Since I started trying to use Arboro myself I've seen various people both here and at 3DC having problems getting both this and now POV-tree and PoseRay running. I'm learning on the hoof with this and am often only one step ahead in getting it to work at all but I wondered if people here would like me to try and post some screenshots of how I've got it to work, even if it doesn't end up being the same for others (yeah Rayraz... I gather you can't get Java to download at all and probably need a lot more information before I could get to grips with that, if at all ;) Is that ok to do here? Are people interested? I know it's not Bryce but certainly my motivation comes from wanting decent trees in my Bryce images. And 'hi' by the way, I introduced myself once before but probably so long ago I should say hi again and I know some of you will know me from 3DC.

You may have a different version of Java to the one showing in my screen shot. I'm play java based games sometimes and have to do some juggling between Sun and Microsoft versions of Java.

Attached Link: Erlik's freeware thread

Then to Pose Ray (thanks to Erlik - see linked URL)

I've no idea if this is essential, nor if having POV ray is essential, but it got rid of the warning message on the bottom of my screen and it meant I could get a preview of the model once I loaded it.

Hope that helps somebody and the graphics illustrations are not too big. Once you have your obj you can import to Bryce as usual. I found smoothing this olive tree in Bryce took about half an hour so it's a bit of a long process.

Cool. How big is the tree? I've got a tree created in Xfrog that takes almost half an hour to import.

Here's the downside. This olive was 65,454KB and it has no leaves. Most of my Arboro trees are actually smaller than that but as this is the first time I've had a chance to work with POV tree since your link to PoseRay I don't know if I can get better than that. Still, I really like the effect, even without leaves.

Thats an awesome tree!

From Arbaro it's far easier, select File->Export tree, change export format to Wavefront Obj, provide a place to save the file and select go, wait for a (long) while. And you're done!

Yes, sorry, the reference to Arboro was that Bea had asked in the previous thread about how to get something to open in Java rather than keep trying to unpack itself in WinRar.

I've got arboro on the Mac, and can never get beyond 1% when trying to Render or Export a tree. I it go for 2 hours once and it never moved beyond 1%.

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Abraro works fine for me,........I'm using it on a P4 2.4(Prescott) with 2GB's of DDR400 running WinXP pro. I have managed to export all the stock tree examples that come with it(except for The Larch,.........The Larch), I haven't tried messing with making my own trees yet. This app worked far better after I got the latest Java update.

@Gog- I have found that Arbaro tends to "hang" when exporting complex models in .obj format. The .dxf export seems to go a lot faster and since neither of those formats exports with materials, unlike the "native" POV, it doesn't really matter. Normally I would choose .obj export in any other app 'cause it handles UV's and .dxf doesn't. Luckily the leaves and trunk export as separate parts.

@Kathye-You did a nice job of explaining the process so that it is less intimidating to someone who might be adventurous enough to take on a Java-based modeling app for the first time.:-) Me? As usual I just bludgeoned and tinkered my way through, figuring out what I needed to know to get this thing to work lol.

Aye, it's really good to have you with us Kathye! Your expertise in this and other areas is a great boon to the community... I finally got Java to take over in place of PowerArchiver (if you haven't seen it, it's simply the most powerful .zip/.rar program available and free to use)... So now I'm off to make some killer trees! And just in time, too. I think we're all just about sick of the Treelab by now, it's very limited and has never looked natural to me. One thing I might add : If you want to use the Treelab in conjunction with such things, or with anything else, one way to rig it is to go into your modeler (Rhino, Wings, whatever...) and import your tree file. Now make a small sphere, and place it where you would like the Treelab tree to "grow" from, like on a bare branch or trunk top. Duplicate this sphere, and set it back so that the second sphere and the first form your orientation, or the direction you'd like your tree to grow. Now import the whole thing into Bryce, and select your first sphere. Convert the sphere using the Edit Palette's convert "arrow" to a Treelab tree. Then simply go into the treelab tree's Attribute dialogue, and Target the tree on it's -y axis to our second sphere, and then BOOM! You've got treelab-style greenery/branches exactly where you need them...! (just a side-note, really, sorry if it's too OT) You know what's weird, after thinking on and typing tree so many times, the word sure seems strange now... (grins) T-R-E-E? WHAT?!?!

That's a cool idea Lordstormdragon. The only problem I can see is that the edit palette's convert "arrow" only seems to work with Bryce native stuff; such as planes, lattices, terrains, 2d objects, primitives, trees and lights. The computer I'm checking this on only has Bryce4 on it, but I don't remember Bryce5 having this ability with imported meshes either. I'd be gleefully happy to be wrong in this case,lol.

