From what I recall, Metacreations divested itself of most of it's 3D applications because they were redirecting their focus to Metastream technology for the web. They sold Poser, Bryce, Carrera, Infini-D, Ray Dream Studio and a few others AFTER acquiring them all from other companies a few years before. As far as I know it had nothing to do with them "losing Bryce" to Corel. I like Bryce5 personally, you want higher end animation tools? Plunk down several grand for Maya, Lightwave or 3D Max. Just don't expect to make Star Wars with a $300 app. You get what you pay for, in Bryce's case you get a bit more.