bryce5

[doobs]

as anyone upgraded to version 5 yet....would appreciate some comments about the new features...there is an existing review on www.bryce5.net but the product was still beta then...just wondering how good or how buggy the released version is.
thanks

[doobs]

as anyone upgraded to version 5 yet....would appreciate some comments about the new features...there is an existing review on www.bryce5.net but the product was still beta then...just wondering how good or how buggy the released version is.
thanks

[Earl]

I was a part of the beta testing group, and although I can't discuss anything related to the beta, I can say they've worked very hard to add many more useful features to the program. Although some of these features are not bug-free (when are they ever?), they can definitely be used in creative ways to produce some effects never before achievable in Bryce. Unfortunately, they did NOT add support for the graphics tablet. So people like me still cringe just opening the program. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] But if you're not a tablet user, or if you don't mind switching to a mouse when using it, I'd go download the demo and see for yourself what's been changed. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[Gary David Bouton]

Hi Earl--

Wow, wotta guy [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] You actually honor NDAs!!!!
I do, too, and I'm kidding here.

I sort of shudder at Corel corp.'s engineers improving upon Bryce. First, it was a product by this French guy who brought it to HSC Software, and Kai Krause (I'm sorry...I cannot stand him) added the psychedelic interface to it, so Bryce was a wonderful program with a stupid interface.

Through the revisions, some really bright programmers at Fractal Design (then MetaCreations, and now Dirt) put a lot of hard work into the program to become more than a "sand dune picture" generator.

Ken Musgrave is perhaps the most knowledgable person I know whose concentration is on fractal landscapes...he did the Genesis flyover in the motion picture Star Trek. He has not disappointed my be giving us all low-level control over the program (low-level means you get into the guts of a program...high-level means the programmers have insulated you from the core of the program).


I hope Corel engineers don't screw it up, as they have done with several versions of corelDRAW including the slothful CorelDRAW 10. I know those folks, or at least I used to, and everyone there was ambitious, about 20 years old, and hadn't a clue about the software world from U-Is to marketing.

I've got my fingers crossed.

The attached file is for Corel engineers.


Kindest Regards,

Gary David Bouton
www.boutons.com
Gary@GaryWorld.com
Visit a really large gallery at www.GaryWorld.com!

[Earl]

I share the same feelings Gary. Bryce, although I've never liked the interface, was at least a unique program that had its own niche in the market. It's power has really increased with each version, and all in all I still think it has a lot of potential - especially if they start to focus on photorealistic environments. If they incorporated cutting edge technology, such as HDRI, radiosity, caustics, etc, they could produce some truly awesome scenery - which could then be used with other 3d programs for a unique blend.

But then there's the issue of Corel. I used to think this company had good intentions, but now I really don't know what to think of them. As a Tier 1 beta tester, I've been able to see a limited amount of 'inside' stuff, but honestly it scares me how they opperate. Programs like Draw, Photo-Paint, and Ventura could be leaders in the industry - they could very well set the standards for other programs. But version after version Corel seems to just mess around, and not get anything worthwhile accomplished. They've turned potentially awesome programs into buggy, moody applications. I still love Photo-Paint, and for vector work I'll still use Draw, but I can't help but worry about Bryce in the hands of Corel...

I think for the first released version coming out of Corel, version 5 of Bryce isn't bad. I do think they could have done better (especially with interface improvements, and added support for graphics tablets).

[doobs]

at first glance the renderer has improved a great deal more certainly in quality .it does remain as slow as ever though(i did a test render with one terrain only using true ambiance setting and depth of field and it took more than 2 hours to render on my pentium 3 with 384/ram).
more brushes in the terrain editor and support for tablets would have been most welcome as earl suggested.
unlike most people here i do like bryce interface at least till version 4 (not sure about these blue/silver icons)as i found it most intuitive.
haven't had much time to play around with all the new features.
the french guy that started it all is still producing software.his name is eric wenger http://www.uisoftware.com/
as far as realistic landscape making nothing comes close to terragen though and if it ever makes it to version one with all the planned features it will give bryce a run for it's money.
still 29 days from now chances are that i will upgrade once more.
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