Ahh... This makes pleny of sense. Thanks.

I've got an even better idea now... (I'm coming up with some crazy stuff again.)

Drum roll please

What IF... (note the big IF) The software users owned the program? No, not just the permission to use a single copy which you paid for. I mean, what if somehow everyone owned the licence... Which would make it public domain. Effectively changing it from proprietary to open source? To do this, somebody trustworthy would have to start something like "Bryce.org", where donations are towards purchasing the licence from Corel. The idea would be to foster the further development of a program that's currently languishing in their possesion. Now that would even be cooler than trying to work it into the hands of just one company that's better suited to the program. And if it were open source, it could be developed by multiple companies. Kinda like Linux is with its OS. But I dunno how well something like that could work for a graphics program. Maybe I'm just trippin' tho. ;)

Hmmm...

Use cylinders made from that green glow preset that comes with Bryce. I find that it works well. Then adjust colors and intensity to your liking. :)

Looks good. Pages loaded nice and quick. Being curious, I took a looksie at the source and it seems everything is functional and doesn't appear to have the code bloat that some web pages have (where you have 3 different commands all telling the same line what typeface to have, etc. which is typical of some webpage generators.) So you're doing something right in that regard. Also note that it would be a good idea to eventually incorporate pages under the categories. Something with a search and perhaps a subcategory function. If this place grows, you don't want to scroll forever just to find a model. Not to mention the time it would take for all the thumbnails to open. So keep that in mind as far as the directory layout goes in the future. It also appears to be yet another place to find 3D objects for free. So that's a good thing. Will this place eventually have some way of submitting 3D models? Hmmm...

1024x768 (XGA resolution) seems to be the most common these days. It has the best balance of image clarity versus processing power.

But I'm curious on something relating to this topic...

Some would consider this mischievous, a little deviant, or perhaps even a waste of productive time... Has anyone ever played jokes on people by changing their computer's wall paper?

Something like playing around with a company logo (change it slightly in a way that people might not catch it the first time looking at it) or altering the colors of the screen background (result: @#$@%@! Why isn't my degauss working?!) Or the best prank yet using this method... Screen capture their desktop. Then using your fav 2D prog, cut and paste the icons from the screen capture in parts of the screen where they normally don't sit. It's hilarious watching somebody hellbent on trying to delete the "extra icons" from their desktop. (This one even had an admin user scratching his head trying to figure it out. LOL!) 8)

I hope I'm not the only one here who's done this.

Uhhh... The title would make this idea obvious. Have the statue guy by the curb with some cardboard boxes full of office supplies and the trash. But then again, that idea probably would deviate from what you're going with.

Yeah... A lot of work... (Search by artist. Go to my own gallery. Find image not assigned genre. Select edit. Assign genre. Hit "done". Then have to search my own name again, since 'rosity hasn't figured out as of yet how to return me to my own gallery - it defaults to image category.)
I'm also suprised by how many genre's one person can cover. Some people can stick to one thing and be really good at it. Me, I'm too scatterbrained to stick to any one project and somehow have achieved a modest level of craftsmanship. Not to mention that I play with more than one type of category here: photo, WIP (same thing as modeling?), 2D drawing. Now if only they had some way to add multiple genres to an image. Seems that most of my work is geared toward humor/whatever (right now the bias usually going to the whatever part, since I can only select one genre.) Also it couldn't hurt if someone would provide a definition of the genres somewhere, so people would have a better understanding of where to put their works (Is this abstract, surreal, or weird?)
Now if they could get the genre searches to go beyond the "What's new" level... Or am I doing something wrong. Hmmm...

