Attached Link: http://3d.daz3d.com/free/

I personally am thrilled to be part of the Bryce community. As we have been getting more involved with artists like Rochr and Orbital we are just so impressed with the talent and intelligence of almost everyone we have been dealing with. Our hats are off to all of you and we will work very hard not to disappoint you.

Thanks for all of your support, especially Kirk (AgentSmith). He is one of the Bryce community's most valuable assets. We're very pleased to be working with him and you.

Bryan Brandenburg
DAZ Officer

Bryce

1. Is the new render engine in Bryce from Studio or an optimized one from 5.0?
   A. It is just an optimization of the old engine. Renders are compared pixel by pixel

2. Will you be able to pose figures in Bryce?
   A. Yes. Selecting the figure in Bryce, will allow you to launch DAZ|Studio where you can make a variety of changes including morphs, posing and material settings. Selecting update will refresh the character in Bryce.

3. What will be in Bryce 5.5?
   A. The main features will be renders will be at least twice as fast. OpenGL real-time previews and robust support for DAZ content. There also a number of minor features including expanded import/export capabilities, better GUI and a next generation of content offerings.

4. Doesnt Bryce already have OpenGL?
   A. Yes, but only as a snapshot view. The new OpenGL capabilities will be real-time and will update with each frame of camera movement and so on.

5. Will Bryce 5.5 come with a manual?
   A. Yes. Both printed and electronic.

6. Will there be a sidegrade offer for Vue Users?
   A. Yes. For version 5.5.

7. Will there be an option with 5.5 or 6.0 for a boxed version with a manual?
   A. Yes. Both on 5.5 and 6.0.

8. Do you pay extra for the extra bundle if you dont already own Bryce?
   A. Yes.

9. Will Bryce Lightning by twice as fast too?
   A. It's not quite as much of an increase as a standalone system but we think we can get there before ship.

10. Will Bryce 6 be even faster?
    A. We are working with NVIDIA right now to ensure that 6.0 is of magnitude faster than 5.5.

11. Could there be an option to turn off ray tracing in preview mode?
    A. There already is.

12. Does twice as fast mean half as good?
    A. No. The algorithm is not being touched. The litmus test is a pixel by pixel comparison with sample renders.

13. Could you export Bryce scenes over to Vray renderer?
    A. Not currently.

14. Will the new Bryce behave more like Windows applications? i.e. The window will be restorable as well as not disabling XPs tool bar.
    A. Yes. This was a top priority.

3D Starter Bundle

1. When will the voucher expire?
   A. 30 days from the purchase. We are now offering a coupon instead of a voucher so it is good for Published Artist products as well as DAZ|Originals.

2. Do people that bought Bryce 5 get an upgrade path to 5.5 without the bundle?
   A. Yes. There will be an additional upgrade bundle available to owners of Bryce

3. What DAZ Originals are coming out?
   A. Mill Kids and Big Cats will be available in the next 30 days. Also there will be a number of other buyout products as well. This is less of an issue because we now are offering vouchers.

4. Is the Poser content available for everyone that buys the bundle, upgrade or not?
   A. The Poser content is available only to those that purchase the bundle.

5. What is the value of the low-res m3/v3?
   A. They will be available separately next week for $39.95.

6. What does the Poser 5 optimization mean?
   A. The low-res figures will have optimized materials settings.

7. How do we handle the 30 day money back guaranteed for Bryce buyers?
   A. Contact sales support to cancel your order, get a credit and purchase the bundle.

8. How will you validate the upgrade to ensure you own Bryce 5?
   A. As painlessly as possible.

9. Is there any overlap between the Bundle Content and Platinum Club Anniversary Pack?
   A. None whatsoever.

10. What is Tell-Ware?
    A. http://secure.daz3d.com/studio/#anchor3

11. How much memory do you save with the reduced resolution figures?
    A. Almost 70%.

12. What is the difference between the DAZ|Studio Starter bundle and the free content that comes with Studio?
    A. The free content that comes with DAZ|Studio is a subset of the DAZ|Studio Starter Bundle which includes M3 low-res as well as a number of other products.

