Ok, I know this is may start a long involved discourse, but why no plugins for Bryce?

Every modeler or renderer I've ever used has some kind of addon. Look at DAZ, it has both scripts and plugins. Bryce: nada.

I don't even have the option to use another render engine like YAFRAY, INDIGO or even POVray, since I can't convert .br5's into another format.

Yes I know Bryce uses proprietary software but so does 3DS MAX, Carrera, Poser et. al.

Is Bryce that complete? (Now don't get started Bryster ;D ).

So what gives? Why no plugins or addons?

Anybody have any answers?

End of Heretical Rant :D

Easy - there's no Software Development Kit (SDK) or scripting (ie Python, etc) or any other provision for plugins. Without these there's no way to "hook" into the Bryce code This would have to come as new coding for Bryce by the Bryce Dev team. All the apps mentioned have SDKs and/or scripting.

the terrain editor is compatible with some photoshop plugins, or at least was in version 4, right?

Doesn't Poser Studio qualify?

And yes, the photoshop stuff still worked last time I looked.

Yes, I've used the Photoshop plugins and they work fine for me on Bryce 5.0. And I use DAZ and import to Bryce with little or no problem.

I'm familiar with SDK's and Python scripts (I also use Blender among other tools), I just wondered if any plugins for Bryce existed or were in the works.

It would be nice if the DAZ Team released a SDK for Bryce. It sure be interesting to see the results.

I think an SDK is talked about for Bryce 7.

Would smart pipes be considered a plug-in?

Uh... skiwillgee, could you elaborate on 'smart pipes'.  My stupid pills just kicked in and I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean 'pipes' as in project workflow?

A flexible cylinder available in the freebie section. Something like 300 metaballs simulating a long tube which you can bend and flex. Pretty handy to keep around. A must have.

... and it integrates into Bryce program...

Thanks for the info, but what's  the name of the file or the author.

Bryce freebies has got  a boatload of stuff. I'll try a search with 'cylinder' and 'metaballs' at see if I can narrow it down.

Sounds like a very cool object.

Thanks again for the heads up!

Sorry guys. I found the link but it's dead. Checked the site listed at Geocities and even translating the site from Japanese to English I still couldn't find it. :(

Oh well.

I'll dig around a bit and see what pops up. It's somewere on the Net.

But then again isn't everything. :D

Thanks again for your suggestions. If I find it I'll let you know.

Jacques

Or one of us has it. I have it on one of my computers, but i'll have to look for it when I get home. That leads me to wonder what's the rule/policy on things like uploading a deadlinked freebie someone else has authored?

I'm also thinking of compiling a list of Bryce essentials. Mostly useful freebie apps and/or freebie things... or at least just the links. What would you all consider to be absolutely a must app or object/material or link that every serious Bryce user must have? I'm just talking free stuff (awaits for Pakled to say Wings3D ;-)  And if any of you are the author for it, let me know (so I don't have to guess)

Great idea D_A_M!

I'll start digging through all my cra...err stuff, and see if I can pull out some of my obscure goodies. Pretty much all my stuff is freebies so it should fit in with your idea.

*That leads me to wonder what's the rule/policy on things like uploading a deadlinked freebie someone else has authored?

*Have you tried asking in the 'Copyright and Ethical Standards Forum'? They are probably the best ones to ask rather than guess and wind up in a pile of something that doesn't smell very sweet. Jen

No, I haven't asked them yet, but that is a good suggestion.

glad to help, I would not like you to get in a quarrel with someone trying to help others.

Periodically they appear comments than Bryce was able to or he/she should have. 
I think eat that subject it always comes back, little it was done of concrete by that. 
We were able to, as he/she suggested Death_at_Midnight, to create a list of what would like to see in Bryce, to send to who will really be able to change. 
Lately I am making several studies with VUE and I admit that I am liking a lot, but I would not like to leave Bryce. 
Not to do really a new version with changes significant, Bryce will be passed for many. 
Excuse me for the mistakes, I had to use a translator. 
Hugs.

IMO, Essential Freestuff: Wings3D, CB Model Pro, The GIMP, Ivy Generator, UV Mapper Classic and the GeoControl Demo (while it lasts)

SmartPipe was created by madmax_br5 - I just looked and all his stuff is showing up as dead links, this is very sad.

I do hope he's around and can fix them for us - his zenith light dome was very good too.

