I was thinking about buying bryce 6 but dont know much about it. I work with poser 6 and am currently working on a comic book . Bryce looks like its good to make backgrounds with , but what im woundering about is how hard is it to learn to use? and does it work well with poser?

Also does anyone know where this guy got these trols from  http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1322876

I just gotta have them

Bryce is not particularly hard to learn, but there is a lot to it.  It works well with Poser, and right now, DAZ is having a special on Bryce for a really outstanding price (like $6.00).

IMO, Bryce is a better renderer than Poser.  The effects you can get are more subtle and realistic.  And, now it's got HDRI, which is really amazing.

HDRI? whats that as im kind of a newbie to alot of this stuff

it's rather easy to pick up alright, IMHO. But you'll want to try the demos to see if it can easily do what you like in term of scene assembly, posing, rendering against transparent background for composition in 2D imaging tools, etc...

You might enjoy Carrara too.

Here's my intro tutorial with Bryce 5:

http://www.thebest3d.com/pdp/tutorials/bryce101

Here's some stuff you can do with Carrara

http://www.thebest3d.com/carrara

Both are now owned by DAZ so there's good cooperation to be expected between the two and their Poser alternative, DAZ Studio (which is free until you start buying som of their addons like commercial plugins etc...

If you already have Poser you'll be happy to know that Carrara also can handle Poser nicely. Especially Carrara 5. Carrara 4 needed an additional plugin, called Transposer. The version 5 of Carrara can use Transposer too if you want Poser's cloth and hair dynamics, but even without Transposer, Carrara 5 can handle Poser walk sequences in animations too. www.thebest3d.com/carrara/poser

If you're still looking for other options, Quidam by N-sided might be really a good option too, especially if you're interested in more 'modeling' deformations, well but that goes into personal likes and dislikes. Try the demos to find out. www.thebest3d.com/nsided

Do you have some previews of your project?

HDRI  stands for High Dynamic Range Imaging.   It allows for a greater range of image contrast, such that you get a more realistic light and shadow effect.

Love that HDRI.  It makes for some wonderful renders.

wow thanks for the info **staigermanus   . I think im leaning more towards Bryce for some reason. Another question though, after i buy bryce 6  will i find myself buying alot of extras for the program as i do in poser lol . because most of my extra $$ right now is going to buying poser items.

I dont have any previews yet of my comic book, but ill defently post some once i get it abit more off the ground.

Also the plan right now is that the first issue will be posted free on our website , but i defently will let you guys see some previews once i get it abit more along.
**

Bryce 6 is not that difficult to learn..  like ricky said there is a lot to it.... Good mate for Poser

That troll is sold by DAZ;

http://www.daz3d.com/shop.php?op=itemdetails&item=3129

You have Poser 6, and it has basically the same kind of HDRI-IBL that Bryce does;

http://www.e-frontier.com/article/articleview/1329/1/580?sbss=580

Quote - Bryce 6 is not that difficult to learn..  like ricky said there is a lot to it.... Good mate for Poser

I wonder if Bryce 6 now has similar shortcuts as Carrara, I mean for interactive viewing while managing and assembling the scene? That is one whing I like about Carrara, using both hands for viewing and modeling or placemnt of objects is a snap, using shortcuts like

e for examine
d for dolly
t for translate
r for rotate
s for scale
w for window move

I end up using d and e a lot, with the left hand, while the mouse is busy in the right hand with click and drag and stuff.

The renderer is also an important thing: Carrara has had HDRI since version 3 at least. That's 4 years back. And it has a terrain editor too, and great landscape, plants/trees and skies.... not a whole lot that Bryce can do which Carrara can't. The thing is Carrara has much more on the modeling side. It can certainly save you money if you want to make your own props instead of buying them - in the end when you render you might enjoy a very fast renderer, aka Carrara's renderer. Italso rocks for animations. But that's prolly beyond your needs, or is it?

I had no idea that Poser had HDRI.  Interesting ....

I still love Bryce.  And, no, you shouldn't need to purchase a ton of stuff, or even much of anything after you've gotten the program.  I say this because (1) it comes with a large amount of bonus materials already (lots of skies, and textures, and other goodies), and (2) all of the props and stuff that you buy for Poser can be imported and used in Bryce.

And at this price, you really can't beat it.

Are you sure Poser does HDRI?  It's one thing to do IBL (Image Based Lighting), it's another if the image types supported include images with 16-bit per channel or better, which is where HDRI resides.  IBL with 24-bit images is great too, but the results are better with high dynamic range images. Better in this contact means more realistic, or closer to real lighting. Sometimes realistic is not the better way, because there's a cost in rendering time and memory sizes etc...

IBL is something that was already in TrueSpace 6.6 and 5.2 , what, 5-6 years ago?

Of course, it's one thing to have a feature, it's another thing to make it a no-brainer for usability. Carrara is by far easier than TrueSpace to set up and enable IBL, indirect lighting (radiosity) and caustics.

I think if you do a good and thorough test of demo versions and analysis of the results you'll find that Carrara is the better of all these for rendering HDRI and IBL and caustics and radiosity all together. In terms of quality of the render, in terms of speed too.

