OK, just for giggles. Maybe...

This week I receive an email from DAZ (so I used to be in the Platinum Club - sue me) announcing that early next week DAZ is going make its biggest announcement ever! That's an even bigger announcement than DAZ buying Bryce...

Obviously this gets me curious so I spend a bit more time than usual in the Poser forum here and over at the DAZ forums, to see what the chatter and buzz is on this. Loads of speculation, obviously. But an interesting fact emerged.

Eovia, the makers of Carrara, have also just made an announcement:
"We will be making a very important announcment on April 25..." 
That's early next week as well, folks. And this announcment requires changes to be made to their website and webstore...

Hmmm. DAZ / Eovia merger anyone?

And in that case, considering that Carrara is already way more advanced than Bryce, what will happen to our fav little proggie?

You thought the Rendo changes were bad. But this is the end! Start shouting and tearing your hair out now!

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And, and...

When you factor in that AgentSmith is hardly ever here now and is pretty damned laid back and irreverent when he is...

...he knows!!!

He knows and he's not telling us. He's a witch, burn him!

.

Well...I dunno what to say Mr Platinum Club member...give me time to think though - and I'll be sure to post something after tea.

This is gonna be a good thread - LOL

Len.

...incoming message...

TELEPATH FROM AGENTSMITH :

Yes, it is true Eovia have aquired Bryce and are incorporating Hexagon2 into the release of Bryce6.

Now you know why you're still waiting for Hexagon2 AND Bryce6.

AS

TELEPATH ENDS

BTW, you could be right - I mean, Eovia have been European distributor of Bryce for some time now :glare:

Announcement: " Now only ten years left until Bryce 6 is out; many many thank for your patience! " :-D

And, and...

Daz did remove the special Bryce area of its forum and compressed it all into one subsection of the overall software section (and it's right at the bottom of the drop down menu).

OK, so they did say "this is just one step in the direction of our current effort to position Bryce as the premier piece of DAZ software."  But that was obviously just to throw us off the scent. Note the "hey, we didn't lie" get out clause "...our current effort"...

Yeah, current as of the beginning of April, maybe. But next week, at the end of April?

And, where is AgentSmith? Hmmmm?

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DAGNABBIT! I JUST ORDERED "#$%%^&*"ING BRYCE 5, AND YOU GUYS ARE TELLIN ME IT"S FINISHED!!!

Honestly children - let's go back to ink, paper, canvas, and paint for our artwork - because the "upgrade train" / "gotta grab the latest" mentality is getting a tad bit irritating...

Besides - software seems to have a useable shelf life of about ten minutes - but there will always be charcoal and a nice blank cave wall to scribble on!

BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOYAH PTWANGANGANGANGANGGGGGGGG!!!

If you must know...

AgentSmith is currently having his legs licked by his girlfriends pussycat.  He told me in an IM that it's the ONLY way to relax after a session on the Bryce forum.

Frack knows why he tells me this kinda stuff - but he does :unsure:

Len.

An idea or three of what could maybe possibly happen:

Carrara-Bryce merge maybe?

Bryce becomming some sort of carrara-light? (u know, kinda like a sugarfree drink)

That poser clone studio thingy merges with carrara?

That's it, ICM!

It's just like the Betamax / VHS thing. We've chosen the program stuck in beta and the one with three letters beginning with V is going to win. OMG it all makes sense now.

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/me thinks someone has missed their medication today.

It's a new BodySuit for Victoria - that's all it is!

I thought it was going to be Bryce Studio..;)

I hope it's some carrara/bryce merge that takes the carrara render engine and hopefully keeps in tact the bryce work window and GUI. If not I'm writing my own 3D app and putting everyone out of business.

Or maybe V3 is getting a spread in playboy magazine...

You really are depraved :biggrin:

Len (I feel a SHIFT/REFRESH coming on).

I think ICM brilliantly hit the nail on the head, and without saying a word! Anybody buy any great new 8-track tapes lately? The correct answer is no, because both technology and the marketplace are in a constant state of change and evolution, so now we're listening to CDs and DVDs, hard-drives or solid-state memory chips.  Metacreations "absorbed" Ray Dream and Infini-D and combined their technologies and code to make Carrara. Eovia acquired Carrara when Metacreations jetisoned their graphics applications. 

