Bryce 6.0 can take a Group made out of Bryce primitves, and turn that into a new **exportable** mesh. Some programs call this True Booleaning. In Bryce it is called Collapsing.

When you select a Boolean Group in Bryce 6, you will now see the new C box (see image), click this and Bryce will process the group into a new mesh. Once finished it can be exported out as any one of 11 different formats including obj, 3ds, dxf, & cob.

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Here is an example of a simple positive/negative group I made to illustrate that the meshes all look alike, although you can see the poly count is changing.

Here is the render.

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And, here is the wireframe.

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nice job Agent

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

cool. I'm going to have to rejoin the PC in the next week or so and get this then. $29 for the month membership + $6 for B6, will still be a few $ less than the upgrade price.

---

Jeff

Renderosity Senior Moderator

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I never thought I would see the day

"sigh"

Well, I think I might have to spend some hard bucks on the upgrade:)

Thanks AS

Michael.

I never intended to make art.

Hm, not even Vue5inf can do this magic; it's pretty sweet - great presentation AS!

Can you collapse the mesh and continue to boolean?

YES.  :o)

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Jimmy Buffet in the cd player, 2 inches of Jack in a highball, and Bryce 6 beaming out of the monitor. How sweet it would be.

Already experimenting with exporting Booleaned In 6 with materials, importing into Carrara. Next will be into AC3d, modify in AC3D, export, import to B6, push the envelope more with booleans......Whoo Hoo

I've already open a half dozen older render files, applying hdri & just checking differences.
Render times increased but impressive.

Thanks AS, These look great!

___
Ockham's razor- It's that simple

Now my models will conquer the world otside the bryceverse. Beware!

Good spelling is overaytead

OK, I just downloaded Bryce 6, and now I'm waiting for my content downloads to complete

---

Jeff

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In addition, the wireframe resolution for a selected object will affect the converted (not collapsed - sorry AS) mesh resolution. If the selected object resolution is 8, you'll get a chunky mesh with less polys. If the resolution is 32, you'll get a smoother mesh with more polys.

That's what erlik had said....I did NOT know that, lol. Thanks.

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B6!!  I'm getting giddy!!

Ah...  Nifty knowing that the wireframe density affects the mesh resolution...  And I thought it'd have a kind of exporter with a density slider like the older versions have for terrain objects.

Now I'm wondering what else might be tucked in there...

---

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Also feel free to browse my freebies at ShareCG.
There might be something worth downloading.

I was thinking about how to do this the other day but then I thought of Bryce and I feell throgh the thought bubble I was in. It looks like they thought of everything!

Can you export the textures too?

Good spelling is overaytead

...I've had NO LUCK in converting an IMPORTED OBP made from Booleans- into a mesh using the "Collapse" tool... (Some others have reported this also...)

...B6 just goes into an "hour glass" mode and eventually you have to kill it using the XP Task Manager- there's NO DIALOG saying what it IS or is NOT doing- so you have no idea really what is happening other than after 10-15 minutes NOTHING has happened...

...YES- I found the link to the on-line Bryce 6 documentation (still incomplete- but very useful...)

"When building Boolean groups for conversion, the following must be kept in mind:

Each object in a group, including any sub-groups, must be set to positive, negative, or intersect. You cannot have a neutral object in the group as the conversion process will discard it.
The Group can contain any object that can be Booleaned except an infinite plane/slab.
A converted mesh can be set to positive, negative, or intersect, then Booleaned with another converted mesh or new primitive objects.
The Group cannot contain metaballs, Bryce trees, lights, infinite planes/slabs, or the camera.
The Final group can contain multiple sub-groups, but each sub-group must be set to positive, negative, or intersect."

...I'm going to go back and see if any of this helps me- but what is STILL lacking is some kind of progress bar telling you something is being processed- or a dialog saying "Cannot Process"- so you have some idea what is happening!

http://documentation.daz3d.com/bryce/Bryce6ArtistGuide.htm

in regards to conversion

ya gotta be patient.  When I converted AS's Bolo robot during testing, it took (what seemed like) forever.  However, the models kick butt.  As a traditional modeller, I was totally sceptical about boolean modeling or any kind of real quality from a model created by such.  B6 flat out kicks arse in the mesh conversion quality.

I do agree, itd be nice to have some kind (any kind) of progress bar..even if it only cycled for each part of the model it was converting...itd be something.

What scares me most, is now that bryce can export...what will those models do now that they are set free?

I mean,  heck..Bolo's eye turned red and looked all menacing and stuff in Carrara.

