Hello everyone. I am new to this forum, today, and fairly new to Bryce and I have a couple of questions. If I make an object, a door for example,(not boolean, just a using the primitives) how can I save it to a file to use it again instead of having to merge files? I just rebuilt my system and had to reinstall everything and when I rest the RAM level for Photoshop, it dawned on me, "Is there anyway to designate a preset amount of RAM for Bryce?". Is there anyway to set a volumetric plain (ground, water, atmosphere) when creating it? As in somehow giving you a choice. In the texture editor, when I go to the 2D picture editor and apply an image, sometimes (most often) it doesn't show up. Do i need to apply this to a 2D prim only or should it be able to work on a 3D prim also? I know these are a lot and I apologize. Any help would be greatly appriacted. Thanks.

1. Select your door objects, then go to the create libraries, pick a category and use the add option. 2. I'm not a Mac user, but I heard you can set the amount of ram an app uses with that OS. For Win I have only a few apps that let you set the amount of ram used, Bryce is not one of them. Bryce will utilize all your ram if you build a big enough scene file. 3. To use volume materials on planes, create a volume plane. On the Create palette click and hold down on one of the plane tools, a surface or volume option menu will pop up. 4. Does the picture load into the editor, and did you use the check to exit the editor? If it does and you did, then it could be because of the mapping mode, or how the texture window has been translated ( texture scaling, moving or rotating ) top left button on the texture window. Or at the bottom of the mapping modes see if Scale Pict Size is enabled, if it is disable it.

EXCELLENT. Thanks Stephen. You have just answered question that have been bugging the **** out of me. I'm on a PC running Win XP, AMD XP2100+, 512 mgs of 2700, WD120 gig 7200 rpm HD with the 8meg buffer (what a difference in rendering times)(also ahve a 60 and a 45 gig for storage. I once crashed and lost EVERYTHING!! I have since learned) and an Annihalator 2 Ultra 64. It does everything and then some. I just didn't know if I somehow missed RAM settings. When in teh DTE, the picture sometimes doesn't load and I will go back and redo it. (deleted, import, apply, click check) and it still doesn't go sometimes. I make sure that I am using a .bmp or .jpeg for the texture, also. I will have to go look at the scale pic to see if it is enabled. Much appreciated. Thanks.

The DTE ( deep texture editor ) is where procedural textures are made ( Bryce's on board or local textures ) How are you going into the Picture editor? If you go in by: clicking on the four arm guy ( on the create palette ) This is for making picture objects, a 2D plane will be made with the texture on it. If you go in by: Object/Edit 2D Picture You need to have the object selected in the scene window first. If you go in by: clicking on the Source Editor Button on a texture window ( in the materials lab ) make sure you exit the picture editor by clicking on the check, if you use the X no changes will be saved. Using the check or X to exit goes for all of bryce's Labs.

I go into it through the DTE "after" I have already selected the obj. I just went in and tried to do it and it just wouldn't take. I selected a sphere and gave it a white texture from the texture editor. Then I went into the DTE and clicked into it. I selected a bitmap image and clicked on the check mark to get out. The image was black and green (something that should definetly show up on white) but it didn't go through. In your initial response you mentioned the mapping mode, and the picture scaling. I looked around and didn't see either. (Maybe i'm going blind) Favor, if I may. I was wondering if perhaps I can send you an image that I am working on. I don't know anyone that does any sort of graphics, so I can never get an opinion on what I am working on from an artists perspective.

When you went into the DTE did you press the P in the lower right hand corner first then click the edit button and load your picture then click the check marks? Hope you could follow that.

Oops make that lower LEFT hand corner.

Nooooooooo!!!! You've got a faster AMD processor than me. Have fun with it! Bryce is a very slow renderer so you'll neeed the speed.

What material channel are you putting the texture window in? Usually for surface shading the Diffuse Color channel should be used. But the Ambient Color channel can also be used. The mapping modes and mapping options are found by clicking the arrow at the bottom right corner on a texture window. The text at the right bottom describes what mapping mode the texture window is in. I'm a little confused at where your at because ( as far as I know ) you can not load an image in the DTE. So here's a walk through, create a sphere, click on the M icon to go to the Materials Lab. In the Material Lab put a button in the Diffuse Color Channel ( A slot ) Then on the Texture Window ( just created ) click the P button ( stands for Picture ) second button bottom left. Then the second button top left is the Source Editor Button. It will take you to the Picture Editor, load your image in the first window ( the first window is for color ) ( the middle window is for alpha & bump ) ( the third window is a combination of the 2 ) copy and paste to the middle window for alpha and bump to be present on the texture window. Then exit the Picture Editor by clicking the check. Now back in the Material Lab the texture window should have the color information in it's first window, alpha information in the middle window, and bump information in the last window. If the 3 windows are just black or white, my first guess would be that something is wrong with your install. Because you should have seen the images when you loaded them in the Picture Editor. But they are not saving when you go back to the Material Lab. If you can see the images in the Texture Window then they should be displayed on the object in the preview window on the left of the Lab. If they are not on the display, it could possibly be a mapping problem. If you see the image on the display object but it isn't there ( on the object in the scene ) when you exit the Material Lab, ( using the check ) then again there could be something wrong with your install. Just so you know, if you click the T button ( stands for texture ) on the Texture Window then the window will use a procedural texture created in Bryce. When a Bryce texture is being used and you click the Source Editor button it will take you into the DTE ( deep texture editor ) pictures can not be imported into the DTE.