DAZ and Eovia are pretty cozy. Carrara5 Pro can import Poser animations, including dynamic hair and cloth, so it has some functionality that neither Daz Studio nor Bryce have as renderers for DAZ or Poser content. Carrara5 also comes with People and animal character content provided by DAZ. It may also be no coincidence that DAZ studio very recently added SSS and AO and displacement capabilities, something Carrara has had since this last ver.

I heard that Eovia was making a huge announcement on Tues. April 25, which is around the time of their targeted release date for Hexagon2, so it might be as simple as that.  It might just be coincidence. Or not.

Quote - It may also be no coincidence that DAZ studio very recently added SSS and AO and displacement capabilities, something Carrara has had since this last ver.

Don't forget that Poser had displacement since version 5 and that version 6 introduced SSS and IBL and other good stuff. I first wouldn't like Carrara as a Bryce Pro. It sucks in that regard. Its terrain capabilities are bad.

ok how about.. daz and eovia simply merge and thats it??

@Erlik- Oh no, I haven't  forgotten about Poser6! DAZ has added these capabilities in order to be more competitive in going head-to-head with Poser6. And Carrara just added wind animation to its trees, probably because Vue Infinite already has it, and animators want that feature. I disagree that Carrara's terrain capabilties are bad, they're just different.  And I'd sure as heck rather build a landscape in Carrara than in C4D, LW, Maya or 3DMax(orXSI) cause at least Carrara's got a built-in terrain and tree lab.

However,I will readily admit that I still find Bryce's terrain lab much easier to use, though that may be because I have used Bryce a long time and am just starting with Carrara5. One big difference I've noticed though in Bryce's favor, you can animate terrains in Bryce, but you can't do this currently in Carrara.  Maybe Carrara's ability to utilize an animated displacement map makes this a moot point. I still find it a lot easier to build a scene or landscape in Bryce, but when I build a scene in Carrara I have a lot more options for rendering and animation, which is a keen interest of mine. 

(Tjohn rolls eyes)

EOM

Yeah, whatever happens, happens. I'm sorry If I annoyed you tjohn, and the rest of the Forum here by talking about other apps. I just love to chew on a good "conspiracy theory",lol.

I'm thinking about giving up computers and living more simply...come to think of it - I'm thinking about giving up wearing clothes and living more simply to...

Change is constant - but more often than not - completely pointless, and a waste of valueable lifetime...

Quote - AgentSmith is currently having his legs licked by his girlfriends pussycat.  He told me in an IM that it's the ONLY way to relax after a session on the Bryce forum.

Len.

I thought he was looking for the place to put that compressed air valve and the tourniquet.... or maybe he's reading his new Carrara contract...

WHO IS AGENT SMITH - HMMMMMMMM?!

So - you guys think that this agent smith guy is sitting on some super top secret, hush hush, under the table, insider trader, cloak and daggers scoopy info huh?

NAAAAHHHHH - I just think that maybe he's just a wierd guy who - well - likes a good feline leg licking now and then (hmm - sounds oddly appealing when ya think about it). I personally like large ughly fat women to sit on my face and rip off ungodly gas blasters - so I am certainly NOT the one to judge ANYONE over their personal picadellos.

Now if you'll please excuse me - I have to go look up some clown porn and play with a seltzer bottle and some balloon animals...NYUK NYUK NYUK NYUK NYUUUUUK!

"I personally like large ughly fat women to sit on my face and rip off ungodly gas blasters - so I am certainly NOT the one to judge ANYONE over their personal picadellos."

Rayraz, I take it back - what I said about you been depraved and all - you're no match for that guy!

LOL

And there I was thinking that this thread had gotten lots of views because people were worried about Bryce...

LOL

Now now Peter...we're all worried about Bryce to some extent.

Though to be honest, the only things I'm bothered about is the new renderers ability and the extent of Poser support (which will hopefully be FULL support).

I decided a while back, that if Poser dynamic hair/cloth support isn't included - I won't be buying Bryce6 (not even if the renderer is kick-ass).

Len.

AgentTumbleWeed still seeing no point in attending...

It's all true, I tell you. We're all doooooomed.

