I do all my terrains in 1024x1024, using Corel photopaint and a copy of Vistapro for the initial fractal generations, which gives me much better control over details in my landscape and allows me to do all sorts of custom shaping. As I do most of my terrains in 512x512 min resolution, and more often at 1024x1024 resolution (which is the only way to get really good looking terrain features), this works well, and it can always be sampled at a lower resolution if you don't need the fine stuff. As long as you import a greyscale at 512x512 or 1024x1024, the scale should not get screwed up.

So far, the only positive thing I've ever heard about Sham Mortier is that his first name is the truth. I fortunately was able to examine his book on Bryce at a friends before I made what would have been the tragic mistake of putting down real $ for it. The damn thing is not worth the match it would take to light it, & the Sham should be required to reimburse anybody who bought it at least twice whatever they paid. The Kitchens' book however, is exactly the opposite. It is without a doubt the best instruction on how to use a program that I have ever run across.

Slight correction: Windows XP has been found to BE a critical flaw.

Get AMAPI 4.5. Net-Search for it, as I don't remember the URL. It's FREE and will output in obj format which both Poser & Bryce can use. Lots of the people here use it. I've had it for a while and am just now finally starting to actually learn & use it. Go for it.

We need more characters that look like real guys instead of some weightlifters fantasy gone amok. There's an incredible range of shapes, sizes & colorings among real people, and most folks don't seem to want to change the basic poser people more than about 1% away from the "we're all damn near identical clones" standard that prevails. Also, more decent hair for male figures, and more clothes for them. I could use all of these. Actually, I for one have not much use for female characters, so the incredible preponderance of stuff for vicky & posette as opposed to the shortage of stuff for mike & dork has been very irritating.

Check out the AMAPI site. AMAPI 4.5 is free and is very good.

You know, this question comes up so very often that there ought to be a permanent statement at the top of this forum saying: "FYI, there is NO way to export obp objects from Bryce. Not under any circumstances. That's just the way it is."

The 2 new text fields are a good idea. IF they are implemented, I'd suggest a 'default' text in the credit field along the lines of "Thanks to all those whose freestuff contributions made this possible" and the ability to modify it to include specifics, or delete it in case the artist made everything him/herself. If that generic credit were always present, it should at least stop some of the bitching about not getting any credit at all in some quarters.
As far as the sorting options are concerned, a few more such as by 'theme' would be a good idea. I don't think it's a good idea to remove any of the existing ones. More options rather than fewer is always the way to go. The HTML formating option for the text would be really welcome.
As far as the 'theme' or other keyword type searching is concerned, it would be nice if there were some way to encourage people to actually use the 'keywords' input area, so many don't seem to bother at all (self also guilty as charged - trying to change that) & if they don't use the field, it sure won't come up in any keyword searches.

The ONLY things created in Bryce from scratch that can be exported are Terrains. Nothing Else, Period. If you IMPORT an obj file you can re-export it, but absolutely nothing made of Bryce primitives or booleans, not under any circumstances.

Whether in Bryce 4 or Bryce 5, you still have to apply the transparency maps separately. Grouper doesn't put in transmap info, only texture & bumpmap.

If you are looking for more input from fellow artists, try posting your stuff at 3DCommune too. I post both here and there, and I find that I might typically get 50-70 views & maybe 2 - 3 comments on a picture here, where over there I may get 40 - 50 views and 10 - 15 comments. Lots of us post in both places.

I don't think you can use Bryce as a converter. As far as I know (I might be wrong on this) - if you imported it as 3ds you can only export it as 3ds. I couldn't change 3ds to obj a while back when I tried to re-export so I could use UV mapper on a mesh. I finally took the original 3ds and used 3dWin (on a pc) to convert. I don't know about Mac, but on a windoze machine, 3dwin will convert all the major formats except max (and that's supposed to be supported soon).

Attached Link: http://www15.brinkster.com/mdaniel/3dmeshdwload.html

When you do the hair in poser, will it be exportable if you want to do the render in Bryce?

Yes, it was Anton. I used his peacock in my "Shri Saraswati" pic. It's also available at another site, I'll try to remember where if they don't have it at the propsguild.