:)

BT

...well I've been exporting nearly every Bryce model into VUE since Bryce 4.1--!!!   This was using the special B 4.1 "Easter Egg" trick. ..these models were also re-textured and look identical in Vue!

The difficulty becomes when Bryce modelers would embed a Boolean into a MESH-- you had to search out and remove each Boolean object or else the MESH would NOT export! In most cases this was not a big problem- just sometimes time consuming.

The actual example of what I'm trying to export now as a Boolean model is something made by Zoltar- it's been removed from his website however (Victorian Porch- nearly ALL Booleans!) But several other Zoltar models have little hidden Booleans in them- and must be rooted out to make the MESH export...   I haven't tried this yet with Bryce 6.

http://www.zoltarco.com/vict/index.shtml

Another thing I have been doing is downloading all the Boolean only models I can find- as some people may not like the idea that their models can now actually be EXPORTED as meshes... so those models may "disappear"...

...ultimately- I think this whole Boolean to MESH process is a step towards the next version of Carrara being able to directly IMPORT Bryce scenes! This is something I would welcome- and seems like the logical progression of what DAZ Carrara would want to offer it's user base...

Would like to know if the Booleans exported from Bryce 6 are polygon heavy as compared to other 3D packages.

How do you root out the booleans? How can you tell?  Sorry for asking this stupid question but have never worked with booleans - so have no clue as to what I'm looking for to root out.  Does Bryce tell you if it's a boolean, if so where?

Another thing - when you are ungrouping the model is there a list of  "parts" that can be seen - like a layer list?

 

 

 

Booolean objects look just like any other resident natural objects in Bryce....  not the obj files type.

Root out is the same as "find and remove"....  How you tell it's a Boolean object is by:

pointing you mouse arrow on any object and press ctrl+shif and click.. a small menu comes out and tells you the name of the object and says "mesh" or "cube, cone, sphere" or "meta ball"
see image...

cube, cone, sphere are the boolean objects.... you can not boolean mesh objects... meta ball work a bit different...  There is a list that you can see... but it is raw.. no editting of this persay list..   But one can name parts of the objects via the "object Attribute" function..  you can see the little "a" on that verticle list next to the pop up menu....

hope this was helpful...

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Booolean objects look just like any other resident natural objects in Bryce....  not the obj files type.

Root out is the same as "find and remove"....  How you tell it's a Boolean object is by:

pointing you mouse arrow on any object and press ctrl+shif and click.. a small menu comes out and tells you the name of the object and says "mesh" or "cube, cone, sphere" or "meta ball"
see image...

cube, cone, sphere are the boolean objects.... you can not boolean mesh objects... meta ball work a bit different...  There is a list that you can see... but it is raw.. no editting of this persay list..   But one can name parts of the objects via the "object Attribute" function..  you can see the little "a" on that verticle list next to the pop up menu....

hope this was helpful...

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very helpful!!! Thanks a bunch for taking the time to be so comprehensive :) I now understand :)

...also, like in the case of the Zoltar models- he has embeded only one or two SIMPLE booleans in his models- you need to UnGroup the models and clicking on the sections- MESHes all bring up the Mesh smoothing Dialog box, ...Booleans will NOT...

Once you've deleted the little Devils- Re-Group and do the Easter Egg thing (Control-D)... I always export in 3DS, OBJ and COB---all THREE-- as different modeling apps which made the models seem to "prefer" one over the others- and you will have THREE choices to see which model looks the best in your new program- Carrara, Vue, etc. (Because even the other prgrams have their OWN favorite reading-in model formats.)

 

Can you export the textures too?

Yes, although I have yet to test it out in detail. Again, when Brycetech exported out a leg of my Bolo robot, you could see that textures went with it. (the robot is almost completely covered in image textures.

Would like to know if the Booleans exported from Bryce 6 are polygon heavy as compared to other 3D packages.

I would say no, but I obviously need to go back and do more experimenting now that I know poly count can be dictated by the visual mesh resolution. But, after exporting my mesh (that you can see in the first two posts) it was 16,896 polys. That's not light, but you can see there are a lot of fine curves going on. And, it looked great after importing into other programs (it looked the same in other programs as it did in Bryce)

yet, I'll have to experiment again with that boolean, and using different mesh resolutions see how low/high the poly count can go.

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Thanks Veritas777 another great bit of very  useful info.

I will say as of know I have not gotten anything exported successfully.  I tried a rope bridge & once the conversion was completed the mesh was hideously distorted(reminded me of how some 3ds models import into Vue with parts all pointy & stretched out) :( that after waiting 3 hours :blink: I was using 32 as suggested by Darlisa.

Trying it again.

 

Thanks AS, please keep us posted.