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well, len, I did date a fat girl.. or rather, I almost did :tongue1: U remember the one i dumped recently? she was fat :tongue1:

She wasnt ugly though, she was beautifull in her own way If u know what I mean. Ok, so she lacked the tight figure, but it took me less then 3 seconds to get used to that :tongue1: there was still lots to like; Cute smile, pretty eyes, sexy skin (seriously dude, the dark skin is like way hot), sexy tongue, good taste for clothing when she'd pay extra attention to it, and i could go on like that for a little while.

Yup.. I still kinda miss her.. kinda like.. every day and such.. but it didnt work out, and wouldn't have worked out either if I'd have tried more.. So I'm goin after another girl now A seriously hot one that's way outta my league, but who cares about that? lol If you dont try you'll never get anywhere right?

So now that we're back on the topic of trying things... why don't we all try to accept that bryce is at this point simply a fucking cheap and easy way into the world of 3d graphics? And why don't we all try to accept that this is not neccesarily a bad thing? The people that want to use 3d graphics programs with professional toolsets will sooner or later save up the money to get a program that can do it.  But there are a lot of people who just like to mess around a little and make nice things with simple tools without spending a ton of money? Bryce at the moment is a 3d package that costs roughly the same as a brand new, off the shelve, computer game! I mean can you imagine people having access to 3d applications with the same ease as they would access computergames? That is exactly what bryce is at the moment! And it's rather unique at it dont you think? Ok, sooner or later most of us grow tired by it's limits and slowly but steadily move on towards other, more technologically advanced programs.

But why should we really expect bryce to grow along with us? When you bought your first cheap-ass 2nd hand old rusty car, did you tell the guy who sold it to you "I'll come back every year and pay you 50 bucks to change some parts of this car, add a few parts here and there, and in 5 years when I finished college and have a well-paid full-time job, I expect this car to look representative for my, by then seriously improved, financial situation"?

Why are we so afraid to have bryce remaining stuck at the very most accessible level of the market?

It's not that, it's that it has stayed basically the same for four years now, and the "entry level" of CG has risen. Bryce is a great conceot and you could really see a lot of new features from bryce 4 to bryce 5, but it's been a while and we've seen nothing approaching that level of update. Bryce 5.5 is more like bryce 5.1 with poser support, we want a bryce 6. Bryce 6 doesn't mean including every single wishlit feature, but it does mean solving some key issues such as render times, "advanced" render settings (which are present in most freeware renders now I might add), and some type of plugin architechture to allow for an accessory market and extra functionality. Doesn't Daz want to return on its investment? If so, it needs to sell new software that people like us are willing to buy. And to do that, there needs to be a significant new version of bryce.

Well, maybe if DAZ is to merge with/aquire Eovia, maybe all the Bryce owners will get Cararra 5.1 Free! (and Hex 2 to make up for giving up on Bryce.)

Seriously, Would Bryce be needed if DAZ became involved in Cararra?

Cararra 5 is $550 from Eovia's site.
Hexagon2 is $200
Bryce 5.5 is $100

So yeah, there would still be a need.

Lots of people are still buying bryce! And yea ofcourse it's not been significantly updated in years, but this is also exactly the reason why it is as cheap as it currently is...

It's a tricky situation. Updating a program like bryce to include all kinds of advanced features costs money, which will inevetably drive the price back up, which automatically removes it from it's current uniquely priced position in the market. Bryce 5.1 was(is?) what, $60-ish? $70-ish? And the programs that are already in the next price class are already becoming way more advanced then Bryce is now. Basically, there's a conflict between production costs and sales revenues that makes it difficult to justify taking the risk of significantly updating Bryce. The only ways to do this would be to either go with small steps (like 5.5) and never pretending to quickly catch up with the competition or by merging it with ready-developed technologies (like those found in cararra maybe?)

Actually Xenic,to be fair, Carrara5 comes in two "flavours", Standard and Pro. Carrara5 Standard is regularly $249, but I got it on sale for $149. The Pro version has a few added features I didn't need yet, but a graphics or video professional might need such as support for Syntheyes and matchmoving capabilities. There is also the entry level $99 Carrara Basics2 which supports GI and animation.

And, and...

Dan Farr responded in the thread at DAZ and ruled out two possibilities (new community forum and Victoria4) for their biggest announcement ever  - but did not rule out a DAZ / Eovia merger. Forget about a non-denial denial, it wasn't even a denial!

And AgentTumbleWeed still not rolled by...

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HEY YOU NUVO CHANGE MUNGERS - IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON"T FIX IT!