But it's always a function of cost too, so if Carrara 5.1 is out of reach check and compare with Carrara 4 or go with Bryce. Or both.

Well, yeah, Carrera is great ... but Bryce is on sale for $6.00 for the next few days.  I mean ... really $6.00???  To me, it's a complete no brainer to purchase it and try it out. 

Six lousy freaking bucks??  Lordy!!

yeah i just bought it a little while ago. Gonnna try it out sometime this weekend or on monday. Looks like it could be good for backgrounds and scenery, which i need for my projects. But thanks for all the responces, you guys been really helpful and im sure ill be back in no time asking another question. I always find that you get the best answers from these message boards =)

Dont forget the 30 bucks to become a member of the DAZ Platinum club so you can be ellagable for the 6 bucks offer!!!

Don't forget to pick up those freebies with the purchase before the cut-off date.

I paid for Bryce 6 $99.00   because I don't have a steady income now... and if I got the card I would have to pay $7.00+ every month.. plus spendings on the credit card......     I just when out and bought it... 

In one year it will cost you nearly the amount for Bryce...  so you can drop the card at that point,,   7x12= 84  99 - 84 = 15...   you paid for Bryce about $84.+  save $15.00..  If you used the card then tag the interest rate to that amount...  I just got it over with...

Ummmm .... Tom, that assumes that you can't cancel the $7.00 a month bit.  But you can ... anytime.  So, at most, the upgrade was $36.00.  Admittedly, I am spending a little bit on some models during the month that I will be a PC member, but for what I'm saving (since most of what I'm buying is $1.99 for members), I feel like I'm getting a lot of bang for the buck.

If I can't get value on the membership after the first month, then I'll cancel it.  But, since I am really enjoying being able to put some figures into my work (rather than just doing architecture and still lifes), it's so worth it to me.

I suppose it's a matter of what you want to do with the programs and how you can apply the money.  For my way of looking at it, so far I've gotten the upgrade and several models for $36.00, and then several hundred dollars worth of other models and textures for about $30.00.  And, as mentioned, if I don't find myself needing any other models, I will cancel the membership.

Okay...  rickymaveety...   If you can cancell the card anytime then you are right....  you got your self a very good deal...  I was knee jerking from my pass experience with creadit cards companies...   they use to hold you for a year..    or you'd be charged a penalty.....   Just look at the small print...  Perhaps this was a good deal I pass by...  Oh well:(

enjoy

Another good thing about bryce is not only the amount of content that comes with the program, but also the huge amount of other bryce freebies floating around (skies materials models knowledge...).  When I was taking my first bryce steps, all of that extra content and knowledge that people had freely made available was invaluable to me.

Meltz: Just so you understand....Bryce is NOT JUST A LANDSCAPER!!!  It is one of the finest all round 3D progs on the planet today. Oh sure! Some of the guys here will argue that it can't do this or that, but if you spend just 30 minutes trawling the galleries here you'll be ammazed at what Bryce (Any version) can do.

Feel free to wander around my website & gallery. (and I'm only an amature)

and if you have any questions there are several thousand Brycers who will kill to get you the answer.

Welcome to the asylum.

Tom ...

DAZ PC is not a credit card.  It is just a club.  Unless you cancel your membership, they bill you $7.00 a month for your membership.  You can cancel your membership at any time by just contacting DAZ and cancelling.  There is no long term committment.  I did read the fine print.  I'm an attorney.  People pay me to read the fine print.

So, your experience with credit card companies really doesn't enter into the equasion, and yes, you passed up a really good deal.  But then, that happens to all of us from time to time.  Heaven knows I've passed up on a number of great deals over the years.

Oh, and to wrap it all up for the original poster, if you are a member of the Platinum Club, not only that you can get Bryce for 6 Bucks, but you get an excellent discount on Carrara, at least 30% on any day, I don't recall if 50% discount is still on or not!!!

I've been contemplating Platinum Club for a while (PC) and now I kick myself in the rear that I didn't join much sooner! It's fabulous.
And I'm discovering the benefits of Daz Studio too (which comes free by the way) so a combination of Poser, Bryce and DAZ makes a nice little system that one can do a LOT of really neat of things with.

Personally, I have access to all the high end apps too, just because of my work, but I frequently find myself going to Bryce and Poser and few other so called lower end apps when I don't want to mess with highly technical detail, and just want to cater to my creative side or tell a story (without spending hundreds of hours to produce a very technically developed piece).

Poser 6 has IBL (image based lighting), I'm not sure if it can use real .hdr's

Yet, Bryce cannot output anything higher than a 24-bit color image, so the added benefit of the HDRI's increased color depth is lost anyways.

So....Poser 6 and Bryce is sorta/kinda the same in that respect.

Sorta/kinda, not exactly.

AS, the benefit isnt lost entirely as you still have 48-bit dithering. The higher bit depth is rendered out, then dithered to 24-bit output for your final render, but the improved contrasts between levels of brightness for your scene lighting would still have visible influence.

ok just played around with it for the first time today. Man am i lost lol. Looks like alot of learning for me in the future. any good starting points where i can read to learn abit?

www.brycetech.com

Attached Link: http://brycetech.daz3d.com/