Aye, Danamo, you're correct about the limitations. Bryce 5 merely allows for Treelab trees and Meat-balls, as well... I was only referring to positioning and orienting Treelab trees with some degree of accuracy. The roots might still pose a problem, but we've also created workarounds for that. Every time I open Bryce I'm amazed at the insane possibilities, the nearly limitless chance to create our own unique worlds and SEE them. There are workarounds for just about anything, we merely need harness our creativity. That's what this thread and forum are all about. It's good stuff! SO, here's the workaround for importing mesh objects and placing them via the above method. Do all of those steps, but simply use a cone or pyramid in place of the Treelab tree. Now, select your cone (oriented to Target the second sphere on the -y axis, of course) and "Copy Matrix". Then select the mesh object you want to put there and "Paste Matrix". The matrix in question is the Attribute Panel "Transform" matrix, which includes rotational orientation but DOESN'T include Parenting and Targeting selections... I put all of the torches and flags onto my latest castle using this method, using "placer" boxes in Rhino so that the torches would meet up with the walls precisely, down to the millimeter... And it was much faster for Rhino to export simpel cubes, as well as for Bryce to import all of them. Time lost in duplicating the initial Torch and Flag objects was regained with this method, and of course I only had one instance of the Torch in my Rhino folders instead of all 51 taking up hard drive space in both Rhino and Bryce.

Thanks Danamo, Lordstormdragon. I was hoping it would be helpful to someone and I must admit to a certain self interest that the more people who use this stuff the more the knowledge base of what can be done will grow and it will mean more trees and more variety to trees :) I've only learned Bryce by being able to ask questions and get help and whenever I try and learn a program where not many people use it I get stumped and can't move on. The author of Arboro did thankfully reply to my question to him after a day or two so I could move on with that after I'd hit a serious hitch. My biggest problem with Arboro so far is that sometimes after whirring for half an hour or an hour I'll still end up with an .obj file that is 0Kb. Now I will go back and see if .inc is any better knowing I can convert. Very useful tip Lordstormdragon! I've used tree lab foliage once before on a mesh trunk and you're right, placing them was a nightmare. The worse nightmare was that having turned the trunks transparent then used a volumetric fog cube to enclose the whole scene I got a whole mess of artefacts. But, it was a start and tree lab foliage IS very nice, just the trunks that suck.

Very useful tip there Lordstormdragon, and an excellent work-around! I must confess that in all the time I've used Bryce,(since Bryce2) I've never used the copy or paste matrix functions. As you say, there are "insane possibilities" in Bryce,lol.

I finally got it, and here's a quicky... Only drawback is the massive polygon count, which is easily fixed with Polytrans or Crossroads... These four slightly-custom trees topped out at 750K polys, which is a bit much for just four trees, but the detail is definitely there. I love it! But, I also ran into possible UV-mapping errors. I couldn't get textures to stick to the leaves or trunk, but they were image-based textures and not procedurals. I finally settled on some simple procedurals to get through my test. I'm certain that any errors involved have more to do with my POV-Tree and Ray use than with any inherent bugs in either. Thanks, Kathye! I am no longer frustrated with POV-Tree or Ray...!

SO is POV tree a worthwhile D/L?

From where I can download this prog of tree ?

Attached Link: POV tree here.

Excellent looking tree you got there. Hmm, I may have to learn UV mapper sooner than I thought perhaps. I have dabbled in there a couple of times and scared myself out ;) Gog, I'd say it depends on your tolerance for very high poly counts, how much you want highly detailed closeup tree models etc. I have only ever seen this good closeup detail on Arboro and XFrog. As XFrog is $399 and the other two are free I'd say there's quite a lot going for it ;) I've taken my Arboro trees through a round of polygon reduction in Cinema4D to good effect too so there is hope. Alexsm I've attached a link for POV tree

Just have seen this thread and thought as a POV-Ray and POV-Tree user I could contribute. The link to Gena Obukhov's page,author of POV-Tree is: http://propro.ru/go See workshop/tools for the latest version 1.5. The link in Kathye's message points to the previous version 1.4. If anybody should be interested there is an image with lots of POV-Trees in my gallery (palms are not POV-Trees but all others are): http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=914565&Start=1&Artist=gerberc&ByArtist=Yes I didn't try Arboro yet so I can't say which one is better with respect to plygon count, but that isn't an issue with POV-Ray anyway :-) Regards, Christoph

That picture is absolutely amazing Christoph. I'm still awed by anyone being able to create such beauty whilst writing code. POV Ray was the first program to interest me in 3D art but after only one download and installation I could tell it was beyond me. Thankfully I found Bryce and start with that. Thanks for correcting my link. I had got 1.5 for myself but when I couldn't find it again I thought the later version must have been taken down. I'm renowned for not being able to find what's in front of my nose ;)

@Christoph- I totally agree with Kathye about your pic, and everyone should do themselves a favor and check it out! It is as impressive as nearly anything I have seen come out of Vue Infinite. I really am going to have to give POVray another look. :-)

Where do I get Arboro?

Attached Link: Arbaro tree-making app.

Here you go butterfly fish.

Thank you!! :-)

You're Welcome :-)

Yeah, whatever. Nobody cared about my stupid tree picture. Blah. (grins anyway)

Wow! That's a great tree picture, lordstormdragon!! ;-)

(feh!)