since the first PC version was released, but I'll stay with Bryce 5 and continue to upgrade Vue, thank you.

Message edited on: 09/18/2004 09:32

Everything listed under B5 is already in B5. Everything listed under Turbo Importer is what turbo importer does. Everything listed under Daz Studio is what DS does. There is nothing new for Bryce in this Bundle. There is a bunch of content, that will need to be brought into Bryce via DS and Turbo Importer. Personally I think the long term Bryce user and long term DAZ customer are getting the short end of this deal. Even those who purchased Bryce and Turbo Importer from DAZ are getting the short end of this one.

I rather pay the full B5.5 price then buy a bundle of software I dun need...

Well I think it is a great deal. I got the complete bundle for 64 dollars (used vouchers, including the PC newsletter coupon of 5$). I got another copy of Bryce for my work PC or one of my kids. I got another month of PC membership. I got the coupon for Bryce 5.5. I got the Daz content (V3 and M3 LR where not released prior, the dog, cat,dragon etc. all LR) and other content (available in a week). Plus a 50$ coupon valid on original items AND Platinum Club items. Most of the original things I had, but I got for this 50 bucks almost 20 PC items I didn't have plus the new dragon armour. Too bad they have the server trouble and downloading takes ages.

Oooh! Ahhh! That's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming. I love Bryce, but I'm not so keen on it that I'm going to tie myself up with all this 'endlessly buying shit' game again. This is what I was on about earlier during all the honeymoon happiness with Bryce having a new owner. The new owner is DAZ, and 'endlessly selling shit' is what DAZ does. That's great for the 'doll collecting' world that forms the majority of the Poser/Studio user base, but I bet it doesn't sit well with most of the 'traditional' Bryce user base. This is the future of Bryce now, with every little development wrapped up in clubs and bundles and other baroque methods of extracting cash for something that isn't actually that big a deal. Bryce "5.5" consists, from the users point of view, of some tweaks (with the biggest interest obviously being the faster rendering). It's just a point update, not even an upgrade, yet they're charging the full whack (unless, of course, you spend even more money with them on other stuff). DAZ are going to piss about with Bryce like this and make it part of their regular revenue pump. They'll make it appeal to the types who buy the 'Girl' and the 'Girl' textures and the 'Girl' morphs and the 'Girl' poses and the 'Girl' clothing pack and the 'Girl' clothing pack textures and the 'Girl' hair and fifty seven related 'Girl' packages (and before you can breath out comes 'Girl2'..........). They'll love it, and they'll love paying for it. Again and again - a lot of the time for what they already have. Good luck to them (and DAZ too). For the rest of us, Bryce might as well have died at Corel. It's time to start casting around for another route. This looks bloody interesting for 170 quid: http://www.e-onsoftware.com/Products/vue5/ And just a couple of weeks to go.

Well I am going to think very hard about the starter pack..I just happen to have some coupons still valid at Daz, so for me it is very affordable, and seems quite good contents. I don't think Daz is so much promoting poser as promoting Daz studio, becuae they did ssay whe they first started on it that eventually you would be able to pose figures and set up scenes within DS...thus doing away with the need for poser.

The only thing new for Bryce at the end of the year will be the faster renderer and the OpenGL TEXTURE preview which will use your graphics card to display. IOW yes Bryce has OpenGL mode but without the textures, it sounds like this will be almost in game mode. Will have to wait and see.

Wish I had the money right now but am short. Oh and RonF the letter in the e-mail states "The only way not to pay full price for version 5.5 is to purchase this bundle. " So yes you can get the upgrade without buying the bundle but you'll pay the full upgrade price and not get the $30 off. Now from that statement it makes it almost sound like you have to buy the full 5.5 version even if you have Bryce 5 already but I doubt that is how it's going to be. More than likely if you don't have Bryce yet you can buy the full 5.5 version or if you do there will be an upgrade price.