Well... As far as I know... PSP 7 came out about 2 years after 6. When it came out, it was priced around a reasonable $99, which was the same price that 6 was when it was new. Word is now they're beta testing PSP 8 already. Updates aren't always happening as fast as some competitors, but if the program has few bugs to begin with. Honestly, if they keep in line with the pricing strategy (new version same price as old, and discounts for upgrade) then it can't be a bad thing. Also from my experience with JASC's PSP6 the manuals and help menus actually tell you things about the software. In fact, the help menu is useful to the point you don't really need the manual. I don't know if you noticed, but there are many things left out of Corel's Bryce manual (probably why this forum is so popular.) And the help menu isn't of much use (which is why most Brycers have that dog-eared manual lying around nearby - if not various website printouts and Susan Kitchen's book.) If Jasc somehow got Bryce, I would assume that the documentation and help menus would be one of the biggest and foremost things to fix. Assuming the critical nature of such an investmet, I'd also guess that they would review the program code and do something to make it more stable and robust. (You know, things like "internal error: Bryce failed because of conflict with Bryce", etc... Has Corel done anything about this yet?) Also if Bryce were priced at a budget level, it should be profitable as it would be available to more hobbyists. I dunno if you noticed, but usually software below $100 is on the shelves where you can look at it. Therefore, it gets more exposure. It wouldn't be hidden in the glass cabinet with the pricey stuff that would be in direct competition. It seems this strategy would work well for sales of a 3D application, PSP obviously proved it can work in the 2D market. Well, to put it this way. JASC has no major 3D program as far as I know. Their 2D software is priced and geared towards the home user. By obtaining Bryce, it would make perfect sense in the way that the company could enter the 3D market. And IF they had an pricing/marketing policy for 3D that was the same as 2D - then the 3D program market would truely enter the hobbyist price range (you know, beginners and the curious. If you're getting started and live on a modest budget would you rather pay $90 or $300+ ?) I would think of this as a potential win/win situation. Since currently there isn't much in decent 3D rendering/modeling software for less than $300 (excluding pirated stuff and crippled/watered trialware.) To round it up is I'm saying, company C has a product that they don't care about because it's not "competitive" in the market (high end) that they're catering to. Company C sees it as "why should I improve the product when it's not doing good in the market I'm interested in." Company C is caught in a loop, since they lack the vision either make their program better or try catering to a different market. Company J would benefit from such a product because it covers an an area (3D) of their market (entry level) which they don't yet serve. Company J would be competive in their market with company C's product. Since it would do well for them, they would see that investments are made to improve the product. For another anology, I'll put it in "car terms"... Cadillac was trying to sell a car called the Cimmaron in the mid 1980's. It was a complete dud for them. However, the same car was quite successful for Chevrolet - if you didn't know - it's the Cavalier. In this case, the product was still owned by the same company - but the divisions trying to sell the same product served entirely different markets. An obvious example of a decent product, yet a market mismatch. I dunno if this makes enough sense. I don't even come close to having a degree in marketing or economics, but that's the best way I could put it.

Uhhh... Somebody needs to talk Corel into giving up Bryce and then talk JASC into buying it. Then the next thing is hunting down the people that originally were involved at MetaCreations, and seeing if there could be an offer worthwhile enough... Somebody might know how to knock the dust off of those hidden functions, and documentation development should be decent considering JASC's reputation. Then we could have a nice program running for about $100 that's actually updated. A renderer for the common man. (Which would compliment PSP, the 2D prog of the masses.)
Of course something like this would never happen in reality. But one could at least dream, right?

I see a guy in a space suit. So was this inspired by the end sequence of the 2001 movie? Regardless, it's pretty cool.

If you alt click the color selector thingy you do get RGB sliders. It's one of the things they don't mention in the manual. So you can get precise color selection in Bryce.

Now all you need to do is add some conduit, some pipe runs, and make it all dark and dreary like. And then try to find a model of H.R.Geiger's Alien... Yeah, that's it... ;)

In regards to Jordy's question: It depends on how slushy it is. If the snow's fluffy no probs. But wet snow can sometimes clog the thrower (impeller) blade part and stall the engine (unless you got one with some decent horsepower.) Then it's back to shoveling the ol' fashioned way. So far this year, I haven't seen any. It all went south of where I am (northern Illinois.) But I kinda miss the snow being here, since it gives me something to do besides sit inside the nice warm house.
Oh yeah, did you guys on the east coast enjoy dealing with the orange menace? (Well, that's the color of the plow trucks where I'm from at least.)... Just when you thought it was safe to go inside or move the car... (Cue Jaws theme music. Beeping noise as truck backs around corner. Scene shot of guy starting to walk up the porch, with flashing orangish light cast upon him from behind. Music goes into the dramatic crecendo. The guy turns around and drops shovel, puts hands to his head. "AUUUUUUGGGGH! #@$%@#$%@!") THE PLOW!
At least I didn't have to deal with that this year. LOL!

Hahahahah!!! You've got the next "Mel's hole" in your yard.

Now don't go telling anyone, otherwise the government and pseudo-corporate agents will want it and take over. LOL... Yeah yeah, heheheheh... ;)
If you don't know what I'm refering to, just type in Mel's hole on your typical search engine. :P

L8R!