13. What can be purchased and used with the lo-res models?
    A. Everything will work except morphs.

AS is a sexy asset :D

1. Will the new Bryce behave more like Window?s applications? i.e. The window will be restorable as well as not disabling XP?s tool bar. A. Yes. This was a top priority. This is almost worth the upgrade by itself :)

Very nice...I am Very Happy that You guys are actually doing something...OTHER Companies(We wont mention names)Just wanted to watch it shrivel up and Die... I am also Know that you are going to change many things... 1.Will we be able to see a LOW POLY modeler in Bryce6/7 with Gaming Export Options..? 2.How about the Ability to Sculpture our Mountains from the side in the Terrain Editor..? 3.How about the ability to Export our Textures made in the Texture Editor as Shaders in different Formats able to be read by Maya,Max,Lightwave...? 4.Can we by chance see a full blown Partical System by Version 7... 5.Can I have the winning Lottery Ticket Please... Thanks for the INFO...The other Companies didnt even really keep us up to date on what was Happenin...Thankyou again...

export of textures to other app including blender ;) would be great

I have a question about the OpenGL. On complicated scenes, the OpenGL slows my system down a bit (compared to wireframe). Will this new OpenGL (w/the textures added) slow it down even more? Also...do the lo-res M3 and V3 render realistically close-up or are they more for distance shots? (I'm not really up on the whole Poser scene...I barely use it.) Lastly, do I have to get 5.5 or can I wait for version 6 and still get an upgrade deal? Oh, one more, LOL. Will there be any problems opening files from Bryce 5 into newer versions? That's it for now, LOL. Thanks for taking time to address our questions. It's much appreciated. :)

What does that mean, I wonder... I sincerely hope you're not going to listen to the people who want some kind of Lightwave interface.

"...How about the Ability to Sculpture our Mountains from the side in the Terrain Editor...?" Holy crap! That's possibly the first time I've heard anyone ask for that! What a brilliant idea! Caves, overhangs.... the possibilities are endless. Me too please! :)

so.o.o.o...hard to extract just the info you want from so much......how much is it going to cost me to upgrade to 5.5 if I've recently bought Bryce from Daz? And I won't need to buy the content bundle? Does this answer my question "2. Do people that bought Bryce 5 get an upgrade path to 5.5 without the bundle? A. Yes. There will be an additional upgrade bundle available to owners of Bryce" ?

Who is this guy, lol ??? He does not even have a gallery !!! :P Anyways, thanks for stopping by, Bryan, lot of nice things are happeninig lately with Bryce, but like Jaymonjay said it, there is ONE SINGLE feature which would put Bryce beyond any other package and that's overhangs, and, as I know, no software can do it (in below 1000$ range), Terragen is going to have this fairly soon (next year) I think, all others still have good ol' height maps system, sucks big time !!! Thanks! :) P.S. How about posting some free stuff in your "My Free Stuff" section of your Renderosity page ? :)

"Better GUI...What does that mean, I wonder...
I sincerely hope you're not going to listen to the people who want some kind of Lightwave interface."

-Imho, I believe Bryce users will be quite happy with what DAZ has planned. Any further info on that will have to be tortured out of Bryan.

"...How about the Ability to Sculpture our Mountains from the side in the Terrain Editor...?"

-To do that (I believe), you are basically talking about direct mesh editing, or even...(my favorite), adding support for Displacement Maps, which I myself want for Bryce(6) so, SO bad...!

*Displacement maps are just grayscale images that actually change the geometry of the mesh during rendering, sorta like making a Bryce terrain, BUT displacement maps can be mapped Object Cubic, etc, and still affect the mesh, so it could affect the "sides" of a Bryce terrain.

(The main use for displacement maps right now are to give an amazing amount of detail to very low poly objects. ZBrush 2.0 is the best example of this, imo)

Thank you Bryan for announcing all of this!

AgentSmith

That's negative, AS, now the center of mayor attention is actually Cinema's 4D R9 sub-polygon displacement, that is it's coolest feature now, Z-Brush 2.0 is kind of old news, lol !