Essential Bryce freebies, all of Spacebones object sets!! If you want to model in Bryce they are essential!!

there was a butt-plug for bryster once, but i don't think you can call that a plugin.. :)

**OMG that's the funniest thing I've heard in months.  **

Attached Link: ImageJ

Try this for masks and terrains. Used it in Terragen (see my gallery). ImageJ has loads of plugins and is great for image postwork.

Here are a few others I've got in my toolbox:
NOTE: All are freeware.
ANOTHER NOTE: DEM's are Digital Elevation Models. Digital models of actual terrains. You can get them from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Try the Grand Canyon for a terrain :)

Biturn-Object conversion
Blob-Makes blobs
Elefont: TTF to DXF Great little program for text.
Helixer-Makes helix's Outputs DXF's
Meshlab- great for cleanup. Also paints objects.
Spiralizer- Makes spirals. Outputs DXF's
Poseray-Object conversion. Love this program.
Roadmaker-Makes roads that follow terrains. I think I got it here at Rendo. Check the freestuff.
Wilbur-Terrain maker. Also reads DEM's
Worldmachine-Terrain maker. Excellent.
3DEM-Reads DEM's and other types of GIS files and converts them to terrains. You can download and use terrain maps of Mars!
EDT Texture Editor-Makes procedural textures.
Caustics-Makes different types of caustics.
Pretzangles-Makes geometric objects. (It's spelled Pretzangles go figure)
Treemaker-Java plant and treemaker.
Planetgen-Makes BMP's of planets.
LightArtist-Good for adding light in PW.
Terrabrush-Great terrain maker. I recommend this for everybody. Got a learning curve.
WorldMachine-Another terrain make. One of the best.
Scatter-Reshapes obj files. Made by the same guy who made Grass. (Bantam)

Whew! That's enough for now :)

I await The Bryster's wrath.

I'll let you guys Google the software. But if you get stuck I'll see if I can find the links. :)

Have fun!

Jacques

1. I'll e-mail smartpipes to anyone who asks.
2. I agree with Lown.
3. Draculass the Romaniac can zarc-off. I just can't be bothered coming up with anything worthwhile for that loser. Sheesh............
4. DeadWarrior, knock yourself out! 

I'm very depressed. Here I am, brain the size of a planet and all they ask me to do is work work work.....

dude, did i actually piss you off? :)

Yup!

my apologies, it was certainly a joke.

*"life...don't talk to me about life" -Marvin

*have to go through that list. Have at least 60% of it, but ya never know...

Ok here's another list of free software. Some are a bit obscure but you can IM me if you get stuck and I'll try to find the URL.

Think of finding this stuff as a way of honing you Google skills ;)

DMesh Lite-Medical modeling software. Exports obj files. Cool little program. Got a learning curve though.

City Generator-Good for Background shots. You can get it here in the Rendo freebie section.

Abaro-Jave tree maker. Makes some really strange trees,

Breeze Designer-Modeler. Outputs POVray but can be converted with Poseray.

Gentex-Makes textures. Nice program.

Gradient Designer-Terrain maker. Also good for waves and water scenes.

HDR Shop-More HDR software for those of us who don't have Bryce 6.

Kolorgenerator-Makes palettes. Good for mats.

Photomodeler Lite 3.1-Photogrammetry software. Makes 3D models from a series of photos. Outputs obj files. Kinda hard to find.

Photomatix Basic-Even more HDR software. Has plugin for Photoshop.

Arabeske 2.1.0-Makes arabeske pattern models. Bit of a learning curve but nice results.

Osiris-Medical imaging software. Great for making masks and weird terrains . Lots of image files available online. A virus makes a great volcano. :)

Scion-Another medical imaging program. I used it for terrains in Terragen.

TopMod-Modeler. See the post in the forum for more info. Java based and a bit buggy. Slow too. Has a great object library with lots of cool geometric shapes. Worth the download just for the models.

Parametric Terrain Editor-Makes some really unusual terrains and water.

Antiprism-Geometric model maker. Command line only. No GUI. You can get it at Sourceforge.

Twig-Another piece of software from Bantam. Like Grass but make lots of twigs. Hard to find. Wish I could upload it to the free section but I don't have permission from the author. :(

Thats pretty much it. Hope you find all the stuff. But as I said, IM me if you get stuck and I'll try to find the URL.

Ok Bryster, you got your wish: I'm knocked out :D

Gonna go for a walk now. Now a long one; it's 9:30 Pacific Time and it's already 90F here in Los Angeles. By noon it will be 107F.

It's a good day to stay inside and render :)

Whew!

