Thanks. I'll check this out. I model most of my objects in Rhino. So far they've been mainly organics which are really tough to get the map right on in the first place and then to top it off the file size for .obj vs .3ds is about 10 times greater for .obj

If this "integration" includes the P5 Dynamic Hair I think Bryce will become a memory. Corel has already announced in a 'rosity Q&A that integrating with Poser is not a high priority. I can't even fathom what their top priority must be... maybe increasing render time by another 50%. :)

Try setting the offecding light material to a flat white. 100% diffuse with no other mat settings. Then go back into the light editor and turn off the gel. This has worked for me in the past.

I have tried and it is impossible. Just the manipulation of a grove of palms to get each one unique took me nearly 8 hrs.

Oldy but goody: Stinger?

You might place another of these Leaky Sphere groups behind the camera so that its reflection can be seen in the foremost sphere. That should help to solidify the idea of a large field of these things. Very nice image BTW.

As has been stated, both Bryce and Vue have benifits and drawbacks. This is a list of my opinions based upon my very limited experience with both;

Vue Pros:
More varied vegitation (small in absolute number, but you get flowers, ferns, shrubs, trees...all randomly generated to be different from others of the same type)
Standard user interface for 3D aps
Faster render time
Three user defined cloud planes available within the sky dialog and user defined altitudes for each
Simple Poser file import (including animations with Mover addon)
Planets and moons available for placement in sky settings
Inherent lens flare (if you desire that sort of thing)
$199 base price

Vue Cons:
Stardard res renders are grainy
Though varied, indivdual plants are not easily manipulated
Has a history of being "buggy"

Bryce 5 Pros:
Deep texture editor (though difficult to master, the results are worth the effort)
Treelab allows for virtually unlimited creation of trees
Metaballs
Terrain editor is far superior to Vue
Image quality is superior at lower settings then Vue (you get what you wait for)

Bryce Cons:
Non-standard interface (easy to use after working with it for a while but daunting for nubees)
Poser imports require a good deal of manipulation
Slow render (again; you get what you wait for)
Two random cloud plains available in sky lab and both are at the same altitude
Sun and moon cannot appear in the same scene
Tree lab can ONLY make trees. ALL other vegitation must be imported
~$150 more base price then VUE

I am currently using both programs. I like Bryce for interior and other shots that require little vegitation. I like Vue for the scenes with lots of vegitation. That is the deciding factor for me at this point. Hopefully Corel will expand the "Treelab" into a "Plantlab".

The Mover addon for Vue would be a major factor for anyone wanting to animate Poser files. Adding Mover to the package brings the price to just above that of Bryce, but the results are amazing.

All other differences between the programs really can be worked around.

The document setup menu will not render larger then 4000X4000 (At least not for me). I typically have a render size of 5179X1831. What I do is check the document's pixel size with a blank PS file and then "Render to Disk" with a document of that size. Enter PS of Paint and create a new document at the size and DPI you want and then check the pixel size. Transfer this setting into the RtD dialog and walk away from your puter for a day or two or ten. :) I've also discovered that unless your image requires one of the premium options, i.e. Depth of field, regular strength antialiasing is adequate with LARGE images. I did a test and I could see no difference at all at the high resolution.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas... :)

Found the solution I think... Open the summary of materials and change the transparency funtion for the leave mat to "Clip under 10%" or 20% depending on the overall desired transparency of the leaf. Hope this helps.

Try using a Gel and changing the material to resemble the color that you want. This should also change to color of the visible light object.

This is possibly my only real problem with Bryce. I started with Terragen and I loved the results I could get with the skys. The program is so limited in it's functioning though, that I had no choice but to move up to Bryce. My wishlist for Bryce 6 is very short. Faster Render and more realistic skys. That's it. Give me that, and I'll have no complaints.

Good idea. I've just discovered that you can use this to animate the lightning as well. Just set the lights to pulse on for a second and then go off. Lights placed in a diffent sector of the cloud can then go on at a different time. It's a really cool effect. I wish I had time to play with this more.