To me, Bryce is the perfect hobbyist tool. It's got everything you need to export your inspiration unto 2D. However I feel that I'm slowly moving away from the hobbyist level and on to something a bit more professional. I wouldn't go as far as C4D, 3DSMax or Lightwave, because I'd never want to go THAT pro. In my mind there's a number of mid-range apps that have the things I'm looking for (GI, HDRI support, better modelling tools, etc). These are Truespace, Vue and, surprisingly enough since a couple of nights ago, Carrara. I've downloaded the Carrara 5 demo and I have to say that it's THE easiest transition tool from Bryce to something better. I've gotten used to 40-50% of the interface in a matter of hours, even some of the controls are identical to those of Bryce. Texturing is dead-easy, perfectly reasonable in terms of logic and looks, with everything you need including displacement maps. The tree lab doesn't give you headaches, etc. Let me post up some screenshots, so you guys can get an idea :) drac

general look

textures

render screen

terrain editor

tree lab, with advanced thing on

modelling

oh and btw, that scene you see in the first post? it took 5 minutes to render. thanks, drac

interesting, first thought is , are you on a percentage, hah ha. but really this does look fascinating. i've been looking for something up a stage from Bryce. Think i'll check out some Tuts.

i'm a daz brokered artist. i get a percentage out of everything :D drac

Heretic!

As far as the similarities to Bryce go, I believe at one time Carrara was also a product of MetaCreations. And how long would that test scene take to render if you had the "Full Raytracing" turned on? :^)

Initially Carrara was "Ray Dream", and then "Ray Dream Studio", and then after version 5.whatever Metacreations kinda broke down and sold everything. Which is how Corel ended up with Bryce, and Poser went to Curious Labs... Carrara is loosely based on Ray Dream, although I doubt they share any code at all nowadays! Looking good, Mr. Draculaz. Keep at it!

I tried Truespace 3 out a few years back.........well at least 6 years and still found Bryce easier to work with....however, i have had emails from them telling me how much it has changed but still felt loyal to Bryce...looking at this however, it seems that its setups have changed considerably......might check out their download after all! Nice modeling Drac....But hey!! it doesnt matter what you use, it still has the professional look to it......are you on planning to use this instead of Wing3D??????..Mmmmmm Happy modeling!! ;)

re: post 7 .... at least in bryce the sphere comes prebuilt and ready to use .... you don't have to make one. But keep at it... I'm sure you'll have a sphere you can use in carrara one of these days :p

Seriously though, I hope you do take a step up in modellers/renderer/programs - you will enjoy how much easier some things can be.

Message edited on: 12/30/2005 07:08

Vue 5Infinite Plus Lightwave 8.5 Plus Lightwave 9 upon it's release all for $795.00 on the Newtek website for the rest of the month. As a Brycer I can understand the desire to stick with a familiar style of interface that Carrara offers, and Carrara is gaining a prettly loyal following. Good luck and Congrats for falling in love again.

Cardinal Bryster paces the room muttering dire threats and curses, whilst phoning DFS for a supply of comfy chairs.....

DFS!! Yeah right......pay 12 times more than its worth and never get a delivery date!! Marc (sending TB A nice full backed real leather with gas hydraulics tilt and swivel office chair he found in a unlocked office over the holidays!!) :)

Woh Thanks, Marc! (Actually bought a DFS suite a long time ago. Still have it. Back then, if you had a problem with your purchase they would send a guy over to fix it free of charge....)

our little boy grows up so fast..;) hmm..if Bambam131 can do what he does in Bryce alone, methinks there may be hidden aspects of Bryce that you're missing..;) ah well, as long as you're having fun..;)

I had Carrera 1 way back when it was new. (I think it was when Bryce 5.0 came out. ) I was disapointed at that time. I was a Inifini D user and none of the cool features were carried over from Infini just ray dream with a new name. Was not the biggest fan or ray dream. ( 2001 Infini had a nice particle system lense flares and shadow catchers and a excellent textureing system and a modeler that was pure crap) I would be interested in taking it for a spin if I have the cash to back up that claim. I would be hard pressed to convince my wife I need it. I still might spring fo rLightwave I have a bit of introduction to its interface. I still like wings and woudl liek to get a modeler like it that handles oodles of polygons.

He gets everywhere

pakled: sure, if you're bambam. for the rest of us without an s&m streak (however attractive), polygon/nurbs modelling is the way to go :) drac (and hold on, i don't have the money for it yet)

ROFLMAO

Phils been busy!! excellent!!!!

It has caustics too...

Welcome to the Dark side.... Muahahahahahahahahahaha! But seriously, I've been a Carrara user for a long time... It has supplanted my Bryce fixation, but I gotta see these boards if only to hear from some of the group... It has what I need... not that I don't dust off Bryce every now and again, but C5 now has a lot more to play with! Ken

It has HDRI and caustics. What more could I want? edit- Less thana minute to render this one.

Message edited on: 12/30/2005 09:47

Are you drunk Phil??? Those letters are upside down and back to front! LOL Never get Bryce to do something like that! he he he

I recall trying out Carrara Version 1 (way back in the day) and I recall having a bit of a difficult time learning it and decided to stay with Bryce that the time. It looks like Eovia has done a lot of work since and Carrara 5 comes with a tree library! Very cool! I think Drac should ask Santa for a belated Christmas gift :-)

Blasphemers ! Idoliters ! Heathens ! Infidels ! You'll all burn in 3D hell !

