I have been usig Bryce since version 2.1 and now have Bryce 6.1. I have recently purchased Vue 6 Infinite,  convinced  by the demo reels and images I saw. I delayed this decision for a long time as I have tested Vue 1.2 and Vue 3 and was not convinced at the time.

Bryce has had a long time without developments in it and it lacks a lot of features that are vital, especially if you render views of outside scenes.

• ground vegetation and the fantastic ecosystem feature. There is currently no practical way to
• advanced render modes (global illumination and radiosity). It does have IBL and renders pretty well with it
• realistic atmosphere models. Though you can get good results with Bryce, but nothing close to the spectral atmosphere of Vue. Bryce clouds do not seem to have changed since V3!

Vue (especially Pro Studio and Infinite) has a lot more features.

As for the interfaces, I am more a fan of the Bryce one, but I think it is a matter of taste and habits. I have got used to it and find it easier to use than the Vue one and more esthetic. It also has less display glitches (no disappearing objects). Object geometry adjusts automatically when you move them, in Wireframe mode the lines are all antialiased, etc.
And the interface of some modules in Vue (terrain editor) is a pity when you compare it to Bryce, though it offers .

As for render times, Bryce has long been known for being very slow, especially compared to Vue. I think the render speeds are comparable at equivalent quality. Bryce default render quality is higher than in Vue with very accurate antialiasing and no graininess. If you want to get the same quality in Vue that Bryce offers by default, you have to push render settings and it gets slow. Funnily, the programs have the same issues with some options (DOF is equally unuseable in both of them)

And yes, I personnally find that Vue 6.5 is buggier than Bryce 6.1, but it handles a lot more things in its scenes. It is also way more expensive and needs a beefier machine to handle it. I have a dual core Athlon and 2 gigs of RAM and have had resource problems with Vue I have never had with Bryce.

Fantasy pictures, free 3d models, 3d tutorials and seamless textures on Virtual Lands.