I'm stuck for cash at the moment (job problems) but I'm also just a tiny bit addicted to Bryce and my old B6 could do with an upgrade.  As someone who models exclusively with primitives and doesn't even know what HDRI means (something to do with lights, yes?) I'm curious to know whether purchasing B7 will simply gift me with more bells and whistles I'll never use.  There seem to be two versions on offer - B7 and B7 Pro.  Help a noob out: which would be better for me, what are the benefits of upgrading and is there any substance to the horror stories about B7 elsewhere on this forum?

Cheers in advance.

EDIT: hope I don't come over sounding too dumb!

I beleive there is a learning edition of B7 which is a third option.

Quote - I'm stuck for cash at the moment (job problems) but I'm also just a tiny bit addicted to Bryce and my old B6 could do with an upgrade.  As someone who models exclusively with primitives and doesn't even know what HDRI means (something to do with lights, yes?) I'm curious to know whether purchasing B7 will simply gift me with more bells and whistles I'll never use.  There seem to be two versions on offer - B7 and B7 Pro.  Help a noob out: which would be better for me, what are the benefits of upgrading and is there any substance to the horror stories about B7 elsewhere on this forum?

Cheers in advance.

EDIT: hope I don't come over sounding too dumb!

There are some excellent video tutorials on how to use the new bells and whistles over at Daz..they will help you to explore Bryce7.As to which version will suit maybe download the PLE (free limited version) and see how you go.

http://www.daz3d.com/i/software/bryce7?_m=d

I've been using Bryce form version 4..on my two machines I have now currently installed on my two machines Versions 5, 5.5, 6.3, and 7 Pro. There are certainly horror stories and I've read them all. I've tried all types of tests with Pro 7, imported .3ds, obj's played with all the different lights (mow that is a learning curve)etc., also, read in some of the forums the above mentioned formats don't import correctly. Here's an example I import a figure from DAZ figure pops into Bryce no hair. No big deal I go back to Bryce and import just the hair. Now in Bryce before I move the figure in any way I just re group the figure and presto done. No big deal. You need to learn to work slower in Pro 7 it's a bit different then the other versions, but let me tell you this the results are great. And YEA so are the bells and the whistles. I'll bet you that in time you will use them. For me the program works well. Also for me very miner issues. I won't tell you go for it as I don't want the blame if things don't work out for you. But as far as I'm concerned Pro 7 is way cool.   I do not post in the forums but for some reason your comment caught my eye. I therefore gave you my two cents. Good luck !

Yes, Bryce 7 is buggy. One oft he new things you get is export Trees. I exported this bald cypress but the leaf shape I got was spade shaped instead of parallel rows of needles. This is just because the exporter doesn't make a transmap for textures. You can get it by editing leaf materials and stealing the second window.

Here's a nice one, export metaballs. As with most Bryce exporters 3ds gives an error. You have to export in obj. When I do this I can't import into Rhino. Wings will open the 3ds and can export in 3ds or obj. Rhino can then read either no problem. I also can't seem to control metaball mesh quality so the exports are quite large.The reason you see sofew red triangles inthe image is I turned the selected mesh on the display down to 16 to try to reduce the file size with no luck.

So what's the difference in pro? I don't know because I never really played with the demo. You get lot's of telephone poles (Just kidding). I have half a dozen new lights on my toolbar. There are fill and dome sphere and cube lights. There's a distant light that acts like a sun and influences clouds in the sky. Round and square parallel lights don't spread. I haven't figured out how to use lens flare yet.

There are a few dozen tweaks in the control bars. Don't think they are exclusive to 7 pro. You can crank the sun up to 999 now. You have X,V Zcontrol over HDRI instead of just rotate. There's a long and probably incomplete list on the DAZ website.

The regular 7 download is $16.47 and pro is $54.97. I'm pretty sure that DAZ will offer an upgrade from regular to pro eventually. It may be more than the difference in the introductory price now. Either way you can count on DAZ to release a free update for most of the bugs before the next full version.

I have Bryce 7 ple (personal learning edition) installed on my computer. Though not all the features of Pro are unlocked. You can get this free version at Cnet.com, and search for Bryce 7.