I started using Bryce about 4 years ago with Corel's 5 and is the only version I have ever used until about  week ago when I dl'd DAZ's 5 and upgraded to 5.5. It has crashed on me at least 4 times and if it didnt crash I was unable to save a scene file I had been working on for 4 hours, IS THIS NORMAL ?  Mind you ,Corel 5 had its problems as well but not as often as what I seem to be getting here. I think I will be going back to Corel's 5 until version 6 comes out and wait for some user reviews from the forums before taking the leap. The only real advantage to 5.5 that I can see is the integration of DAZ Studio for adding Poser content(which I rarely use anyway).

 I have a few questions if anybody may know the answers.

Can I have DAZ's 5.5 and Corels 5 loaded on my PC at the same time(I'm assuming I can as long as they're loaded in different directories)

Can a 5.5 scene file be loaded into Corel's 5

Anybody have a link where I can still dl the 5.01 patch for Corel's 5

I have both my Corel Bryce 5 and my DAZ Bryce 5.5 installed in the same partition without any problems because one is installed to the Corel folder and the other to the Bryce folder. 

I don't know if you can open a 5.5 file in 5 but maybe, since they're both saved as .br5 files.

Sure wish I had the patch link for you, but, alas, I don't.

Attached Link: http://www.daz3d.com/support/downloads.php?product=bryce

5.5 is very memory intensive but I think they have sorted that out in Bryce 6

I have found that any kind of Bryce file can be swapped back and forth between B5 & B5.5. Scene files, mats, skies, etc.

I have Bryce 4.0, 5.0, & 5.5 all installed on the same drive, no problems at all. I've even had them all up at once all working/rendering.

Yeah, get the latest B5.5 patch. I had a few crashes before, but ever since B5.5c, smooth sailing.

The only thing I've noticed that can get a bit screwy if you start opening B5 files in B5.5 or the other way round is if you try and resume a render in one that you started in the other - DAZ did some "optimizing" of the render code in 5.5 that means its passes are different to those in B5 and so sometimes it gets a bit out of sync with where it should be.

Also, B5.5's resume render feature can be a bit unreliable on its own anyway (without going anywhere near B5).

Using B5.5c. Never had any problems with it crashing - ever.

Yeah, I would not use the resume render feature in going back and forth between 5.0 & 5.5

B5.5 does use a slightly different rendering ritual. than B5.0

B5.5c has proven quite stable for me in the past few weeks I have been using it - on Mac Intel machine however.

Quote -
Yeah, I would not use the resume render feature in going back and forth between 5.0 & 5.5
B5.5 does use a slightly different rendering ritual. than B5.0

Very true. I just did an experiment like that last weekend. It does render differently.  It created an interesting moire/hatch pattern effect on my image. As if every fourth or fifth pixel was black, or out of place.

I just downloaded the Bryce 5.01 patch but I'm a bit confused. What's the difference between the regular version and the 'lightning' version?
deadwarrior
A transplant from the Terragen Gallery LOL.

Bryce "Lightning" is the program you would install on any extra computers you would have networked together to help you out with rendering.

Thanks AgentSmith for the quick response. Helped clear up my Bryce noob confusion.
Best
deadwarrior, Terragen Gallery

Tks all, I was unaware of the C version for 5.5. I have downloaded it, maybe that will resolve the issues I've been having with the crashing. 

I'm hoping Bryce6 will
a) resolve the constant crashing I have with Bryce5.5c and
b) be priced low enough for me to afford it.

(The crashing is caused by using more than 1 image based texture in a scene)

The crashing is caused by using more than 1 image based texture in a scene

You may want to try uninstalling/re-installing Bryce, and re-installing the latest update. I have used 20+ image textures in the same scene, with no problems at all.

Oh really?  I might just try that cos I need more for this scene.  Thanks.