Here's the thing - I hear a lot of you guys belly aching, saying "Oh woe ' es me - BRYCE hasn't changed in years, GRIPE GRIPE GRIPE..."

Look - all I basically need is a nice simple little app that makes cool landscapes of my own design, and so - if it does that consistantly - why change it? The old BRYCE 5.0 / 5.1 does everything that I could possibly want it to, period - and if it will continue to work on up through the next three incarnations of Windows - why mess with getting grey hair over upgrading all the time? WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO TERRIFIED OF RELIABLE CONSISTANCY!?

Changing things frivalously means constant upgrade = constant expense = constant headache. Next thing you know - you need a whole new motherboard with a whole new processor, more RAM than anybody really needs, a new video card - and maybe even a new monitor - just so that you can run "the latest version" of something "the way it was meant to be run". Money pits aren't my cup of tea.

As I said earlier - I just ordered BRYCE 5 (not B5.5 - as both are the same with the exception of a few bells and whistles - and both will work fine on XP). That's all I need. Now if you guys are combining Poser AND Bryce - then yes, you need to constantly upgrade.

This is because of  "change mongers" who are consistantly disenchanted with POSER (not Bryce) - and who become discouraged with mediocrity to such a nuerotic extent, and who ironically have so much disposable income, that they are looking for a new version of a software app ten minutes after they've opened the cellophane wrapper on the latest version they just got in the mail (or downloaded). It THOSE folks who are creating the massive sucking sound emminating from all of our collective pockets. It's THOSE needy little upgrade fanatics who keep the "obsolete" buzzers buzzing - and our bank accounts shrinking.

Now - GO EAT A BUG!!!!

Rayraz, to be fair. I got Bryce5.5 for $14. And alot of people got it for under $50.

But at this point I find I need to bow out of the conversation.

Enjoy.

xenic101, exactly my point! :biggrin: where else can u find a 3D program cheap like that?

Dude....I take ONE night to go out drinking, and suddenly "AgentSmith is hardly ever here now ".

What? Just because I don't make a post on every single thread, don't think that I'm not here...watching you all, lol! 

It has been a little fun seeing people squirm over this though....lol.

And...as you all know...If I knew anything about this, any kind of NDA would keep me from saying. It might even keep me from saying that I know anything in the first place, lol.

So, who really knows?.......

Man your `puters for Eovia's announcement, see if it has anything to do with DAZ, if not, then its nali-biting time until DAZ announces something.

Yet...remember that interview with Dan? He DID mention a "Bryce 6" to be released in 2006.

I wouldn't worry.

Quote - Dude....I take ONE night to go out drinking, and suddenly "AgentSmith is hardly ever here now ".

Hah! Nice try, but you don't seriously expect us to believe you have a, a, a life, do you? You'd have been better off with a "dog ate my modem" type excuse than that far-fetched story.

You were obviously at a briefing getting the low-down on the big Bryce axe.

(don't believe him, anybody; he's lighter than a duck you know)

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Yeah, just got off the plane from DAZ HQ in Utah, lol.

Actually, DAZ has bought out Vue...;o)

Spreading updated rumour now, with authoritative deep-throat source mentioned...

(I said 'deep-throat'. [Beavis and Butt-head laugh])

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Dan Farr poked his head out over at DAZ and stated the following;

"...the big announcement next week is not Artzone or Vickie 4.Those announcements will come in time. I do think that the majority of people here will be pleased with it though."

That rules out two things at least....;o)

Such an evil Agent......LOL

Er, 9 posts up. Sheesh, I just feel soooooooo unread.

(flounces off, slams door, door hits ass...)

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I know how you feel, lol.

Nah, not that it matters, I just thought I would post up the direct quote, is all. I saw/read yer post. ;o)

I have a feeling seeing users squirm makes Dan dance about the DAZ offices. 

(It would me, lol)

Well, with just a little while to go, I'll put my serious cards on the table.

Prediction - it's a DAZ / Eovia buyout / merger, or close variation thereof.

DAZ gets Carrara and Hexagon to play with.

Future for Bryce? Depends on how DAZ decide to market what they've got - i.e. which is the most important name. It could be a fantastic future for Bryce (import useful Carrara & Hex stuff into our wonderful interface); or it could be Goodnight Vienna (what's the point in continuing with Bryce when they've got all that..).

Interesting times, folks...

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