Hi all, so what's the sketch?

primalvisions

Hi everyone. 

I used bryce from 2002-2007, to make animations to play at music events. I recently came across my old files and have had great fun digging through them and re-redndering animation in HD, while at the same time refamiliarising myself with the program.

It really is a brilliant, charming program. Trouble is, there's does seem to be much new stuff online about it and I noticed the Mac contingent are upset, as they feel neglected. 

Does anyone know why the software seems to be dying? Is there some fundamental problem with the code base which means it needs to be re-written? Is DAZ going bust or are they just not that interested? I woudl love to get back into bryce, but obviously the concern with learning any program is... will it continue to be supported and developed? 

Sorry that sounds a bit negative, but it's what I see. Here are some screenshots to make up for it:

sriesch

Although I have my own personal guesses, I don't know of any official statement as to why Bryce development ceased.  Although I suppose it could be restarted someday, there has been no indication that it will, so the safe bet is to assume that it may simply remain as it is now, even though we may wish otherwise.  If you need new features I would look elsewhere. However if you are comfortable with the current version, there is no reason why you can't use and enjoy it.  We use it often and effectively, have been doing so for many years.  Although there is some risk that something unexpected will prevent it from working in the future (such as Mac users encountered), hopefully it will continue to work into the forseable future (or as long as you maintain your existing hardware/software for it). 

It also has the potential of getting faster and faster over time as our machines are replaced with faster ones.  I can do things now that I could not realistically do in the past simply due to much faster render times, using the exact same version.

Chohole

The Bryce development cycle ended after the latest version (Br 7.1.0.109) was released.   The Mac problem is partially caused by Apple removing certain things from the later OS Xs and partially because this happened after the last dev cycle had been run down.  Also the Mac Dev was on contract, and his contract ran out shortly after the dev cycle came to an end.   This was all posted,  by me, phrased in a much more coherent way, with permission from a member of the then Daz management team. Unfortunately it was posted on the old, old forum, the one which was archived, but now even the archive is not available, so I can't ressurect that conversation.  

Horo

Even if Bryce development was suspended in August 2011 it is still far ahead of many other 3D CG applications - but, sadly, also behind in a few respects, and still features some unresolved bugs. The biggest limitation is still the users that don't know how to use a program and are frustrated because there is no Make Art button. The Mac issue is a very sad fact but as Chohole pointed out, also partly due to Apple's policy to stop the support for all applications (not only Bryce) made for the Motorola processor in the minor upgrade (or rather downgrade) from 10.6 to 10.7.

Bryce is not dying, it is still sold and bought. It is a good program to start with 3D CG and there is a whole lot to discover and exploit once you get the hang of it. The best program is the one you know. There is no better program if the user is not prepared to learn it.

Whether Daz 3D will resume development of Bryce eventually I do not know. As long as I have a machine that can run Bryce, I will keep using it because it's fun. I purchased a couple of other 3D CG programs over time and worked with them. I wasn't impressed, they are not that shiny - though if I had spent as much time with them as I have with Bryce, chances are that I would be a bit more positive.

c-ram

Bryce is not dead even if like many and many other 3d program it's dying. To me, all 3d renderer are going to die and I explain :

I think that there's going to be a convergence between 3d renderer and real time renderer (video games). It's a fact and just a matter of time. For example and for landscapes pictures, when I see the progress of unity3d or unbiased software like octane, I can notice that I can get a more realistic result with the same quality and in a few time than Bryce or Terragen or Vue.

But, bryce have got this particular touch and working with it is really fun. I can get painted filling in my pictures and I feel like a craftsman while composing my work.

Of course, Bryce need to be re-written but I really don't think it will be, partially for the reasons I have mentioned here.

However, like Horo have write here : "Bryce is a good program to start with 3D CG and there is a whole lot to discover and exploit once you get the hang of it."

Peter Wade

Bryce works fine in Windows 10 and we are unlikely to get another major change to Windows for a long time now so I think Windows users are safe with the current version.

Like the others posting here I am perfectly happy using Bryce as it is, I think it's a great program. I would rate myself as a low to intermediate skill user but I have bought some tutorials and the Bryce Mentoring DVD and I intend to build up my Bryce skills, and  I have plenty of stuff to go through!