Have fun with the software.

Jacques

@ deadwarrior

Wasn't that about the same weather conditions in LA in movie "Preditor II"

ah, man! And I have to compile all this now... ;-)

Okay, cool. What I got done tonight was to make a database and populated it with a few essentials. Very soon I shall be finishing up another database project/web site. When that is done I will incorporate this essentials database into that and will make a way for ppl to login and add to the database their list of essentials. I'm doing this like this because it is clear to me there's going to be times when someone is going to have a lengthly list, and I don't want to be typing in a long list from possibly many people--verifying, removing duplicates, etc.

So...

Here are some fields which the database will require, if you want to prepare your list: 
Software name (Bryce, Poser, Fractal, Terragen, etc) (to be complete, might as well have essential lists for other popular software.)

The essential's Name, 
Author,
Web link,
Type (Application, Object, Material)
Description.

I hope this will become a useful tool for everyone. I'll eventually incorporate it into this other larger database project. In the mean time, I'll probably make a temporary web site with a login feature for some to start populating their lists. Nothing fancy for now, though. But my current thought is it has the potential to become popular....

I think it's a great project D_A_M. Long overdue. Please let us know when the site is ready and I'll add my stuff along with all the field info you require. I'm pretty sure I have all the info you need.

Just a thought, but would it help to add the software readme files to the database? Or would that be overkill? Like I said, just a thought.

Looking forward to contributing to your project. I think it has real potential.

Best to you,

Jacques

PS: D_A_M.don't worry about compiing my lists, I'll take care of that when you've got your web site up.

So grab a beer and kick back and relax. I compiled the lists and I can enter the data for you. Beides i have lots more essentials for software other than Bryce.:D

I just knew when I started this thread something like this was going to happen. It's called "The Law of Unintended Consequences"

Or as we say in the Fire Service: Oh well.

Best to all,

Jacques

Somebody mentioned using photoshop plugins with bryce, anyone have more info on that?

i think you used to be able to use kai's power tools or something in bryce 4. i might be wrong..

m

You can find the Pjotoshop plugins in the Terrain Editor. I'll have to look to see exactly where the little buggers are. They're kinda hidden. :D

But then that's Bryce for you :)

I was wondering.

When you load a picture to use as a texture, there is support to load plugins or something to edit the image but I have no idea what it wants.

Am using bryce 5.1 on one machine and 5.5 on others.

Anyone know where I can get Pjotoshop?
Maybe I can get it from Afobe.

You don't need Photoshop to use the plugins in Bryce. Just download them into a folder named 'Photoshop Plugins' on your C; drive. Tons of free ones on the Net.

SevenOfEleven, If you want Photoshop, you'll have to buy it from Adobe or another vendor. It's not cheap. You might consider using GIMP. It's similar to Photoshop and it's free. Just Google 'GIMP' and you'll find the site.

As far as using the plugins, just click on the one you want then adjust the image. All plugins preview the results and you can always undo if you don't like what you get.

Damn, I can't remember where the #^%*^$! Photoshop Plugin button is! Anybody remember?

Pakled, calyxa, electroglyph, Bryster, anybody! Help, I need you!

@ deadwarrior: including readme files would probably be left up to cut-n-paste into the description field in the database.

There's also the Gimp for Windows.

Thaks D_A_M for the clarification. Keep me posted on your database project. I think it'll be a great resource for all the Bryce artists.

Still can't find that blasted Photoshop Plugin button. Do you know where it is?

Woah! Seven! Where have you been? It's like a zillion years since I saw you here! Or are you someone else..............?

Thanks for the info.

I have photoshop already so I just need to tell bryce where the plugins are.

Don't have Pjotoshop but thats ok.

What database are you using for this project?

GIMP for windows is great, you may want to note that you need to download gtk first...

Both downloads avalaible for windoze here: http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

(plus help and animtion extension if you want to d/l them)

If you decide to use GIMP, there is pulg in called PSPI that then allows you to use all your photoshop plug-ins.....

Thanks Gog for the links.

Word of warning: PSPI does not play well with ULead plugins. GIMP will crash faster that a gay Republican Senator :)

deadwarrior
GIMP will crash faster that a gay Republican Senator
<
He is not gay, just very friendly in the bathroom.
Have to be on the prowl for more potential voters.

@ SevenOfEleven: I'll be using SQL Server for the finished project. In fact, I'm sitting in this crowded coffee shop working on the larger database project this thing will be associated with.