Zer0 Rei is wondering about the ongoing legacy of Bryce - What's going on in 2024?

Zer0 れい

Hi everyone!

Dropping by, saying hi, introducing myself and hoping to spark a discussion al in one.

I've been trying to be more pro-active about communitybuilding this year, especially with increasing people picking Bryce back up out of nostalgie and love for Y2K era aesthetics.
I myself am using Bryce partially professionally, picking it up out of interest for certain album covers a couple years back and now doing loads of album covers on commission while exploring the possibility of real-life artworks built with Bryce. The commissioned stuff is on my site and I'll attach a picture of some of my recent canvas-printed pieces too.

A lot of my current artists' journey meanders about the value of old technology in both software and hardware so it's been living rent-free inside my brain.
Because the music scene is all bout re-releasing synthesizers from 50 years ago and making new music with them, while 3D modelling abandons progenitors.

So how do people here feel about the future of Bryce? Why Bryce?
How important are the idiosyncrasities of an ancient bit of software compared to the polished high resolution stuff AI can pump out now?
How do we utulise the newly available computing power to make Bryce better? Or to make oru artwork better? When do we start losing part of the charm?
How different is the attitude here, where people have generally been using the software for ages compared to the new users that're found on Instagram and Discord?

Cheers,

Sebastien/Zer0 Rei

NGartplay

Ooh and ah....very cool print outs of Bryce works.  I used to print and sell my XaraXtreme works.  I painted the paper or canvas with a print medium and printed it out on my printer.  Epson inks because they are color fast.

Bryce needs better skies without using HDRIs.

Bryce needs better foliage without having to import.

Hansmar

Hi Zer0 Rei / Sebastien, good to see you in the forum. Your picture shows really wonderful Bryce works. And your artworks on the website breath Bryce and are amazing.

I never printed anything from Bryce (yet), though i know some people have done exhibitions with Bryce work. I mainly like Bryce for the wonderful UI and the options in texture editor and terrain editor and lights. I realise that there are a lot of things that will push people towards other software. Probably the most problematic issue is the limited memory it can use. As soon as you start entering multiple people or animals and trees or other objects from non-Bryce sources, you quickly get into lack of memory. You have to modify external picture textures into Bryce procedural textures (where possible), reduce detail on necessary picture textures and forget copy./past and learn instancing to get a full scene. Of course, part of the fun about Bryce is that you have lots of challenges to overcome and it is great if you succeed.

Regarding the future of Bryce, let's be realistic. As long as it works, there will be diehards, like you and the forum members here, using this great tool. But don't expect any updates anymore. I think there is no businesscase for DAZ to update (or even sell) Bryce (and Hexagon). Even the much more complex and modern tools of Vue and PlantFactory are now no longer commercial, but available for free (and will no longer be updated/developed), because their owners decided to focus on other types of software. I tried out both tools and they have loads of wonderful options, that Brycers can only dream of. They apparently saw no businesscase for Vue and PlantFactory and to me that suggests that there is no chance of a realistic businesscase for Bryce, partly because it is so out of date. 

Ofcourse, there are things Bryce may do (much) better than other tools and its interface is great. And I will keep using it, because I like it so much. However, I cannot close my eyes for the fact that other tools are more advanced, faster, more up-to-date and often better suited for the purposes for which many people could have been using an up-to-date Bryce.

Subtropic Pixel

Sorry for my late arrival, but haha, I've had my hands full this summer!

In my opinion (which is the right opinion), Bryce needs basic bug fixes AND a 64 bit update.

And THAT really is the right opinion.  I've been campaigning for these bare-minimum things for years now, and nothing ever happens.  I'm very upset with DAZ and I don't spend any money with DAZ anymore because of this.  So all that's left for me is to come here every so often to be like the pea under the multiple mattresses or (more likely) a bedbug for the DAZ people who aren't supporting Bryce but have to come to this forum for some other reason.

I don't use Bryce anymore because it's a very crashy-crashy experience and therefore not fun at all.  But if we got word that it's going to be supported, I would consider starting to use it again.

I can go away for 6 months or a full year, and come back and nothing has changed.  That is wrong, and worse yet, it's an opportunity that is actively being ignored and missed by DAZ leadership.  I would love to see DAZ do better.  Or sell the rights for Bryce to somebody who is willing and able to give it the love it really deserves.  Giving it the dignity of bugfixes and 64 Bit mode would show that DAZ still respects Bryce and Bryce's user base.

Once we started seeing fixes, that is.

Hansmar

Subtropic Pixel, I guess all us Bryce users (diehards) agree with you on what would be needed. But that will not change the lack of a business case, specifically since they now have the Ultrascenery that is integrated into DAZ Studio. Let's be honest: there will never be any further development of Bryce. But it is still nice to work with, if you are patient enough to avoid crashes.