Ok, so a quick look at their fourth quarter financials for 2002 shows that they took a big hit in the graphics segment of their business in 2002...grnated it was only the second worst sector and not first. Their 2001 annual reposrt seems to indicate a focus on enterprise licensing, ie:large corporations, content manegement solutions, and solutions for what they call the creative professional.(2002 was not on the site yet) Potentially good news? Not necessarily. They call Bryce a grpahics tool and do not include it in the financial reporting of what they call the creative professional line of their business. Based on one quick glance I can't say I see Bryce being in the fore front of their strategy for 2003. The most recent annual report available on their site, 2001, shows a significant reduction in operating costs...ie: they either got realy really good at what they do or they canned some people...most likely from the teams with the least connection to their strategy. Prove it is a tool for high end creative professionals, prove a significant market WILLING TO SPEND MONEY...and they might listen. Otherwise I'd say we'll be enjoying 5 for quite some time. Unless of course they continue to lose money in graphics at which point they might sell it.

Having been a C-level software executive for a few years I'll throw in my two cents for clarity of thought. Product managers, program managers, licensing people, they all care about their product because it is their livelyhood. UNfortunately they rarely have much weight when it comes to deciding what gets built next. At the end of the day Corel's decision will be based on what they think they can make out of the additional sales of an upgrade AND whether or not the development effort reflects who they want to be as a company. SO....if you're going to try to convince them to keep Bryce alive and well, you need to get some insight into what they are thinking they want to be, look up their annual report for example, press releases etc...and make your pitch based on future sales potential and on their corporate direction rather than on how neat we all think the program is. The 3d modeling market is becoming more and more saturated with a variety of products. Maya is the high end favorite, they win there. You'll have to be able to show where Bryce fits into a competetive landscape that now even includes a free ware offering. As a public company Corel's sales info is public information. Find it, compare it to the competition if you can, build a case for market position which includes their stated corporate direction...and you have a chance of making them listen.

Might be easier to politic Adobe into buying Bryce off of Corel. At least they update regularly.

perfect, thanks.

Ummm....this place has definately caused some nocturnal habits for ME tjohn...but I don't think I could be numbered amongst the undead just yet.

I had actually meant to give roobol credit in the original post. It was after reading his tutoprials on photo textures that I was inspired to give it a try. REalllly good stuff there.

DOH!! I thought you had it there...didn't work though :(

Nice...I like that approach better I think.

I am thinking you're right, it can't be done...at least not in any way I can figure out

I think I am missing what you're after. Using a flattened cylindar with the center cut out and then skewed into an oval doesn't work?

Very cool concept.

Ya know, I thought that might have been the case but tossed it out there anyway. Can hardly wait for the photo, the comparison would be really cool.

It DOES look like the front range...which I can look at from my back deck. :) I think I would change one thing...the texture on the ceiling. I wonder what it would look like textured similar to the walls...just a matter of personal taste I suppose but I love the image. This is great work!!