Message edited on: 09/18/2004 12:31

Well I use Bryce sinse 1999, started with Bryce 4 and I use Poser sinse 2000. Sometimes I use them together, so I am not a Bryce purist, but I am very happy with Bryce as well as Poser, as well as the stuff I bought at Daz. I think Mike 3 and David for example are great products. Not too keen on the girl either as I am so much in toons, but to say Daz is 'endlessly selling shit'? I rather give them a chance and wait for the upgrade, before I hover to E-on. By the way, I also have Vue 4. Never use it...

"Now from that statement it makes it almost sound like you have to buy the full 5.5 version even if you have Bryce 5 already but I doubt that is how it's going to be." That's exactly how it's going to be, Aldaron. Steve Kondris (DAZ) wrote: __________________________ The $30 discount on Bryce 5.5 is just an added bonus to this product [starter bundle]. The decision for the lack of the Bryce 5.5 upgrade pricing is a separate decision. As we're not the original owners of Bryce 5, we don't have the revenue generated from the last full release to help sustain upgrade pricing. __________________________ Amazing.

Now this really pisses me off >:(. I bought Bryce knowing there would be upgrades...but NOT have to pay full price :O, when there is only going to be a couple fixes.....grrrrrrrrrr. If you get 30.00 coupon, good god what is the upgrade price gonna be????? Another $$$50-100. I already own the FULL versions of 80% of what's being offered in this bundle...so I'm screwed >:(. I have NO intention of using Daz Studio EVER!!! Guess I'll be sticking with Vue and learn Bryce in my spare time. DAMN DAMN DAMN.

Weird. I'll start saving up my pennies in any case.

DAZ has stated that there will be no upgrade price to 5.5 for anyone. If you buy one of these bundles they have available now, you can get 30 dollars off whatever the price of 5.5 is when it is released, but that's it. Their reasoning is that they haven't made enough money off of Bryce to justify an upgrade price. I don't necessarily fault them for this but it is disappointing. I begin to suspect that PJF is correct about the future of Bryce. So for those that recently purchased Bryce from DAZ, they will have to buy it again (most likely at a higher price). This isn't sitting too well with a few people posting at the DAZ site. In the past, DAZ has sometimes backed down on things like this if enough people get pissed about it. However, if you have Bryce 5 from Corel, expect that you will be paying the full price (or 30 bucks off) for 5.5. Of course that 30 dollars off will cost you 60 dollars (42 if you are a Platinum Club member) TC

Ok hang on, hang on, hang on: True or false? This is how it works: I get a $30 discount on Bryce 5.5 because I bought the DAZ edition of Bryce 5. Someone help me out here.

Moongoat, no. You get the $30 off if you buy one of the bundles being currently offered. If you don't, then when 5.5 comes out you will pay whatever they are charging. That may change in the future but that's what the DAZ folk are saying at this time. TC

Grrrrr... those dang corporate weasels always cheating us out of what we need to survive! I bryced for 7 hours yesterday.

I'm completely confused!!!!!!!!!!!! ;) Cheers GG

The more bryce's progres seems to turn on me the more I feel like going into landscape modelling with Mojoworld.. at least there's developement there! And it's also marketed towards the usercommunity for very decent price. I hate buying bundled computerproducts, I even buy seperate parts of hardware instead of a complete system (my laptop being an exception there, but then again, I have the strong feeling that my laptop is by far not worth what I payed for it, considering that the wireless network card sucks and that I don't have access to all the settings in windows or other programs installed on it 'cause the assholes put passwords on everything and the fact that within a year it's broken.)

Let me guess: NetGear wireless networking card reading from a linksys broadcaster?