...here's the spaceship that comes with Bryce 6 (it's one of the sample files)- I was able to export this just fine as a COB file- however B6 crashes when you try 3DS or OBJ... suggests two things to me-- B6 has a BUG using the Easter Egg option-- and that likely this spaceship model was made using Truespace...  (but maybe that B6 just really LIKES COB format files too?)

...to export this-- you MUST remove the 3 Bryce omni lights in the thrusters and main fuselage exhaust-- Bryce lights ALSO act as little export prevention devils!- (like Booleans) and need to be removed from any MESH set you want to export...

This image was rendered in B6 with the St. Peter's HDR file using AgentSmith's suggested HDR settings- He's right- you don't need more than 15-20% quality settings for shadows- and render time for this scene was just about one hour...

I've had some success today - wow is it time consuming:scared:

I did run across one issue(I did file a bug report) I was trying to export a "chalet" & after about 4 hours of Bryce churning I got a mathematical stack error - WTH is that(bryce did crash).  It has only happened with this 1 model with IMO isn't all that complicated compared to others I've gotten out.

Any ideas?

 

I've had some success today - wow is it time consuming:scared:

I did run across one issue(I did file a bug report) I was trying to export a "chalet" & after about 4 hours of Bryce churning I got a mathematical stack error - WTH is that(bryce did crash).  It has only happened with this 1 model with IMO isn't all that complicated compared to others I've gotten out.

Any ideas?

 

Well. bryce does indeed really seem to like COB files...

@AS, could u try exporting your famous bot? the one from way back that keeps appearing from time to time. i think u won a challenge with it once actually... u know which one i mean?

(_/)
(='.'=)
(")(")This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your signature to help him gain world domination.

I guess the first few months of use will iron out a whole lot of bugs as people try to 'push the envelope' and do things that no reasonably affordable amount of testing could discover...  Part of the fun of being at the cutting edge of Bryce :-)

dlk - try setting the selected resolution down a notch to 16 to see if that helps with the export.

Remember, for exporting converted boolean groups, you do not need to use the Easter Egg export. Instead, use File > Export Object from the menu.

And, as Veritas found out, Bryce lights cannot be exported and will prevent the conversion from happening properly, if at all.

So, make sure your final object has no Bryce lights, trees, metaballs, infinite planes, or neutral objects/groups.

Quote - So, make sure your final object has no Bryce lights, trees, metaballs, infinite planes, or neutral objects/groups.

And get rid of those pesky booleans while your at it  :D

 

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Digital WasteLanD

I do adore you so much Flak!

So it's "death to booleans" is it?

heheh

waves to Dar

Nah, I've seen far too many impressive boolean models that have been made over the years to ever say "death to booleans" and actually mean it.

From Bryster's Crystal Palace to Bambam's space ships to Alvinylaya's/Rochrs/Pidjys/AS's robots, to some insane person's cathedral front wall that she made years ago just to name a couple - they're all pretty damn impressive. The organization and vision it takes to build something really complex out of booleans just doesn't mesh with my head at all unfortunately. I seem to need hard polys to survive.

BTW - Do you know if they did any work on the other (old) export functions? I had some obj's that I imported and grouped and textured in bryce that used to not export for some reason... and was hoping that maybe they'd done some work on that part of the program (with textures in place and intact).

 

Dreams are just nightmares on prozac...
Digital WasteLanD

I agee with Flak. Being able to import .objs and "bake" Bryce procedurals on them for export would rock big time!

Yeah, I was kind of thinking of some of AS's sweet DTE results here.... imagine if those puppies could be baked onto a model for export :)

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Digital WasteLanD

IINW, DTE textures go out with the model. At least they did with the quick example I created in another thread. I used preset ones (two marble textures) and Bryce just converted them to image maps. So I don't see why other DTE textures wouldn't be exported too... But when you/Bryce do that, you lose the scaling ability, so scaling the model up later will most probably result in very weak textures. These ones exported were at 256x256, but the actual texture occupied only a part of the square.

-- erlik

Erlik - I don't have B6 yet - does that baking of textures work for imported obj's that you then want to export or just for boolean models made in and then exported from bryce?

Dreams are just nightmares on prozac...
Digital WasteLanD

Will have to try. Never really felt the need to re-export imported models.

-- erlik

The only time I re-export imported models, is when I use bought or downloaded models, and I export them to use in Carrara or Vue.

---

Jeff

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Did DAZ ever explain why Meta meshes/trees etc... couldn't be collapsed/exported? Whats the difference in mesh? Also, what has to be done to get the texture or material to stay with a model? I have seen the word "bake or baking" so much now, I feel I have to go to a culinary school .

