WHAT THE $%#@ HAPPENED??? Bryce lost my scenes my materials, everything
ladybug0405_6e66169184
Posts: 0
I hadn't used Bryce in a few months, and wanted to open an old file and do some edits. I should have known something was up when I opened Bryce, cause it made me register before opening. When I went to open a previous file, it was gone from the default location, along with every other scene I'd done. At first I thought maybe I forgot where I placed the files, but upon further inspection I noticed all my custom materials were gone from the material lab as well. It's like the program completely reverted to day one. My question is, what the heck happened??? I didn't do anything to cause this, no file deleting, no re-installs, no re-formating of any kind. All my other art program files are intact. This is localized to Bryce only.
I don't mind starting anew too much, cause I have backups of my materials, and image files of completed projects. However it bothers me that this happened all on it's own, and I lost projects I was working on. Does anyone know what caused this and how to prevent it from happening again???
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Oh dear, that's not good... sorry to hear about it.
As far as I know (and there are folks around here who know a lot more than I do), If the application asked you to register it before opening, then it's because you have never used that version of Bryce before.
This is good news in a way, because probably somewhere on your HD is the version of Bryce you were using when you set up your scenes.
If you save your scenes into the Bryce App folder they will still be there and the custom mats and libraries will still be there too.
So really the first thing to check is if you have more than one version of Bryce installed (multiple versions can be installed and used at the same time).
I recently added a container with Bryce relevant documents on my website (see sig). The document describing the Bryce file types and where they belong are in this 11 page PDF (590 KB): http://www.horo.ch/docs/mine/pdf/BryceContent_v4.pdf
I think TheSavage64 is right that you were using another installation of Bryce since you had to enter the serial.
I highly recommend to install Bryce not in the default folder but anywhere else. And copy the Presets folder from time to time. A new installation will replace it and everything is lost.
Thanks for the help y'all, but unfortunately it didn't help my problem :( Although, there was some good info in the PDF, and I hadn't thought of backing up my presets folder, so thanks for that :)
I just don't get it, I only have one version Bryce pro 7.1 and Bryce lighting on my HD. I haven't re-installed or updated Bryce either, but that's exactly what it's acting like. I had originally stored my scenes in the app folder, but they're not there now. I had set up user groups in each of the material categories and they're gone as well as the materials I saved in the user category :( I've looked through ALL Bryce folders, both in programs(x86) and the Bryce objects and the Bryce folder in Daz3d in my documents. There's nothing anywhere but stock files in all locations. They're just gone. At least I learned to save my projects in a folder of my choosing and not the default location. The only really bad thing about this is that I had some scenes that were great default starting points with custom lighting settings I like to use for abstract and other images, and now they're gone. I'm sure y'all know how long it can take tweaking the light lab to get that perfect look you're going for. I want to scream!!!! LOL Oh well back to the drawing board, or screen :P
All I can think is search every HD in your machine with a generic *.mat and see if anything turns up anywhere else.
Thanks David, at first I just used the search function in the start menu, and got nothing, but when I opened my HD and performed a .br7 & .mat search I found them :)
Now my question is, since the mat files are indeed on my HD why do they not show up in the material lab if I only have the one version of Bryce on my PC? The .mat files were found here:
C:\Users\Shayna\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\DAZ 3D\Bryce7\Presets\Materials
BTW How do I get them back into the material lab without importing them in one at a time. Thanks again :)
Well for things like Materials, objects, skies, etc to show up in Bryce they have to be in the preset folder. This doesn't apply to scenes or HDRI's though as there is no place in presets for those types of files.