I don't think I'm ready to totally leave Bryce, but as I couldn't afford Carara5 I went for Cinema4D version 6 which at 79 is considerably less than Carrara5. C4D v6 is a good bit different to Bryce but I'm getting somewhere with it, made a light bulb yesterday, using bezier spline, something I'd never done before... I wonder if C4D models can be moved to Bryce??? (I'm now having problems with texturing in C4D) Good luck Drac, with whatever you decide to go for...

I think Drac's girlfriend must somehow be responsible for this.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=107&Form.ShowMessage=1539364&Form.sess_id=885683&For

I guess this link is outdated for sure then. Damn you Eovia and DAZ! :)

hmm..well..I actually have a copy of Carrara "something" (one of those gimee items from an Art mag)..it wasn't bad or anything, but whatever works for you..;)

Drac must be on a percentage; well Ill give him credit, hes convinced me to have a go. Those render times are very much so enticing.

First Rochr goes to the dark side. Now drac? who's next, Phil, Swade, dare i say pumco?

I think the real reason Drac is considering the move is the
"Trans Poser" feature in Carrara5. After all, Drac has even stated publicly lately that he can see some redeeming values in Poser. With this, all he'd need to do is "bone"(don't look at me like that!) his robot characters
and he could animate them, and render that animation in his self-created backgrounds, or worlds. You really didn't think for a moment there that I would imply that Drac would use it to do rude things to Poser characters did you?

If you're gonna upgrade, go all the way. Carrara is excellent, but if someone wants to upgrade for professional level animation, even Carrara has it's limits. Using Poser still? A 3DStudio or Maya person would scoff; Poser simply doesn't have the power that the Big Dogs sport easily. Boning in Poser? A nightmare! But people do it every day, and successfully... This thread is about moving forward from Bryce. I love Bryce and recommend it to anyone entering the 3D world! But if you're going to shoot high, skip all the intermediate stuff and make a real investment. XSI, Maya, and 3DStudio all boast tools that make Carrara look like a child's toy, and make Poser feel like an awkward, dull saw to a lumberjack. And although Carrara is powerful and quite easy to use, it's limits are still vast and, well, limiting... My point is this : if you're doing 3D graphics for a hobby, for fun, or to make wonderful artwork then it doesn't matter which package you use, as long as you learn it thoroughly and mix the program's uses with good art theory. But if you want to make money, and start a career in the industry, don't stop at Bryce, Carrara, or Vue. There simply is no job market in these areas. Nobody is looking for Carrara users or Poser artists; these programs teach themselves and require one only to play with them, not the intensive study and dedication that Mental Ray (for example) demands. Thus, the pay difference. Anyone can learn Poser in a weekend. Making a character in 3DStudio, rigging it, and animating it, can take months to perfect, and with more versatile and powerful results. Ever seen the a movie? You can bet your life they didn't use Poser or Carrara. To sum it up, although I'm impressed with Carrara's progress, a few pretty renders still wouldn't phase the guys at Highend3D, or anyone else in the industry. Carrara is still playing catch-up to features that Mental Ray had years ago. Keep your eyes on the prize, and if your prize is self-expression, stick with Bryce! If your prize is a career enslaved to 3D graphics, hard work, and your name on the credits, take a good look at 3DStudio or Maya.

@ FranOnTheEdge "I wonder if C4D models can be moved to Bryce???" Sure no problem - export as obj or 3ds and then import to Bryce. The power of the dark side is much stronger in this case :)

Crikey. it'll be Maya next!!!!!!!!!!

"He's making a list he's checking it twice. He's gonna find out Who's not using Bryce........"

Whatever happened to that " pendulum" guy? Imagine someone working away on bryce code way way back in 2003... and just think of all the things he said he could let us have... I wonder if he's still working on it, or did Daz blast him to smithereens?... Why oh why couldnt we have had Bryce6 ages ago? that guy seemed to have it all under control. Is he still working away in some dark cavern somewhere? Or has he moved on to work with some more on the ball company? It's heart-breaking to think of all that lovely stuff we could have had instead of the lower version we got at Bryce5.5c....

heaven knows..;) Since I make a livin' doing computers, I'm not as constrained to make money off of art (in 5 years, I've had exactly 1 'nibble'..;). hey, whatever tools float yer boat; If I'da stuck with what I came in here originally, I'd be pasting Amapi models in Terragen..;)
I'm sure Bryce 6 will be worth the wait..

Oh yes? Amapi models in Terragen... does that work? I'd like to see some images... you must have some somewhere pakled. (expectant expression)

you really want to see them? To be honest, for the first 6 months, I didn't save any..but that still leaves the next 4 1/2 years..;)

You betcha! Come on - give!

is if you could actually edit *and* put the picture in..sigh..;) oldest one I find at the moment..supper's ready..;)

Interesting - is this the Amapi/Terragen version of a S.O.W.?

Carrara renders a lot better and faster than Bryce. That's a good enough reason to move on.

Fran - I think at that stage all he (pendulum) was working on was how the interface looked (in a paint program). I don't think he had done any code work at all on Bryce itself (he would've needed the source code or decompile bryce to do that).

Message edited on: 12/31/2005 20:47