I followed your mini tutorial and everything worked just as it should have. I could have sworn that is what I was doing before. Maybe just a blockage in the cranial cavity. when I said that I was going in through the DTE, I left out that I was then going into the Source Editor afterwards. I really appreciate all your help. You also cleared up something else that I was wondering about in reference to the alpha channel and bump windows. I'm getting a much better understanding of the DTE now that things have been dramaticaly cleared up. Especially the what mapping mode I am in. I see what a difference that makes when putting a bmp or jpeg to an object. Aldaron, I thank you also for your input. Rayraz, YEAH BABY!! Big difference in render times from a 1.1 T-Bird. When the next gen of vid cards comes out (after the gf 4) then I will get a new card. Stephen, also, about that image. I would really like your opinion, if possible.

I'm saving some money to buy me a new video card too. The old Voodoo-banshee from my fathers comuter is really to slow. How am I going to work on my 15-million-poly scenes in open GL-mode in realtime with such a slow Voodoo. My video card is the oldest piece of hardware in my machine, because I've got a really small budget I can only upgrade parts of my computer each year. My processor is an AMD 1800+, and together with my king-size full-tower, my motherboard and my RAM it's the newest addition to my system. Having just a 15.2 GB harddisk is a drag too. Does anyone know how to make money fast? ;-)

Boomer, You can post an image here, just use the ( upload image option ) make sure it's a jpg. You'll be surprised at the constructive comments and techniques or suggestions people will give you. Even if you may feel the image isn't worthy of showing, we have all been there before.

This particular set of questions is intensly important to me. I am very glad they were asked. Problem: I bought Kromekat's Woodland Complete Series. (thats not the problem) Adam has gone into the woods and loaded real life trees, leaves, moss, grass etc. He gives an excellent tutorial with it. NOW, the problem: When I down load the Pictures of say a tree, the material, and I try to apply it to the tree from the E lab, I get a stand up three dimensional box and it has the texture, but not on the terrain. It shows as a terrain flat and ok, but super imposed on this terrain is this box which has the material. What did I do wrong? You say it makes a big difference of how you enter anything in Bryce. OK. I thought I couldnt find the P and at first I couldnt, so I went around and went back to the Create Menu, found the four arm man and went in that way. Suffice it to say, Adam and I both have not been able to solve this problem. He has Bryce 4.0 and I have Bryce 5.0, does this make a difference, we don't think so. Any help in re-sorting this problem out will finally allow me to create some pictures in Bryce using his Woodland Series. Its been several months and I still can't use it or solve the mystery. Lightpen

I'm with ya on this Lightpen. Let me explain it my way. Like Stephen said, create a sphere first of all. Select the sphere, (higlighted in red wireframe)and give it a texture from the regular texture editor that you see in the main interface at the top. For arguments sake, pick a stone texture. Once you've done that, with the sphere still selected, click on the "M" that you see next to the sphere. This has taken you into the Materials Lab. In the upper right hand corner, you will see the rectangular box with three windows in it. Got it so far? Cool! OK, on THAT RECTANGULAR BOX ONLY, you will see 6 round buttons. One in the top right corner, The Texture Library (allows you to get a new texture), bottom right is the Texture Mapping mode (how the texture will interact with your sphere.) On the top left are two buttons. When you put your cursor over the first one, it will say "EDITOR". If you click on this, it will open up the transformation tools that look just like the object editing tools you see in the main Bryce interface. These will resize or rotate the texture and the texture only on your object. To the IMMIDIATE right of this is the a button that will say TEXTURE SOURCE EDITOR when you put your mouse over it. This is what takes you to the DEEP TEXTURE EDITOR. When you open this up, you will see three windows. Follow Stephens replies on this. He explained what each window did. At the bottom left are two more buttons. When you put your mouse over the first one, it will say PROCEDURAL TEXTURE. This seems to be the default setting and is what you're currently working in. DIRECTLY TO THE RIGHT -------->>> is another button that when you put your mouse over it, it will say IMAGE TEXTURE and has that ellusive "P" on it. Click on this and you will see the three windows change to look like the gold dude from the create palette. Good so far? OK, now, go to the buttom straight up from this one. Yes, it's the Texture Source Editor button again. This takes you to the gold dude where you can import your .bmp or ,jpeg. Hope this helped you, cause it cleared it up even more for me. LOL.