So to get them to show up in Bryce you need to get them into the presets folder. Now keep in mind the presets folder only allows you to go one or two folders deep so you'll need to resist the temptation to catagorize things too specifically thru the use of many layers of sub folders. Like for example lets say you have a material product called 500 Fantastic metals, it'll likely want to install a file called 500 Fantastic Metals.mat into a folder called 500 fantastic metals. But lets say you have lots of materials and so you want to seperate them into catagories like Metal, Glass, Liguids, Wood, etc. You might make a folder in the materials presets called Metals and then you might also make a folder called 500 Fantastic Metals and in that you would have the file 500 Fantastic Metals.mat. If you did that though you would see the folder called Metals and I think you would even see the sub folder 500 Fantastic Metals but when you tried to go into that sub folder you would see nothing because bryce can't go that deep folder wise. So what you would have to do is make a folder called metals and then cut and past the file 500 Fantastic Metals.mat directly into that Metals folder without the 500 Fantastic Metals subfolder. Then you would be able to see the 500 Fantastic Metals.
As for getting them into "presets" you can either import them individually like you mentioned or you can just copy and past them to the appropriate preset folder.
Just find the Bryce main folder, the one with Bryce.exe in it. There is a sub-folder Presets. Just copy or move the files into the appropriate sub-sub-folders. Look again at http://www.horo.ch/docs/mine/pdf/BryceContent_v4.pdf
AWESOME, Bryce is now back to the way I left it. Thanks y'all :)
I still don't have a clue what caused this crazy hiccup to begin with, but should it happen again, at least I'll know how to deal with it. Thanks again for the help y'all, I really appreciate it :)
BTW I checked out that tutorial on creating an abstract void, very cool effects with the transparent, yet reflective speres, thanks :)
You did NOT suffer a Bryce problem...
Your problem is Windows.
Looks like you are running Vista or Win7...and well UAC/'safety' measures put your Bryce files in the VirtualStore, because MS doesn't want them to go where they used to go...and since you haven't used it in several months, they probably got 'protected'...in other words, Windows decided you didn't them any longer, because the last access date was so long ago...or for some reason your user account permissions changed and you no longer had read/write access to them...or you AV decided they weren't any good any longer...or...or...
You get the idea...basically, Windows has decided Bryce is too 'old' to be allowed to know what it needs/where it needs things and where to put things, so Windows 'helps'.
My win 7 is only about 3 weeks old. Before that I was using XP on my old computer. With this installer it is not even giving me an option to direct the exe anywhere, it is just refusing to run it because I don't have Bryce 6 on this PC. It is very strange behaviour, because I installed Bryce 5 with very little problem, although admittedly that was installed from the Corel CD.
Even if I do install Bryce 6 onto this computer It will not be on the C drive, so I am not certain even if that will help.
Thanks mjc, that explains a lot. I'm using Win 7 BTW. I'll be sure to keep Bryce more active now that I'm done with the huge armor conversion I was doing for Skyrim.
FWIW, I am running windows 7 on my machine, I also have four different hard drives one of which (a 1TB drive) I reserve for Bryce, Poser, Studio, and a few other 3D related programs. For me this is drive D and so far I have had no problems installing anything other then that stupid side by side error I got when I first installed Bryce.
This might explain part of what is happening to me.
I've been having problems with Bryce 7 (under system 7) as well as Daz Studio 3 (ditto). Same problem, actually. Parts of scenes are missing when a file that hasn't been edited is loaded. In DS3 I've had clothing, clothing materials, morphs, figures, and other things go missing. In Bryce, it will tell me stuff is not loading and it might be all the lights are gone, or some of the items in the scene, or most of the items in the scene. (Terrains, cubes, etc.)
Problem is, I'm doing an illustrated novel, I come back to the "sets" I've built in Bryce, and I'd like all the parts to be there.
I was figuring, for awhile, that it was that I'd moved to Bryce 7 and then a new computer with System 7.
Then I hit a new snag....I tried to open the scene files in David Brinnen's "Bryce Landscapes 3"....and they were missing parts and pieces. Since those were put out, I was sure for Bryce 7, that didn't make sense to me. I reloaded the set from disk (I back up everything to disk...I've had more computer weirdness....) and it is still missing parts and pieces. Sometimes nearly everything except the sky. Not the textures, but the terrains. At this point, I realized it wasn't my files, or Bryce (which I'd used on the old computer, and opened "Landscapes" files successfully), but something with the system or computer and decided it was time to get some information.
