I just noticed the contest... Talk about old stuff :-)

I was looking for the May issue of PC Pro magazine, with Tom Arah's review of Project Dogwaffle, when I saw a copy of PC Pro's April issue that was still there at that bookstore. Interestingly, it had Bryce 5 on the covermount disk.

Anyone still looking to replace their aging Bryce4 or earlier? if you can get a hold of the April issue, this might at least get you to version 5.

Full version of Bryce 5.0 still available for free download.

See the "Still Free!" links in our forum header here for that and some other free stuff made available by the manufacturers.

Free? **Free?
**Ye Gods! We should pay just for the privilage of looking at a copy of Bryce, never mind owning one. Why, I would gladly sell my wife, my pc, my home and all my posessions just to raise enough capital to pay for a copy of Bryce 6.1
I would gladly crawl to every bank in the land to borrow every cent at exorbitant interest rates and swim the Atlantic Ocean, drag myself to Utah and claw my unworthy carcus up the steps of the DAZ3D building and kiss the feet of every Daz executive for permission just to gaze upon the Blessed Bryce CD.
And they GIVE it AWAY FOR FREE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????

Brysters' off his meds again..;) What would really bake his noodle is that Poser 5 was free for awhile, too..;)  Hey, give 'em the program, sell 'em the obps...;)

Yep, just might be a little suprising that the old version is free...

May seem a bit silly to most folks, but really it's quite a shrewd and apt move on DAZ's part. Here's some theories that might explain it:

1. The content mover theory: DAZ gives away the render environment for virtually nothing, because they make all their money on selling content. This could be considered a similar approach to what most printer companies do: sell printers for cheap and profit on the ink.

2. The piraten bypass avoidance theory: (Loosely based upon something I think Dann-o expained somewhere.) If DAZ didn't give away their product, people would bypass it by pirating more advanced and expensive software. Sure the people targeted in this case could afford Bryce, but deem doing something unethical and illegal would provide them a greater return in terms of more valuable software. So they'd skip the Bryce. But if Bryce is free, then there's a return for no risk at all and they reason "Why not?" Get exposed to Bryce, find out that it's actually pretty easy to use...  And then end up buying the upgraded feature-enhanced version at a price they should find reasonably affordable.

3. The curiosity draw: Basically a way to garner interest amongst people that dabble in random free software. Usually these people sample everything at Tucows, Cnet, SourceForge, etc. to find really cool stuff. They find a really cool free 3D program, and guess what? DAZ gets some free press. This helps with carry over exposure that moves their pay-for products.

You forgot number 4: free advertising

Just like getting a good review or mention by a famed columnist, or even a lousy review (it's still a review, it still gets to be read and discovered), and posting it on download.com makes it very visible, so if it is aging and old and a successor has been named, rather than killing the old man, let's put him to work for the new King.

You'll find Project Dogwaffle 2 on Computer Shopper magazine's June issue cover disk (out in the UK just... about....... now!) for exactly the same reason.

Hrm, it's diabolically genius!!

Most companies give away products, or sell it cheap, or at cost, or some at a loss.....just to get their product closer to you, to see if you might like it and will invest in more product.

Cell phone (free or cheap) - you buy the monthly plan
PS3, Xbox (consoles sold at cost or a loss) - you buy the games and online subscription
TV channels offering their shows online for free - you watch the commercials, buy the mug or t-shirt.
Computer printers - you buy the (overtly expensive) ink
Cable channels have free weekends (hbo, showtime, etc)
Food stores giving out free samples

Endless. (and smart)

Don't forget the weekly DAZ freebies.

In many ways marketing is a mind game. Just the same way as giving away a product, sometimes if you go opposite it works the same too. People often associate quality with price, or price with quality. If something is well made, but sold for cheap, sometimes it's not respected. If that same well made item is sold not too cheap, it might get a better response. 

I once bought a cheapy violin. Learned with it. Went to college, needed money. Tried selling for what I paid for, no one bought it. Raised the price $300 and it sold within days.

There is something called "prestige pricing" which is you take an item, like that violin, and raise the price and some ppl will think it must be good. $7,000 for Maya? It must be good! ;-)

But also the freebie thing could also work the opposite impression. If it's too cheap, or so, some ppl might think it's okay but not a serious app.

Bryce 5 as a free giveaway, great! It can help ppl get into 3D art who never had done any computer art before. Bryce needs all the help it can get to recapture loss (moved away) market. But sell the current Bryce for a respectable price to keep it respected. I hope this makes sense. Feeling sleepy....