Bryce Newbie Question

driktingdrikting Posts: 0
edited December 1969 in Bryce Discussion

1.)

Does the PC require a separate graphic card before Bryce can run? ( Not thinking of a complex long movie or anything very heavy, just basic
graphic pic design to start with)

How about a Macbook?

2.)

If I purchased a license for Bryce for 19.95, can I download one for XP and another for Macbook use? (One person usage)


3.)

Is there a trial version of Bryce to test out first? A bryce newbie here.


Thanks a lot.

Ting

Comments

  • LordHardDrivenLordHardDriven Posts: 937
    edited December 1969

    drikting said:


    1.)

    Does the PC require a separate graphic card before Bryce can run? ( Not thinking of a complex long movie or anything very heavy, just basic
    graphic pic design to start with)

    How about a Macbook?

    2.)

    If I purchased a license for Bryce for 19.95, can I download one for XP and another for Macbook use? (One person usage)


    3.)

    Is there a trial version of Bryce to test out first? A bryce newbie here.


    Thanks a lot.

    Ting


    Question 1
    No it doesn't "require" a seperate video card nor does it need a particularly high end card. I assume you ask this question though because you have a system with a video card integrated into the motherboard? Which is fine those will work too. The problem though is integrated video uses system memory and if the total memory available to the system is 4GB or less then the video card will be using some of the memory Bryce might like to use. As such that will maybe slow things down and it could cause out of memory errors depending on the scene you make because Bryce does pretty much everything in memory.

    Question 2
    As far as I know, Daz is still giving Bryce 7 Pro away for free, so you shouldn't have to pay anything. When you buy something from Daz you usually get options to download both a PC version and a Mac version. Daz isn't as fussy as some companies that require a seperate license for each machine they don't mind if you use more then one machine. What they do mind is someone trying to use one license for multiple people. As long as that isn't the case you're fine to use Bryce on both a PC and a Mac. The only thing to be concerned with on using a Mac though is Bryce 7 pro does not work on Mountain Lion or Above. I believe Snow Leopard is the newest version of the MAc OS that Bryce 7 Pro works on. Daz hopes to correct that in the future but when/if they do it's not going to be happening any time in the immediate future.

    Question 3
    When you had to pay for Bryce 7 Pro there was a free version called Bryce 7 PLE which is exactly the same but the user key that activates it only activates some of the features. If Bryce 7 Pro is still available for free as I think it is then there is no logical reason to use the PLE version.

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    Bryce 7 Pro and Hexagon have not been free for a few weeks now at least. I don't know if the PLE is still available or not, that still could be an option.

  • driktingdrikting Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Thank you all for the fast replies.

    Daz3d wrote there is only the Bryce paid version for now.. Maybe Bryce will not be free anymore.

  • LordHardDrivenLordHardDriven Posts: 937
    edited December 1969



    Bryce 7 Pro and Hexagon have not been free for a few weeks now at least. I don't know if the PLE is still available or not, that still could be an option.

    Ah okay I hadn't noticed that changed, I just grabbed Studio 4.5 today for free so I assumed Bryce 7 Pro was still free too. Based on your post though I just checked but it's not $19.99, currently it shows on sale at $11.97. Even at $19.99 though it's still a bargain. Wasn't it selling for more then that before they had that give away period? I want to say it was somewhere between $79 and $99 before but I'm not really sure and I don't feel like looking thru years of order history to find out what I paid for it.

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    Bothe Hexagon and Bryce are now selling for much less than they were before the free offer.

    They are still a bargain IMO

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    Bothe Hexagon and Bryce are now selling for much less than they were before the free offer.

    They are still a bargain IMO

    Bryce is always a bargain, no matter how much it costs. I have never regretted the money I have invested in buying every version since the first PC version came out with Br2.

    But I may be a bit biased :coolsmirk:

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    Only slightly biased :P

  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,630
    edited December 1969

    Considering how many $$$ I've invested in Bryce and still think it all was a bargain, I might also qualify as being slightly biased. :)

  • TrishTrish Posts: 2,625
    edited December 1969

    Bryce 7 pro is only $11.97 on sale which is well worth the cost

  • kiwi_ggkiwi_gg Posts: 198
    edited December 1969
  • OroborosOroboros Posts: 326
    edited December 1969

    ...What?

    B7 launched 4 years ago at $99 and went free 2 years after, basically because it was plagued with bugs and malfunctions.

    Now, 2 years after it went free, they've had no updates but they're selling it again?

    WTF???

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    To be honest, it didn't go "Free" It was offered at 100% discount. And it was always said the offer would be for an indefinite period, never that it would be free for ever.

  • cris333cris333 Posts: 107
    edited February 2013

    Oroboros said:
    ...What?

    B7 launched 4 years ago at $99 and went free 2 years after, basically because it was plagued with bugs and malfunctions.

    Now, 2 years after it went free, they've had no updates but they're selling it again?

    WTF???