So, now that we're figuring system 7 might be the culprit, how do I make it behave? This is getting really old.
This might explain part of what is happening to me.
I've been having problems with Bryce 7 (under system 7) as well as Daz Studio 3 (ditto). Same problem, actually. Parts of scenes are missing when a file that hasn't been edited is loaded. In DS3 I've had clothing, clothing materials, morphs, figures, and other things go missing. In Bryce, it will tell me stuff is not loading and it might be all the lights are gone, or some of the items in the scene, or most of the items in the scene. (Terrains, cubes, etc.)
Problem is, I'm doing an illustrated novel, I come back to the "sets" I've built in Bryce, and I'd like all the parts to be there.
I was figuring, for awhile, that it was that I'd moved to Bryce 7 and then a new computer with System 7.
Then I hit a new snag....I tried to open the scene files in David Brinnen's "Bryce Landscapes 3"....and they were missing parts and pieces. Since those were put out, I was sure for Bryce 7, that didn't make sense to me. I reloaded the set from disk (I back up everything to disk...I've had more computer weirdness....) and it is still missing parts and pieces. Sometimes nearly everything except the sky. Not the textures, but the terrains. At this point, I realized it wasn't my files, or Bryce (which I'd used on the old computer, and opened "Landscapes" files successfully), but something with the system or computer and decided it was time to get some information.
So, now that we're figuring system 7 might be the culprit, how do I make it behave? This is getting really old.
Well you talk about moving things around from system to system and I'm not sure if this was mentioned but if you ever install Bryce over a previous installation (thinking something got lost and you're trying to replace it) It will overwrite your presets folder. However since scenes aren't part of the presets folder it won't overwrite scenes. So you can end up with a bunch of saved scenes and yet not be able to find all the presets that made them. I'm not sure if that's the situation in your case but to avoid this once you got your presets set the way you want it and everytime you add something new to it, you should copy your preset folders somewhere else so you have an up to date copy of your presets. That way if you do ever have need to reinstall bryce over top of itself you can copy your backup of the presets over and be back in operation without having to reinstall everything that was in your presets folder. I'm thinking though this isn't exactly what's going on though because if I understand you correctly you're saying you are opening saved scenes and finding elements of that scene now missing. This shouldn't be the case though unless I'm misunderstanding something but it's my understanding that a saved scene contains everything needed inside the scene file for it to display properly when opened in Bryce even if the preset used to build the scene are not installed.
When you say system 7 I presume you mean Windows 7 which is what I also use and I've nver had anything even remotely like what you're describing happen to me. So I'm not convinced it's a Windows 7 issue. If it is though then it's likely due to where you have Bryce installed. I have multiple drives on my computer so I've always had Bryce on a drive other then the drive my OS is on and so perhaps that is why I've never had these problems? I have heard it said that if Bryce is installed in the wrong place Windows 7 might not like it. Bryce can be made to install anywhere you want it though, It can even be run off of a USB flash drive if one wanted it to be. If I understand the problems others suggest it is that Windows 7 is protective of the program files folder in that it doesn't like files to be saved there. You can install Bryce in it's default location which is in the Program files folder (or Program Files (x86) folder on a 64 bit installation of Windows 7) but things like scenes and what not that are created seperately from the install of Bryce should not be saved there. If that is what is causing your problems then you should try moving Bryce to some place outside of the Program Files folder, like just directly off the root drive such that it's location is C:\Bryce 7. I'm thinking that's really not the issue for you either though. If not then that leaves only the UAC issue suggested in the quoted part of your post although that's kind of the same issue I was talking about when suggesting you move the location of Bryce. There is a way to turn off the UAC though which you can find instructions for doing by doing a google search. I've done it myself but I had to follow instructions so rather then try to explain it from memory and tell you something wrong it's probably better you just follow someone else's established instructions. :)
Windows 7, yes. Sorry, I should have been more clear.