Another weird thing...in the PDF it says the upgrade to Bryce will have openGL....WTF....it already has this capability. I feel the screws tightening. ~eye roll~

Jeez people...our program has layed in a coffin for how long? A company comes along and completely rescues it, re-instates MAC support, immediately offers and starts work on perfecting the one giant bitch Bryce/Poser users have had since both programs exsisted, they announce and start work on two NEW versions of Bryce, and all this after them spending what must/might be miilion(s)(?)...you balk at the thought of them wanting to make money off of it? After they have owned B5 for how long? At $60?! Companies who have bought a new program won't offer upgrades prices to a new version, especially when the old version sells for $60. If you don't want B5.5 for less with DAZ's offer, then buy B5.5 at full price. Simple as that. And, if you don't want to use Bryce anymore, and would rather vilify it, then please use the other programs, and rant in thier forums. I'm dissapointed in some of you in this thread. AgentSmith

"in the PDF it says the upgrade to Bryce will have openGL....WTF....it already has this capability" Have you tried B5's OpenGL? (yuck) Have you seen DAZ Studios BEAUTIFUL OpenGL? No? Well, there ya go. ;o) AS

Ditto.

Whatever they do has to be an improvment from a piece of software that was soon to become history. I originally worked in "Aldus PhotoStyler" with after many changes got eaten up and integrated into what is now PhotoShop. (me loves PhotoShop) If you're not satisfied, hang tight for awhile, do what you're doing, and it'll get better for sure. At Least it's still alive!! Enjoy

I'm "still" completely confused!!!!!!!!!! Cheers 8) GG.

AS.....I use openGL in other proggies not DS. Also, I don't think people are "vilifying" Bryce. It's more on how Daz is doing this whole thing, that has me miffed. I already own 80-90% of what's in the bundle, and not the LE versions the FULL versions....why in the world would ANYBODY want to buy all this stuff 2x just to save 30.00 on Bryce upgrade...I mean in the grand scheme of things 30.00 isn't a whole a lot of money(well to some its a lot). I have no hatred for ANY software by the way. Of course, I can see how this would be a great offer for those who are just getting started in the 3d world.

Good point dlk. You should see if there would be some sorta break you and others could get for already owning all that. Hey, I sometimes sweat over spending $30, lol! AS

Yes, DAZ's packaging options are complex at first. Yet...take a step back and think about it, imagine ALL the software companies that could own Bryce...do you not think they would offer some kind of combo package of Bryce and their own product? `Course they would. That's all DAZ is doing. Yes, sucks that their is no straight upgrade price from 5.0 to 5.5, but again, DAZ hasn't had say a year or so of making money off of it at $250 a pop. At least we are seeing developement in Bryce. ;o/ And...perhaps faster rendering isn't enough for some of you to buy a new Bryce, then wait. I did. I din't buy Bryce 5 until like 6-8 months after it came out. I think we need a win B5.5 contest....with multiple winners... AS

"I'm dissapointed in some of you in this thread." Well, tough. If you feel closer to DAZ than you do to the principle of Renderosity Bryce Forum members debating their concerns about Bryce, maybe you should consider your position. Frankly your post goes beyond disappointing. It is astonishing. "Companies who have bought a new program won't offer upgrades prices to a new version..." And silly.

I just guess you first wait and see the coming/packaging/pricing of Bryce 5.5 and don't kill it beforehand. "The new owner is DAZ, and 'endlessly selling shit' is what DAZ does". "For the rest of us, Bryce might as well have died at Corel. It's time to start casting around for another route. This looks bloody interesting for 170 quid: http://www.e-onsoftware.com/Products/vue5/" That is not "debating concerns about Bryce", it is burying it, before it had a chance.

