What a pain! I have only recently bought Bryce 3D and already it is outdated... I actually also think it would be a great idea if they merged Poser and Bryce and allowed you to animate Poser characters in animated Bryce scenes. That would be amazing! Anyhow, my question (which I have put on the Poser board as well.) I import a Poser 3 fingure into Bryce 3D and apply the texture... OK, it fits. But when I render the scene, the Poser figure lacks colour. I mean it has the colour, but it is flat and even areas that should be dark shadow are grey. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Stuart Anderson (Andos)

The map looking washed-out comes from the lack of usemtl statements in Bryce. Usemtls are the colors on the figure you see in Poser when you are in the preview mode (no textures shown). Texture maps are actually layed over these instead of replacing them, white being transperant and black being completely opaque. This is why, if you have a peach colored figure and apply an all-white map, the figure will still be peach. The maps included in Poser are lighter so that they don't show up too dark on the figure when rendered. To counter this, darken the maps in a paint program when exporting to bryce. On a nice note though, they may send you a free upgrade to bryce 4 since you bought B3 just before B4 came out. Software companies have been known to do that sort of thing. Make sure you have sent in the registration card first and then contact company service.

Thank you so much for the tips on the rendering problem. I will certainly take that into account on my next image, but it is a bit late on my current project as it is extremely complex... so I will fix that in "post" work. On the versions thing, I am unsure if I have sent the card in yet... will have to check. But I actually live in the Middle-east and I doubt if they would send out an update. In fact I went into the store I bought it from today and noticed that they still have Bryce 3D on the shelves. When I pointed out that there was a new version available, they just shrugged and said they would put it up when it ships here. Meanwhile it is "buyer beware"! They were even unsure if I could buy an upgrade here, only a full version. sigh Anyhow, thanks for your help. Muchly appreciated. Stuart Anderson Andos

Provided you are within 45 days of the new release... you are intitled to a free upgrade. I know, I did it. You have to have bought it within 45 days of Bryce4 coming out though. Call 1-800-707-6382, that is their customer support number. i spoke to "Sean" to get my FREE upgrade.

Thanks for the tip! I hope it holds for overseas customers...! Cheers Stuart