Bryce 7 is NOT on the C drive. (Well, it's all one physical drive, but there are several sections and Bryce is in the program files folder on F.) I always put the software on a different drive than the system, for anything that will work somewhere else. I have software all over the computer.
Some of the items vanishing are from saved scenes that were saved to a DVD drive and then installed onto the new computer. The rest are from saved scenes moved over directly from a drive that we temporarily attached to the new computer. The old computer is no longer available.
The presets are not the issue here, most of them show up most of the time. They don't disappear any oftener than they did out of the other computer. (The other computer had ***issues*** which is why it's no longer here. Not just that it was Win2K and wouldn't upgrade.)
The problems I'm having is stuff disappearing out of scene files. Some of them are Bryce 7 and some are Bryce 6 and all should load fully, but it's a whole series of messages about not loading something and objects, terrains, lights, and other stuff disappears. Not always the same items, either. It varies from scene to scene. Which is why this is so weird.
The pattern is *usually* that if I build the item in the computer, it runs with all (or most) of the pieces, but if I import it from anywhere else, it arrives mangled. Sometimes with almost nothing left in the scene. Including professionally done packages. (The one I mentioned ran fine on the other computer, except for being too big to edit anything when it was open. All the pieces were there.)
The problems started after I got the new computer (32 bit, hex core, Windows 7), which I've had for maybe six months or so. Like I said, Bryce isn't the only one having issues. Daz Studio 3 has been losing things too, sometimes from a file built only an hour before when nothing was moved in between. I do keep lists of how to build the characters, sets, etc, and pictures of them...but having to keep rebuilding the same thing over and over is extremely frustrating.
Most of the other software seems to be running just fine.
I went online, checked the instructions and found that my UAC is already set to off, and has been for some time. I remembered it when I saw it. I turned it off because of some other idiocy it pulled. (Something about multiple messages on every item I tried to install to runtimes asking if I was really sure I wanted to install that. My runtimes run into multiple gigabytes, so I was at the "kill it with an axe" stage before I found it, too)
If not the system, then what is wrong? Given I tried scene files that were from different sources and newly installed from DVD with the same results, it's not the scene files. Probably not Bryce either unless there's some setting I don't know about or have forgotten.
I just had an idea....some folders I dragged over and dropped in...could some of the settings I had in Win2K be in the Bryce folder and be corrupting what's happening in Windows 7? I think I put the old Bryce folder in place, did a "maintenance reinstall" on Bryce and ran with it.
I'll try the idea of putting Bryce on C, in a brand new folder, deleting the old program (though not the presets, which were mostly the way I wanted them)...and see what it does...before moving any presets or content in. Might shed light on the situation if nothing else.
Thanks for talking to me about it...
Even if it isn't on the system drive, I believe Win7 still protects Program Files.
I don't really understand why protecting a file would make items out of a scene file go missing.
Okay...just to clarify...I uninstalled all copies of Bryce.
Reinstalled Bryce to where it wanted to go this time instead of my idea. It went to C:/Program Files/Daz3D/Bryce 7.
Then, fresh from the disk, I installed the set of waterfalls from David Brinnen's tutorial.
I immediately loaded one...it said that an object was unavailable and it would load without it. Several times.
I made a screen shot of what it the picture that came with the scene file looked like and then a screenshot of what happened when I rendered. I think this should be painfully obvious that there is more going on here than "protecting files".
Either something is set wrong somewhere...or I don't know what.
Another thing to check is that you installed the latest version of Bryce.
It should have a version number of; 7.1.0.109
It may be that you have 7.0.1.34
Looks to be 7.0.1.54
so, maybe that's the problem. I'll certainly try fixing that next.
Would resetting my download work, or would that get me the original version I had?
Everything's been changed since the last time I really hung out at Daz3D and I don't know where to find the upgrades anymore. Searchs aren't pulling up anything useful.
Thanks for the help
Yes I believe that resetting your download will just reload the same version you already have.
Go to the Daz store and purchase Bryce7 Pro. When you get to the checkout, it'll fill in the amount as 0 and will make the latest version available in your downloads.
