Hmmm, AS posted the "play nice" post before I got here. Hmmm, I'll try.

Yoro said: Sad to say, but tell me one good reason (except the price) why not moving to Vue? The price. And the fact that what you read was E-on's promo material. There have been many complaints about thoose amazing features not living up to the hype.

DAZ bought Bryce, among other reasons, to make 3D easy and accessible. This has been their operating strategy since I stumbled across them, and it's held out over time. Despite what some say. Bryce is cheap, powerful, fun and easy to use. Many people are introduced to 3D thru Bryce, or poser which doesn't count because 98% of poser pics are a person in front of a photo, not real 3D. Many, many people have spent years honing their artistic talents with Bryce before moving on to "pro" apps. Many of them still return to Bryce from time to time, because it's enjoyable.

"To bring 3D to the masses!" Despite having had only one, controversial, half-upgrade in all these years, despite being severely out featured, despite running on decade old code, Bryce still has this strong of a user base, and this forum, the Bryster's Forum, the second most popular forum here on 'osity. Hands down the friendliest 3D forum anywhere, anytime, anyhow.

And here's something to think about. That ultra-mega-click-a-button-have-a-forest-with-trees-and-scrub-and-a-stream-with-a-waterfall, $600 app that Bryce "had better catch up with, or else, but don't cost $600 for heavens sake", just released a stripped down, feature bare, $100 version. Why? Surely not to compete with Bryce?

D|S integration? Right now it's tacked on. When DAZ gets it fully integrated, I'd like to think it'll be like the disc primitive, never used, but there if its needed. I still use poser for most of my figure work, but when you need 40 skeletons in a Bryce scene, you can't beat slapping them in from D|S. As I am forced by my own laziness into using D|S more, I'll become more comfortable with it's interface, and it could possibly replace poser in my workflow.

Bryce as a poser offset? One of the determining factors of DAZ's decision to purchase Bryce was the fact that a huge number of poser users, use Bryce for rendering, and a huge number of Bryce users get a large amount of their scene content from poser. The two programs have been used together since the get go, what DAZ is doing, is to simplify the process using their own app. You will notice the Studio button in Bryce, Studio only has a Bryce button if it was launched from Bryce. Thats called a one way street.

100 minor upgrades/improvements, 2 major changes, 6 million complaints. Hey DAZ, thanks for fixing it so that imported objects come in at the right size. Thanks for the extra preview modes. Thanks for the sometimes faster renders, and the huge Studio button. Thanks for making it take a double-click to stop a render. And thanks for the effort you've put into getting Bryce back in the game, because the user base couldnt hold it up forever.

If nothing else, Bryce 5.5 and Studio 1 have forced the other players in 'hobbyist' level 3D, to rethink and re-examine their position. Curious Labs now sees, on the horizon, the first competitor for its poser market, ever. E-on and he others are coming to realize the vastness of the 'hobbiest' market. They might have the features for now, but D|S is free, and Bryce is inexpensive, and DAZ has the brand recognition and market share. "Good enough to get it done."

Pumeco - Hard to believe, but some of what you said, I agree with somewhat.

Master Phil - just wanted to call you that. Oh, you're right, pessimistic, but right.

Drac - drac, drac...

AS - see, ok so far.

Yoro - you are an amazing artist. You would no doubt be an amazing artist with whatever app you choose to use. No one can tell you what app is best for you. To paraphrase something Master Phil once said, "Sad as it is, it's possible you've outgrown Bryce." Of course, hes still here.