Message edited on: 09/18/2004 14:41

And, if anyone feel closer to Vue then to Bryce, then as I suggested...their gallery and forum awaits you. DAZ is supporting Bryce and their users. I will support them and this forum, as I ALWAYS have. AgentSmith

"Companies who have bought a new program won't offer upgrades prices to a new version, especially when the old version sells for $60." If I'm going to be quoted, I would appreciate it if I wasn't edited to fit a different agenda. My point...well, has a point, lol. Thanks. AgentSmith

I don't mind them making money off of Bryce. I've had the Corel version of B5 for several years and don't mind paying for 5.5 (depending on the final price of course: if it goes for $300+ like B5 originally came out then I'll likely pass). I expect that it will probably be in the $100 range. That doesn't mean I wouldn't prefer an upgrade path, I just understand why there isn't one. I also hope (and expect) that there will be an upgrade path for B6. I do think that the content bundles are only a good deal for someone just starting. I don't see much advantage in those for longtime DAZ customers or for people who are Bryce only. I also think that if I had just recently bought Bryce from DAZ that I would not be happy at all with the prospect of paying full price for 5.5 sometime in the next 3 months. I suspect that there will be some kind of consideration for those people when the uproar really gets going. TC

I have NO inside information to the full price of B5.5 But, with Mjoworld and Vue going for $250...I can guesstimate. Still, If I had spent $60 for DAZ's Bryce 5, and then had to spend say $100-$150 for Bryce 5.5, that would feel about right. especially if it was only $100, lol. ;o) AS

I hope there IS consideration Yewston...as I fall into that category as well. Past 3 months buying Bryce from Daz, the intial offering was irresistible. And Yewston...the uproar is already going full steam ahead ;) LOL

I would like to side with agentsmith on this. 60 bux for a 250 full version program is a steal. It has been since DAZ bought it. what will be in the version? we will see. bryce does have open gl now..but it DOES NOT SHOW TEXTURES in this mode. I would like to point something out here tho..open gl will not read a negative item (like boolean) so take that for what its worth. Only a raytracer can do that...well, maybe not "only", but open gl cant. What will they charge for a new version? who knows. I wont debate what they charge. This program isnt dead...3 months ago, I was ready to shut my site down completely. In fact, when DAZ contacted me about what was going on...I wasnt interested at all in talking to them until they told me the whole scoop. Now I am totally happy with their decisions and current handling of Bryce. Poser is the #1 program used with Bryce. It should be able to mix easily..and daz studio will be a version of poser on steroids (eventually), so of course they want their program to be stressed in its handling. they are addressing a very big concern...render time. I havent seen it, and couldnt speak about it if I had, but at least they are. And corel was the ones who slowed it down even slower than it was back in the b4 days. They have to fix that and then move on. I ask you all to have some patience. Daz is a company and they have a lot of employees..who, like you, dont drive around in limos to work. They are just average people just trying to get by. Ive met them. Its easy to call them names when you havent seen a person eye-to-eye. BT

"Still, If I had spent $60 for DAZ's Bryce 5, and then had to spend say $100-$150 for Bryce 5.5, that would feel about right. especially if it was only $100, lol. ;o)"

and

"60 bux for a 250 full version program is a steal. It has been since DAZ bought it."

I think that it is a matter of perspective. You guys have invested a lot more time and money in Bryce then people just starting with it. I paid about $200 for B4 quite a while ago and $100 for the upgrade to B5 back when it was released. So after 4(?) years it wouldn't be a big deal to buy 5.5 at a reasonable price.

I've been using Truespace and have paid for little point upgrades several times so I'm kind of used to it.

However, If I had never used a 3D program or was a Poser user who had just bought Bryce from DAZ, I would be a little ticked if 3-6 months later I had to buy the same program at a higher price to get a faster renderer.

I would bet that the majority of people who purchased Bryce from DAZ thought that they would be getting some kind of deal when upgrades came out.

As for OpenGL, it's pretty, but as Brycetech points out, it will be useless for boolean modeling. It's clearly aimed at the Poser users.

TC

I am siding with AgentSmith and Brycetech on this too....
The arguments here are quite pointless so far.... just seems to be a reason for unhappy people to complain.... after all "Misery loves company!"

BRYCE WAS DEAD!!!.... Now that another company (DAZ) has it and is developing it further.... I would think that anything new and any steps forward are positive. I also would think that the folks in this forum would be excited about seeing any kind of progress.

'Nuff said.

Onward DAZ

Message edited on: 09/18/2004 16:41