The other advantage of this is that it will then keep your download in your history so if heaven forbid, you ever have problems with your computer and need to replace it, you will always have access to a fresh download of the most recent version. :)
The only reason I suggested this is that last year, I too had the same problem with items not loading into David's scene files.
updating my Bryce version fixed it immediately... let us know how you get on.
If you "purchased" Bryce through the store, resetting the download will rest it to the latest version, no need to "buy" it again.
See?... shows how much I know. :lol:
Well, I "rebought" it anyhow....before I saw the next post. (It was free, who cares?)
Shorted sleep time to get the downloads done (who needs sleep anyhow?) and installed this morning.
Not only the David Brinnen scenes but my own old ones are now working properly.
******YES! IT IS FIXED!********
You know, the last year and a half have been very, very busy for me. (Not always for good reasons, either.) So busy that I never even thought about Bryce possibly having upgraded, or that Bryce 7 (early version) wouldn't work with Windows System 7 ("we must download and install 20 updates now, even though you're trying to shut down ahead of a thunderstorm") which is always updated to the max.
Thank you extremely muchly everyone.
:-)
That really made me giggle, been there, used the big green lit button on the front of my PC case, I must admit.
No I'd say that if you're having the issues with Bryce on drive F and you have UAC off then I doubt doing a different folder on C is going to fix things. I'm thinking now you either picked up a virus somewhere along the way perhaps in some content made for Studio that you also imported into Bryce? (since you say it's happening with both Studio and Bryce) I doubt it's the Windows 2000 files copied over doing things since you only copied those to Bryce but the problem as you pointed out is showing up in Studio too. Besides a virus the only other thing I can think of is something wierd is happening in the transfer process. If you have the scene files they should have everything in them. That's why you can get free scenes from places like ShareCG and load them on a copy of Bryce and they work. Chances are those scenes have something in them not necessarily found in a default install of Bryce 7 Pro. It's not like saved scenes in other programs where it just remembers where the elements used are installed and therefore would only work on a machine that had those same elements installed. The only other thing I can think of is you are doing something or did something unusual that is not coming out in your description of how you do/did things? Although if you did or are doing something odd that's causing this I can't imagine what it would be. Plus based on this more detailed account you just gave of things it sounds like you know your way around a computer fairly well. Maybe not an expert but no novice either.
So in other words I'm unfortunately stumped and therefore can't seem to help beyond hoping you're able to solve the issue either thru trial and error or someone else's help. I can imagine how frustrating it all must be opening files you know to be complete and working only to find they no longer are complete and working. Anyway good luck and I hope this problem doesn't distract from your enjoyment of the pending holiday season.
Ah fabulous news, I never would have thought about it being an old version of Bryce since you said you were having the problem with Studio as well. Since you are though you might want to investigate what version of Studio 3 you have and see if it's the latest version. Although since they are up to Studio 4.5 now there's alot of new content being made for that which may or may not work on an older version of DS and so you may want to consider upgrading to that?
I do have DS4...and given this morning's revelations, I'm going to make some experiments with that and see if that is the issue.
Seems like there was some reason that DS4 and I weren't quite getting along though, but we'll see how that issue turns out.
Again, thank you everyone...when I came in here I seriously hadn't a clue what was going on and am glad that it was such a simple fix.
;-)
Well good luck things get even stranger when you get into the realm of Studio 4 and 4.5. For example in the yearly PA giveaway one of the giveaways was some studio presets for Genesis. Someone asked if it would work on Studio 4. Since Genesis came about in Studio 4 and since the presets were made for Genesis I respond that since it was made for Genesis it probably would work in Studio 4. Imagine my surprise when that person asking reported back after trying, that the presets used file types that don't open in 4 but do open in 4.5. I was even more surprised to find out from the maker of the presets that he never even tried to make them workable for Studio 4 because he was planning on selling them intially and so felt it was more important to focus on the latest version of Studio
Great news... see you in the 'Show us your Bryce Renders' thread. :)