Trees can't be converted or exported because they are based on metaballs and currently metaballs cannot be converted or exported. There's a bit more work involved in converting metaballs to a mesh than booleans because of the way metaballs work.

Flak ... some insane person actually modeled a cathedral in Bryce? What were they thinking? Musta been a newbie trying to prove something to herself ... er ... themselves.

And no, I don't think they worked on the OBJ export thingy for imported OBJs, but I can't be certain.

Here are the results of my first little test. I made this piece of a ship's rigging in Bryce 6 with materials, converted it, exported it to 3ds format, then imported it back for comparison to the original. As you can see the materials suffered a bit from the process but all in all I'd say it works well enough. Particularly true since my interest is to export pieces and use other modelers to bend or shape them in ways Bryce can't, then pull them back in to be incorporated into works in progress. I can deal with materials differences. So my verdict is that it's a *very* useful feature!

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein

Ummm, swarg, why would you need materials to finish the modelling process? And OBJ functions better with Bryce materials than 3DS. And no, imported models' textures don't work with re-exporting. I just tested on my model, with its own image textures. Imported into Bryce, set the textures in Bryce and all textures went out and back in completely black. Plus they were all 256x256, while the original UV mapped texture was 2048x2048. As far as I understand MTL files, this one was fine. Ambience of the materials in OBJ was set to ca. 0.2, diffusion to 1, specularity to zero... BTW, Darlisa, it still says "Exported from Bryce 5.5".

-- erlik

You're right, the obj does work better.  I'm not sure what you're referring to when you ask " . . . why would you need materials to finish the modelling process?"  By way of explanation I might, for instance, make a flat sail, export it, then use Amapi, Rhino, or LightWave to give it the right bend and sag. Then I could import it back in the shape I want before applying materials and grouping it with a yardarm & mast, etc. Ok, that's not a very good example, but do you see what I'm getting at?

 I like Bryce; it's familiar and intuitive and I'd rather stick with it than become a convert to LW or Carrara (though I often envy their render times).

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein

Sorry, no, I don't see it. If you export the model to Rhino, you don't materials exported with it. You only need materials to finish the scene after you've reimported the model into Bryce. So the material export feature is irrelevant. See what's confusing me?

-- erlik

@AS, could u try exporting your famous bot? the one from way back that keeps appearing from time to time. i think u won a challenge with it once actually... u know which one i mean?

Yup, the Bolo Robot. ;o)

I had given that robot to Brycetech a couple of Siggraphs ago, and he has already exported the whole thing out of Bryce and rendered it in Carrara, lol!

Myself, I've been so freaking busy, and so distracted by Bryce's HDRI, I have yet to get to the robot. But, I will definitely be coverting it all and exporting it out. That's absolutley why I'm gonna experiment with poly count, see how low I can get it, while still looking decent. Maybe teach myself how to rig up the arms and legs in Poser/Studio...

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Materials don't export with models, and neither does UV mapping. I built a model in 5 pieces in Lightwave, (UV mapped and with textures) then imported the pieces into Bryce and assembled them, then I exported the complete model, It exported without textures and when I tried to apply the textures manually, the UV mapping was gone too.

---

Jeff

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Yup, prior uv mapping does not carry through.

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UV mapping might not, but if you export a converted boolean that's textured, then import it back the material is still there . . . .  maybe not quite as good but there nonetheless as this picture illustrates. The two parts on the left are the original that's been exported to 3ds and obj formats with the wood material, then imported - materials more or less intact.

However, I wouldn't care if it didn't. I just want the ability to shape parts with other apps then bring them back in. I can deal with materials when the parts are finished.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein

Quote - That's absolutley why I'm gonna experiment with poly count, see how low I can get it, while still looking decent. Maybe teach myself how to rig up the arms and legs in Poser/Studio...

I'd guess that the lowest decent-looking model comes out only at 16. 8 is too low. Poser is way complicated for rigging. I can do it, but it's a pain because of the positioning. For instance, I succeeded once in moving one bone away from its parent, but never again. Now when I move a bone, its parent moves with it. Studio/Bryce needs something like the basic rigging in Cinema: you create a skeleton, assign it to a model and the program handles the rest. Of course, for good rigging you need to spend time on it, but the basics are easy.

-- erlik

Yeah, the lowest poly count on exporting is too low for a good level of visual quality....but if you wanted to export it out to be used in say, in a video game level/mod you were constructing...I would see that as nicely acceptable.

Yeah, I have never tackled rigging in any program. Not looking forward to the headache, but to eventually see something I built from the ground up walking around on the screen.....that would be awesome!

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