"Z-Brush 2.0 is kind of old news" Tell that to the guys creating the new King Kong movie with Peter Jackson. ;o) AS

There are a few types of Displacement out there, and yes, SPD is one of them. It all leads to the same process/effect, which is just absolutely cool. AS

I know, but I had to say it, lol !!! What I hate the most are modeling apps which are more expencive (or the same) then entire modeling/rendering/animating solutions !!! :)

Oh, I love C4d also, its a great package, and...it seems to be the package of choice for Bryce users in the past that have "expanded". (Once you're "in" Bryce...we never let you leave, lol) Maxon is really nice too, I bothered them at their booth somewhat, at Siggraph. One other big reason I would like to see displacement map support in B6 is just to have an expanded area of cross-use amongst programs. Meaning, it would be great if someone had produced a model that uses Displacement Maps to be able to render that model in Bryce. (or use it in conjuntion with Studio) I have crusied through ZBrush forums at Pixelogic, and users have shown that Bryce can already decipher and properly map their various maps to their ZBrush made model in Bryce. Bryce just couldn't use the displacement map as anything more than a bump map, as it is now. :o/ AS

"I have crusied through ZBrush forums at Pixelogic, and users have shown that Bryce can already decipher and properly map their various maps to their ZBrush made model in Bryce. Bryce just couldn't use the displacement map as anything more than a bump map, as it is now. :o/" I think that the "999" value is actually an attempt to use displacement maps in Bryce. And I can hardly wait for the new interface. I think what scott suggested wasn't a bad idea.

"1. When will the voucher expire? A. 30 days from the purchase. We are now offering a coupon instead of a voucher so it is good for Published Artist products as well as DAZ|Originals." It is good for Brokered Artists too?

Yep I would love to be able to Sculpt My Mountains from the side in The Terrain Editor then of course I would want to be able to use the LowPoly modeler to Modify the Mesh further like Making a OverHang then Putting a Wolf up on it and maybe I want the Castle in The Background to MELD into the Cliff overhang that I put into the Back of the scene and I want the Highest most Tower maybe leaning and looking a little EVIL...There has to be a way to put the Tools in that will let us just Brush away on the sides,Like we can on the Top... All of this without Importing and Exporting the scene from Truespace to Bryce then Back again...This would save me a Tremendous amount of Time and Money...The faster you can get a Project done the Quicker you make Money...

MONEY???? Is somebody making money with Bryce???? Other than the people selling it.

I really want to animate my Poser creations in Bryce. Is anyone working on that?

Will B5.5 have multi-threading capabilities,.....will it be able to utilize 2 proccesors ? A fair question for those of us fortunate enough to have such machines.

Thanks for this, Bryan!

Thank you for the updates Bryan!

What are sthe system req for 5.5 and 6 ? I'm running on a OS X ,G4 dual 450 32 mb ATI card, Gig of ram, also a XP pro, P3 dual Xeon, 32 mb card Gig,of ram ...Will I need to upgrade.. or can us with older machines still work .

I'm looking into C3, cause it seems to have what I may need, and will still run on my old system ( and its CHEAP ! ). Yet if Bryce5.5/6 can offer this I will wait for sure!

Oh will their be any UV mapping improvement as well ?

Thx!

Message edited on: 09/26/2004 02:57

astromerc, you'll be good to go, no problem...at all. Although those are quite powerful systems to have just 32mb video cards? Bigger/better video cards mean you can more easily push wireframes around on your screen. But, hey no real criticism. I used to run Bryce 4 on a P1 200mhz, 32mb sdram, and a 1mb video card. (yes...1mb) It worked...just real slow, lol. AS

"MONEY???? Is somebody making money with Bryce????" Yes. I've really only had 4 paying gigs so far, but yeah, lol. I'm sure there are others doing more/better than that. AS

"MONEY???? Is somebody making money with Bryce????" Yes. I've really only had 4 paying gigs so far, but yeah, lol. I'm sure there are others doing more/better than that. I'm making 3D models for a computergame in bryce :) payment depends on the profit of the project so I might make a few hundreds of dollars, and if it works good even more then a thousand, but if it don't work I've got the risk of getting very little or even nothing. But I don't mind 'cause with the freedom I've got on the project it doesn't really feel like work at all! :)

Thanks for the info Bryan. It sometimes gets a bit tiring going through all the various threads at places, so its great that you came and gave us an update on where things stand at this time.