    +1 to this (we should get a "Like comment" or "Vote" or "Rate this comment" button on forums ) :lol:

    What's the next step in Bryce development and community area ? Creating a new version of Bryce making older scene versions incompatible anymore (see "Missing object" error on loading scenes in older bryce version) and people with older versions of Bryce getting less answers or ignored resulting somehow in a forum discrimination?
    Bryce is still unstable ad unfriendly with (older) computers.For example ,Bryce crashes with 100% success when trying to load a corrupted .hdr in IBL with the error : "Only RLE compressed...".Not on every .hdr but corrupted hdr files causes this crash after clicking "OK".We don't know if a hdr file is corrupted on building/downloading/whatever, unless ..we need to preview in photoshop(HDR View cant open corrupted hdr). At least im glad bryce accepts Spherical maps too not only Light Probe .hdr types.Crosses are not accepted but i dont care because i have 2 options already.
    But the worse part in Bryce is (with a probability ~85%) after a crash, Bryce enters in a somekind of LOOP state , becoming unresponsive , GROWING the usage amount of 2cores CPU up to 100% and high usage of RAM..just like a virus.Even if i click Exit from bug report window.
    I had to kill Bryce process in task manager so many times that im a Bryce professional killer
    :lol:
    - i dont wanna f***k up my computer hardware from Bryce crashes ... :down: at least i kill the bryce process fast if i need it after a crash.
    12 usd for some people is a piece of cake but for someone from a 3rd world country is very much(India ,Brasil,Indonesia,Vietnam..etc) i guess for them it's PLE edition, not sure where's the catch, perhaps the savings are flagged just like in Maya the free(student) edition .Anyways i hope some money will be invested to fix some bugs in bryce.

    corrupted-hdr.jpg
    500 x 500 - 262K
    error-hdr-bug.jpg
    516 x 420 - 158K
    Post edited by cris333 on
  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,630
    edited December 1969

    That's right, Bryce only loads HDRIs in the angular map and spherical projection as radiance hdr formats that are run length encoded. The radiance hdr format can be compressed (RLE) or uncompressed. Bryce accepts only the compressed ones, which is not a bug but a pity.

    Files saved with a beta version do not necessarily load into Bryce 7.1.0.109, which is the latest release. But files from Bryce 4 up all load. There are several compatibility and legacy settings to adapt the loaded file to the newest version.

    Though there are undeniably still some bugs lingering around, I hardly ever get a crash. Admittedly, Bryce can crash if you don't use it correctly, for instance the Instancing Lab. Then, this is still a 32-bit application and 2 GB are soon exhausted since Bryce does all in memory. There is a free tool to make Bryce large address aware so it can use up to about 3.5 GB, provided the computer has that much memory.

    What is missing -- and this is absolutely inexcusable -- is the documentation.

  • LordHardDrivenLordHardDriven Posts: 937
    edited December 1969

    cris333 said:

    12 usd for some people is a piece of cake but for someone from a 3rd world country is very much(India ,Brasil,Indonesia,Vietnam..etc) i guess for them it's PLE edition, not sure where's the catch, perhaps the savings are flagged just like in Maya the free(student) edition .Anyways i hope some money will be invested to fix some bugs in bryce.

    To be fair people in third world countries that have trouble coming up with $12 probably aren't running computers and playing around with programs like Bryce. Conversely if they are in a 3rd world country and have a computer and electricity to run it and the free time to play with a program like Bryce then they probably have access to enough money that $12 isn't an issue.

  • cris333cris333 Posts: 107
    edited February 2013

    Thank you very much Horo for your fast reply.
    About the HDRI , Bryce it crashes after i click OK on that RLE warning :-/ , even if i just started Bryce (no scene) and trying to load an uncompressed hdr , at first time.To bad i can't prove it with a video.About the compressed hdr i didnt knew there is a difference, my fault, i thought it's a corrupted file after seeing it in photoshop as "unfinished" built image.
    About the "missing object" error , i didnt had that , but someone does when trying to load 2 scenes created by me from sharecg.
    About the Bryce address memory, ive read something on bryce forum but i cant apply/use due to memory low , only 2 gigs.Recently my video card died and i had to buy a new one much better (and these things are expensive,if is something hybrid/close with/to CUDA technology) , ignoring the low ram at the moment.Now ive learnt that getting more Ram is more important then getting a better video card instead ..:down:

    Post edited by cris333 on
  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,630
    edited February 2013

    @criss333 - you're welcome. If you have an uncompressed HDRI, load it into Photoshop (from CS2 hence) and save it with another name. Photoshop usually compresses them. Funny enough, Artizen HDRI (now Fhotoroom) is a HDRI capable graphics application that could only read uncompressed HDRIs (until I filed a bug report).

    Video card - as far as Bryce is concerned, the cheapest one is good enough. At the time being, Bryce does not make use of the more advanced features of a graphics card. If you use your computer for games, that's another matter.

    Memory issue: I recommend you start the Windows Task manager and look at the memory usage before you even start Bryce. When Bryce runs and you're working with it, have a look at the memory usage now and then. If you get to around 1.4. to 1.5 GB, save your work very often and give the file another name each time. Bryce files are compressed when you save and the compression is also done in memory.

    You can undo things in Bryce you've done. Undo is limitless - the undo buffer fills up and may bring Bryce down because all memory is exhausted. You cannot clear this buffer. Save your work, quit Bryce, start Bryce and load your scene. That's the only way to clear that buffer.

    If you use an HDRI for IBL, make sure you have two different resolutions: a low one (around 800 to 1600 pixels diameter) and a high resolution one (above 3200 pixels diameter). The light produced does not change with the resolution. If you don't need the HDRI as backdrop, just use the low res one. Once your scene is set up as you want it, save it. If you want the HDRI rendered as backdrop, load the scene and replace the low res HDRI with the hi res one. Render and save the rendered image before you attempt to save your scene with the hi res HDRI. It might be that you've run out of memory and Bryce crashes and the saved file will be corrupt. In this manner, you have at least your work saved (with the low res HDRI) and a final render with the hi res HDRI.

    Post edited by Horo on
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